5 Reasons You Need a Cat Right Meow

My husband, Zach & I are animal lovers through and through. We have two dogs, Rocco (12-year-old Boxer/Pitbull mix) and Chandler (1-year-old Shih Tzu), and five cats, Sadie (10 years-Torbie), Amadeus (7 years-Minuet), Ziggy (4 years-Fire-tipped Siamese), Phoebe (3 years-Calico) & Zoey (2 years-Black Calico). If you're thinking "that's a little much" you are totally correct. There are some days I ask myself "why didn't we stop after two?", but I wouldn't change it. Introducing cats has its challenges but we are finally living in a home of peace. While this post is five reasons you need a cat, I do not recommend adopting five cats. If you’re asking, two is a perfect number.

My love of cats started early in my childhood. When I was about five years old my dad took my mom to pick out our first kitten. I was so excited when she brought home the tiny black & white fluff ball. She was, without a doubt, the sweetest thing I had ever encountered at that point in my life. We named her Missy because with all that fluff came a little bit of "cattitude" (I hope you like puns).

Missy quickly became our family's greatest form of entertainment. This ranged from laughs to gasps. Cats on catnip act so silly and then playful. The gasps were mainly in disbelief of what she brought to our doorstep. Cats are notorious for hunting mice and keeping rodents out of your home. She frequently caught mice, rabbits, frogs and even brought a rat to our front door once. I didn’t know rats lived in the area; it was HUGE. In all honesty, I couldn’t believe she killed it because it wasn’t much smaller than her. She was a real predator.

My next cat came on my 19th birthday as a gift to myself. I was driving home from class and spotted a sign that read “free kittens”. I pulled in hoping to find another black & white ball of fluff or a litter of kittens to choose from, but when I knocked on the door the woman said there was one left. She was a Torbie (tortoiseshell-tabby). If I’m being honest, her coat was not appealing to me. I wanted a black & white cat because of Missy, but life shouldn’t be all about looks. It was my birthday; she was an orphan & I was ready to become a cat-mom, so I scooped her up & headed home. What I didn’t know, is she wasn’t familiar with human contact, so she was bit of a bat-shit crazy tiny demon cat. I named her Sadie, which is short for Satan. Zach doesn’t believe that story because today, 10 years later, Sadie is the sweetest most lovable cat. To be honest, her crazy days only lasted a few months and after that they only surfaced in spurts which delivered a ton of laughs, to say the least. This is the first reason you need a cat.

1. Cats are fun & entertaining. Have you ever seen a cat on catnip? YouTube.

2. They can lower stress. Petting a cat can be therapeutic and when you pair that with the soft sounds of a purr, you will find yourself with all the happy feels.

3. You can save a life so consider two. National Geographic estimates that there are around 100 million stray cats worldwide, with at least 70 million in the US 12 million in Australia, and 1 million in the UK. Stop in to visit the cats in your local shelter. They are in need of a loving home. They have so much to offer you too; They can range from a cuddle companion to a predator to keep your home rodent-free. I recommend adopting two cats because it’s nice to have a friend for entertainment.

4. They are independent & low maintenance animals; Two important qualities. They can be left for long periods of time, so there is no need to rush home. While they may need assistance at some point, they put a lot of effort into grooming themselves, so you don’t have to. They can also sleep for 15+ hours per day so they usually only bother you if their dish is empty…no joke. And when it is empty, they will bother the heck out of you. They are “purrsistant” animals.

5. Cats help children build their immune systems. Contrary to what you might think, a cat in the house can expose children to a more diverse type of bacteria that can prevent health issues later in life such as asthma.

As I close this post, I realize that not everyone likes cats as much as I do, but they are beautiful & fun creatures. I hope you learned something new & will consider adopting a cat of your own. Let me know if you have any kitties at home. I would love to see them! Below are ours.

Always,

Erikka