I want a cat. I miss my cat I left in Montreal, and my apartment feels so empty without a fluffy meowing overlord. Why did I leave him? Crossing the border with a pet was more complicated, it was a very long 12-hour drive, and he’s a middle-aged kitty with very strong ties to my Mom and brother, who he’s currently living with. I just felt that it was best, all around, to leave him in the home he’s always known, especially since I didn’t even have an apartment set up yet and was living with my boyfriend at the beginning, and I didn’t know how his two cats would react to mine if I’d brought him.
So, why do I want a cat? I’m lonely without one, and I want to give a shelter kitty a happy home. I get a furry friend to cuddle when I’m lonely and homesick, and he gets a loving home. Win-win, no?
Why should I not get a cat? I’m on a one-year work visa, which is renewable at the end of every year - it’s extremely unlikely that I’ll ever be refused a renewal, but it could happen, and then I’d have to bring him home to Canada or find him a home here. Or, given that my boyfriend and I are getting along great, there’s at least a small chance that I’ll end up moving in with him in the next couple of years. Then I’d be introducing a third cat into his home, and I don’t know what that would do.
I guess the “not” reasons add up to a lot more weight, but, really, I don’t think I should be living my life now based on what might happen later. I want to adopt a kitty, and deal with consequences when and if they come up. But I don’t know if that’s right, either.
If done with patience, most of the time introductions between adult cats can be handled successfully. I have 9, so I have gone through the introduction phrase more than once…
What are you waiting for? Why aren’t you already at the shelter? Don’t you know your feline overlord is down there wondering what in hell is taking you so long?
You could always be a foster home for kitties. That way, you get an endless variety of cute little feline balls of affection, but don’t have to worry about any longterm complications that may arise about the other variables in your life.
I vote for becoming a foster home for a cat shelter/rescue group. That would probably be a nice way to help out some needy cats, without any need to feel guilty if your living situation becomes inhospitable to cats later on down the road.
Another vote for fostering until your situation is more stable. A lot of people think it’d be too hard to give them up but you know going in that it is short-term and that they are going to good homes so it’s not as hard as it may sound.
Discuss it with your boyfriend. Find out if he’d be happy to take in another cat if need be. You mention that he already has a couple of cats, but introducing a third cat to a house is probably a lot easier than introducing a first. He already has the know-how and facilities for taking care of felines; he’d just need to bump up the food. And I bet the three would quickly become close friends and play hilarious pranks on your boyfriend.
Antigen I’m not a cat owner, nor cat owned -but I grew up with one. We inherited him from my grandfather who spoiled it and had him to about 21? 23? Something like this…
I’m with the last poster, talk to your bf. I don’t mean to be the negative one, since everyone here is hugely supportive in favor of cat adoption. But it’s your life and your choice that you have to live with, not ours. All kinds of factors in life change constantly and you just make the choices you can live with at the end of the day.
Read your OP, you’ve already made the decision for yourself, love often begets itself. In other words, you may never be able to have a conversation with your cat about how your bf acted like a jerk last night, but if scratching the spot under their chin that makes then purr-rrr is going to make your day that much better, than just do it for yourself and tell yourself you’re saving a cat’s life if you feel guilty about it later.
You obviously know the responsibilities of owning a cat and believe me if your man really cares about you and the living situation changes he’s going to have a 3rd cat like it or not >lol< so enough already with the back and forth in your head about the cat and prepare him thy throne.
Bringing a cat into Canada isn’t difficult, if it does come to that. You need to have a form from a vet showing that he’s had a rabies shot, and then they’ll just wave kitty through.
I like the fostering idea. Or could you work out some type of joint custody arrangement with your boyfriend’s current cats? If they are independent types, maybe pick one as yours, or if they are partners in crime, have them visit occasionally.
Wari Eri is right, it’s very easy to bring a cat back to Canada. My son and his then gf brought a little Korean cat back from Korea. No problems at all.
If you’re near Baltimore, I can put you in touch with my brother who works at a no kill shelter there and you could see about being a foster kitty [del]servant[/del] caregiver. No doubt if the fuzzy monster decides that you are the one he/she wants to wait on him/her hand and foot, they’ll be happy to accomidate you.
The only problem with the joint-custody idea (and believe me, it was my first thought!) is that if I have cats in this apartment, I need to pay a pet deposit, and monthly pet rent. Yes, I guess I could sneak a cat in and hope not to be noticed, but it’s a risk I don’t want to take - I can’t afford to be kicked out. so if I"m paying just to have his cats visit me, I may as well have a permanent cat room-mate.
That, and I don’t think my man will give up his cats easily. I’ve been visiting them when I go to his place, hoping that would satisfy my kitty needs, but it seems that it’s not quite cutting it.
I like the fostering idea… but I’m the sort who gets very attached. I don’t think I could do it without having my heart broken every time a kitty leaves.
So I guess I’ll be getting a kitty soon, then. I’ll start making the rounds of the shelters as soon as I’ve saved up enough for the pet deposit and other kitty start-up costs. Stay tuned for a “help me name my beast” thread. With pictures.
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Tuckerfan** - if you could give me the info about the shelter your brother works at, I’ll definitely check it out.
I adopted my cats from a local Baltimore shelter about seven years ago.
If you need another place to look, let me know and I’ll point you in the direction of the place where my kitties came from. Gingy has my phone number.
It’s about as easy to take a cat into the US, for that matter. Before we met, my wife travelled a few times by car between Canada and the US, with her cat each time. All she ever needed was proof of a recent vaccination by a vet.
To the OP, I say: Get a cat. It sounds like you really do want one, and it also sounds like you’re hesitant based on things that may (though not necessarily will) happen in the future. But none of those seem insurmountable, so I say again, get a cat.
