The Pros and Cons of getting a cat.

Spoiler alert: I already did it.

Cons.

• I said I'd wait. I moved into my place, officially, only a few weeks ago, after getting the keys in April and putting off the actual moving in as long as I could, blaming it on the bathroom fixing that needed doing or the family occasions I had to prioritise. Now I'm actually in the space, alone, I should get used to it and imprint my energy into every little nook and crevice. Right? I said I'd wait a year. That seemed sensible. I also need to sell a load of stuff and create the perfect aesthetically pleasing interior design vibes. Surely. 

• As my parents kept saying, as I emphatically agreed to the point of rolling my eyes and huffing because yes, it's so true - I travel too much. I go up to London once a week/when I can muster the energy and social battery, and often stay overnight, or I brave the 4-hour slog each way to work at Dorset HQ once a month and show my face to the senior management and studio teams who appreciate Greg Davies as much as I do. I visit friends and stay with partners and have dates in Brighton. Even when I'm not spending entire days somewhere far away, staying at Hub hotels or above pubs, I'm meandering about town and popping up in cafes with my laptop. I'm out and about. 

• It's expensive. All the key 'setup' parts; plastic carrier, bed, brushes, toys, bowls, litter trays, blankets. Then there's the regular outgoings; sticky lint rollers, treats, dry food, wet food, the actual litter for the litter trays which comes in paper bags that weigh more than a small child and are a challenge for my al dente pasta arms. And the direct debits or surprise expenses; insurance, microchip security, vet trips, medicines, vaccinations. It makes no sense parting with that much extra money when I just got a mortgage. 

• I hate the smell of cat poo.

• I'll be heartbroken if they get sick, and when they die. I'll obsess over their impending death, like I did the family cat's, for the last 10 years of his life. 

• I'll be anxious that any kitty I adopt would stray into someone else's garden, or the road, or?? even though I know my garden is contained and far enough away from the busy streets. 

• Am I even responsible enough to be a pet parent? 

Pros.

• I always said if I ever got my own feline, they'd be a rescue. Adopt, don't shop. And what rhymes with 'breed'? Because breeding is creepy. I got some numbers for local breeders ages ago from a friend of a friend, politely noted them down, and threw them away. I didn't dare follow local rescue centres or charities on social media for fear of temptation, but I would occasionally peek through the secret safety of the search bar. My dog-lover friend said she'd come with me to visit that sweet sanctuary my family have always loved, someday when we're finally getting our heads around adopting, but not yet. I told myself that once I was settled in my new place, I'd wait for the right one to come along. 'When you know, you know', etc. I'd secretly hoped that either one would wander into my garden, someone else's lost soul from along the terrace, needing a second home - or that a TikTok happy-sob montage moment would happen and I'd save a kitten barely the size of my hand from the side of a road and give her a good life. Either way, I wanted it to happen organically, and magically. Supporting my local RSPCA centre by adopting this little girl has brought me so much joy. I paid my adoption fee eagerly, thanked them too many times but still not enough for their incredible care and kindness, and have emailed them more than once with updates since bringing her home. 

• I want the company. I need to get over the embarrassment of saying that. Because it's not embarrassing. Not really. I successfully lived alone from 2020 to 2023, and it was always my dream to do so. But I haven't lived alone in roughly two years. I'm out of practice, and honestly the novelty has worn off slightly. 

• She'll help my brain. I am struggling to regulate my mind these days and suffering with intense overwhelm, as I think I've said/written before. I need medicating, and I'm on the waiting list. In the meantime, I feel having this little bit of fluff will give me an anchor of responsibility and a reason to stay put and face things, not meander and avoid - I mean this literally and figuratively. 

• The emotional swells that come with playing, chattering and meeting milestones together is just wondrous. I cheered quietly for her when she used her litter tray for the first time, in the corner of my bedroom. One morning I was woken by the sound of her scampering about in the hallway and possibly sliding into walls, her soft toe beans slipping on the floor, and I chuckled into my pillow. The first time she clambered onto my lap as I watched some silly series from the sofa after dinner, my heart stumbled, then lit up. 

• She's bringing me company and cosiness in this new chapter of my life. She's made my little project of a flat feel more like a home than it has for the past month, in just a week. 

• She has the sweetest, brightest, most curious eyes I've ever seen. 

Thank you for reading. Welcome, little Bourbon.

G. x