How to adopt a cat - or 3, or 4 or 5....(In 10 tips)

By Anna Muggiati

Generation 2014: Panda, Tigre and Pantera (All photos by me)

Dada,  my 14 years old BFF

We are celebrating cat adoption month with a very simple piece of advice. If you are not allergic, have a passion for furry cute purring creatures, and have time and money to be a responsible cat-parent, there is no reason why you should not have a cat. Before you roll your eyes and think that I am a crazy and enthusiastic cat lady, I would like to tell you this: our family of four humans, 2 senior cats just became happier when we adopted 3 kittens last December. Cats are wonderful therapists, friends and companions. You just have to let them show their love, and love them back in return.

Juju, 11 years old, raised by us

Our two first kitties, feral cats rescued from the streets, were our first babies. Dada, who is about 13 to 14 years old, came before everything, in 2003. He was our first family pet ever, even before we became a family:  before the wedding, before the party, and before my son's birth. Our second cat is the mischievous Juju, now a grumpy black lady of 11 years old. She was found by my mother in law in a box. She was a tiny kitten with less than 3 weeks. We adopted her and raised her when I was pregnant of my first son. It didn't take long for white king Dada and black princess Juju to get along. 

Years and countries passed by, and I wouldn't change a line of our crazy relocation stories, carrying cats around flights and airports....During the last 10 years, we lived happily with our two boys growing up and two cats growing older... But we felt that another generation of cats would be a positive change. After our children grew up enough not to be called babies anymore, we were lucky to meet our cat-boys at the Humane Society of Silicon Valley. Panda, Tigre and Pantera are the babies now, and  they belong to the former human babies. One of our boys even blogged about them. 

Here are few pieces of advice to help you go to your local shelter and see if your heart will beat faster if you find someow who you would like to have close to you.

1. Be curious: Try to gather as much information about your feline friend before you adopt. Most shelters always have a detailed file and are happy to share their story so you will have the right picture. Make sure to get al the info you need about vaccines etc.

Bonding before adoption at Humane Society Adoption Centre, Dec 2014

2.  Be wise: experience some time to bond with your chosen one at the shelter, before going home. 

3. Be inquisitive: read as much as you can so to make sure you will have all you need to nurture your new friend, baby or senior. Like this Humane Society article, very useful: http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/cats/tips/choosing_cat.html

4. Be amazing: adopting senior cat(s) is a wonderful way of having a mellow and fine friend around. Nice advice here: http://cattime.com/adopting-a-senior-cat.html

5. Be cautious: if you are bringing more cats to an already home with cats, follow instructions of how to introduce one cat to the other by the book, like this one here, but also use your intuition.IT can be a stressful process. I got advice of vets and counselors and finally they can even share the same bed (mine). Never introduce cats like if they were dogs (or people). 

6. Be brave: if you are confronted with a nice litter of kittens situation, consider adopting all siblings. We did it and it works:  They are always playing, having fun and make themselves busy. 

7. Be flexible: cats love to change their mind about their favorite food, treat, bed or even litter box. 

8. Be creative: cardboard boxes, regular paper bags, everyday ribbons and a paper ball are sometime their favorite toys. 

9. Be loving: if they happen to be kittens hold them everyday and make them learn to love your lap, your touch and your smell. They will grow to be purring machines!

10. Above all, be patient. Any cat will test your limits to try to customize you to the perfect cat parent.

Count the kitties...Mealtime (almost) together