5 Things I Learned From My Kitten

/ December 10, 2015

Meet Meeker.

Meeker1

Meeker is an eleven-week-old Siamese mix kitten. He joined our family last Saturday.

We’d been talking about getting  a kitten for a couple of months, since one of our adult cats died. The remaining adult cat, Lily, seemed happy to be by herself, but it didn’t take long for the kitten talk to start among family members. My son said he wanted to get one for Lily so she wouldn’t be lonely. The hubs mentioned wanting to get a young cat, because we’ve only adopted adult cats before. And maybe Lily would take the kitten under her wing and show him the way.

I doubted that would happen, but the talk continued, so I agreed to explore the possibility. Last Friday, while the boys were at school, we decided to go by the Humane Society “just to see what they have.” That’s always how this stuff goes down, isn’t it?

We saw some cute and friendly adult cats at first. Then we proceeded down a long wall to a room where other cats were. We could see the cats through a window before entering the room, so I looked at them up close. This little white kitten with a head the size of a mandarin orange and little blue eyes looked back at me.

Of course I thought Meeker was cute, but the hubs talked about wanting a long-haired cat, so I didn’t get my hopes up or indicate how cute I really thought Meeker was. But he was the only kitten this young there that day, so we asked to visit with him.

He let us hold him, and he played with the volunteer’s lanyard. He meowed his sweet kitten meow and watched dogs walk by through the large windows. He stretched out on my lap and let me pet him for a few seconds. But the hubs wanted to visit with another cat, so the volunteer put Meeker back into his cage.

While she was retrieving the other cat’s paperwork, I went back to Meeker’s cage to visit some more. He put his front paws on the door and meowed at me, as if asking why we weren’t taking him home. That was all it took.

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So he’s been with us for five days now, long enough for him to teach me a few things.

1. Everyone starts at the beginning

Thankfully, Meeker is litter trained. But he doesn’t know anything else, really. He tries to scratch the couch and walk on the dining room table. He’s not being naughty. He’s just new and doesn’t know what he doesn’t know.

Meeker laptop

You can’t comment on blog posts, Meeker.

2. Don’t be scared of things that are bigger than you

Lily is four times the size of Meeker. The hubs is ninety times bigger. But Meeker has bested them both. Lily runs away from him (more because she’s a pansy than because Meeker is threatening), and the hubs just couldn’t keep hold of him.

Scene: The hubs trying to hold Meeker and keep him from escaping his grasp. Meeker wiggles intently and escapes.

Me: You can’t keep hold of a two-pound kitten?

Him: Not when the two-pound kitten is squirming like that.

3. Playing = anytime fun

Schedules are for losers. Jumping on the boy’s feet while he’s trying to sleep is big time fun. And you don’t need to spend money on toys because hair ties and ping pong balls are the best. Really, all you need is something that moves.

4. Tantrums happen in any species

I took Meeker to the vet on Tuesday for his checkup. I’ve never heard a cat/kitten scream/meow like that. He was LOUD.

5. Napping with a kitten = stress relief

Confession: I haven’t been performing writerly tasks as I should because…well, because this:

photo (3)

I was obviously awake to take that picture, but when he’s sleeping on me, that’s not usually the case. Right after lunch, he’ll climb up and settle in, and what can I do? He’s so sweet and warm, and whatever I’m doing can certainly wait an hour. Plus, I feel super relaxed after we’ve had our naps.

I hope you enjoyed the beginning of Meeker’s story and his lessons. I think he’ll grow up to be a wise cat.

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31 thoughts on “5 Things I Learned From My Kitten”

  1. Pingback: 5 Things I Learned From My Other Kitten | Allison Maruska

  2. Pingback: What Did You Like? 2015 In Review | Allison Maruska

    • I had to start insisting he stay off the laptop after he opened a dialogue box I’d never seen before. 🙂

      Pets are super affectionate. An out-of-state friend has started randomly messaging me throughout the day to see if I’m holding the kitten. 90% of the time, I am.

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  5. Thanks for this sweet post. Sleeping with cats is the best thing, isn’t it? It’s our excuse in our family of why we can’t get up to do our chores. Ie: Ive got a cat on me, sorry. Just finished your book about the 4 descendants and found you blog. Really liked your writing style and investigating what book to read next. Now that I know you are a cat lover I like you even more:) Any thoughts on a part 2?

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    • LOL. I’ve used the “cat is sleeping on me” excuse a few times myself.

      I’m so glad you enjoyed the book! You made my day. I currently have something in the works re: part 2. 😉 In the meantime, my YA urban fantasy Drake and the Fliers came out a few weeks ago. It’s quite different from Descendant, but if you’re a genre jumper like I am, you may enjoy it.

      Thanks for reading and commenting, and welcome to the blog! 🙂

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  8. Cute! From my now-one-year-old kitten (he’ll always be a kitten), I’ve learned not to take life too seriously because in three seconds, I’ll forget what happened. Wait… that’s him. But after three seconds, I can’t change anything anyway. 🙂

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  9. Kittens are so sharp. That’s what I remember about ours. Their little sharp teeth and their little sharp claws force you to pay attention to them. Enjoyed reading about your kitten lessons. Wonder how Meeker and Christmas are going to get along?!! 😉

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  14. Thank you Meeker…

    …for helping your author mom stay so relaxed during this busy holiday season!

    We have an 18 year old Siberian Husky mix.

    We never dreamed she would still be with us, let alone take me for morning walks when I retired.

    At one time we had 3 dogs and 6 cats.

    Now we have the one dog.

    We have talked about getting a new cat after the current little queen is gone.

    We don’t mind waiting, while our old friend still rules our home.

    Who says Meeker can’t comment on a post?

    Didn’t I see a tweet a little while ago?

    Enjoy your new family member, and don’t forget Lily.

    What a wonderful Christmas addition!
    Arth

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