ACat and Kitten? If you love cats then surely you will adore kittens. Who wouldn’t? Kittens are definitely one of the cutest little darlings you could lay your eyes on. But taking care of an adult cat is not the same as taking care of a kitten. Kittens require more care and attention compared to their adult counterparts. Kittens are tiny, fragile and naïve, perhaps too naïve for their sakes. So if you’re a parent looking to adopt a kitten for your precious little girl, I’d advise you to think things through if you don’t want your child crying that she just killed her pet. Getting a kitten for a child might be the worst idea one could ever think of, you might as well sentence it to death. If a child hasn’t learned the difference between a furry little toy and an animal, the poor kitty might end up getting strangled, mauled, stepped on, or traumatized after being mistaken for a furry ball. I don’t advise getting small pets in a home where there are children unless the parents know full well its repercussions. Mixing young children and small animals are never a good idea. They need adult supervision at the very least. If the family feels obliged to get a pet then by all means get an older, child-proof pet that can defend itself. Perhaps an adult cat would do the trick. But even if you don’t have small children running around the house, getting a kitten still needs some careful consideration. Getting any kind of pet is always a big decision and should be taken seriously. Many pets have been abandoned, ran away or even died because of irresponsible pet owners. Kittens are very sociable animals. They are energetic, inquisitive, active and playful. They need to be able to run and play, preferably with their owners. If you’re often not around during the day, they will take into sleeping and will feel restless during the night when it’s your turn to sleep. There’s nothing more annoying that a pesky kitty urging you to come and play with it when you’re trying to sleep. As a rule, kittens should not be taken from their mothers and siblings until they are about 3 months old or 12 weeks old. The first few weeks are critical to their development, physically, mentally and emotionally. Kittens develop quickly from about 2 weeks of age until their 7th week. It is during this time that their coordination and strength improve. They play-fight with their siblings and begin to explore. They learn to wash themselves, play-hunting and stalk preys, behaviors that they emulate from their mothers and other adult cats. These innate skills must be developed, and they can only learn to behave like the cats that they would soon become from the adults. They are born predators, after all. Without these skills, they might have some behavioral issues later on making them difficult to deal with. You wouldn’t want your cat to think it’s a dog, would you? But unfortunately, most people give away their kittens for adoption at 6 or even 4 weeks old. It’s like expecting your 2-year-old to be able to learn to read, write and solve math problems the moment he enters kindergarten. That simply isn’t possible. They don’t have the ability to accomplish all these things yet. They need time to develop, explore and learn what they need to survive. But the difference between children and kittens is that nobody blames children for not being able to do these things, while everyone gets angry at a kitten for making a mess. Many unwanted cats are thrown away, put down or end up in shelters because people fail to understand the responsibility that comes with raising a pet. Some of these cats fail to survive, dying from starvation or from diseases. The others who do survive grow up to be aloof, wild and unfriendly, becoming strays that everyone would rather see end up in the pound and eventually put down.
If you’re too busy to get a baby animal that requires more work and attention, then maybe an older cat is for you. It might take a little longer for the both of you to learn to trust each other. But once you’ve established a bond, then the relationship could prove to be rewarding for the both of you.