Getting a Pet: Our Three-Month-Old Kitten

Introducing our three-month-old kitten, Kinley Cuddles Chapman aka Kinz. She is our first official pet other than a whole lot of fish that we have tried to keep alive over the years. Nya has begged us for years to get a kitten and we always said "no" because we travel a lot and I don't want to have to worry about would care for the kitten. 

However, once COVID hit, we knew we would be home for a long time and were craving any cuteness to add to our Quarantine Crew, so we considered the idea. Gary sort of said "okay" finally after making it clear that he was not going to take care of her in any way. It was more difficult than I thought to find a healthy little kitten and finally I found one through a friend of mine; she had one left...

I had two cats growing up but we lived on a farm so I really had no idea how to care for an indoor cat. We bought a climbing tower, litter box, a collapsible carrying case, some food and some toys and hoped for the best! We named her Kinley because Nya's name in utero was Mackinley but we changed it a week before she was born. Nya says Kinley is the sister she never had.

It has been awesome. She is cuddly and cute, although, maybe everyone thinks their kitten is the cutest–just like your own child. She will cuddle with everyone in our home and curl up and go to sleep. She especially loves to lay with Gary and I at night when the kids have gone to bed and we are watching TV on the couch. 

We don't let her sleep in our bedrooms because once she starts shedding I don't want to have more to clean all the time. Also, she gets really wild around 11 PM so I don't want her waking the kids up!

She is so easy to care for. She just explores, plays wildly with her toys (pretend mice and sparkly balls are her favourite), scratches on her climbing tower and sleeps anywhere and everywhere. She did pee outside of her litter box twice but hopefully it doesn't happen again! Talking about the litter box, it is in our bathroom as we have a detached garage so can't have a cat door. We do have another one in the basement laundry room which she can use as well and we hope to make it her main one once people can come into our home again.

Nya loves cuddling her, Koen loves watching her attack flies and Kai likes to do his homework with her laying beside him. I was really nervous because what if the kids liked her for a week and then decided she wasn't fun anymore? We've had her for a month now and our love is just growing. I was also concerned she would destroy our house. Although, I'm glad we did not get new couches as she's always on them. The only thing she really likes "destroying" is unrolling toilet paper rolls and attacking any cord found lying around–I can deal with that. 

So, I'm not sure I'm a cat person but I'm definitely well on my way! I'm so glad we got her and have no regrets. Watching her chase her cat toys around makes us all smile and laugh. A Kinley cuddle de-stresses every receiver which is so needed these days. We will still do single overnight trips but have someone take care of her in our home.

It only took a pandemic but the kids got their pet. Do you have a pet? Would you get one?

Love, 

Louise