How I did it: My very first cat, Chelsea, passed away in 2007, from renal failure. About a year and a half later I wanted another cat of my own, but lived with my dad (and still do) and he didn't want another cat in the house. (His girlfriend at the time moved in with us and brought her own 2 cats)

Finally I convinced him, in January 2010. On Jan. 16th I fell in love with a tiny fuzzy ball of energy at the humane society. He groomed my face and my fingers and hopped on my shoulders to play with my hair. I thought he was awesome. Well, ol father stalled a bit, I know he couldn't deny that Charlie was special but in the end he said no that day, and sadly I walked away.

Later on that evening when the place was closed dad finally says yes, and the next day I go as early as possible to get Charlie. If I had arrived 5 or 10 minutes later I wouldn't have Charlie now because another woman came in while I was looking at the adoption papers and she told me that Charlie was the cat she was going to adopt just then.

I felt bad for her but lucky for me! At four months my smart little kitten learned to fetch!! Maybe it's because I spent so much time with him but I would throw his toys to any corner of a room and he'd bring them right back to me, and I'd throw em again. He sometimes does this more than 20 times in a row. He also loves pretending he's me keeping his little paws on the laptop. He managed to get into my guest account and open or close files on other occasions. Sometimes he "types" something while I'm chatting with someone. I think the last message was something like, "hhhhuuuuuuuuuuuuu".

Lessons & tips:

• Make sure you're ready to adopt a cat and don't plan on moving at any point to a place that doesn't allow pets. 
• Check out all the cats. I'd advise not just getting a specific one on impulse just because he looks the cutest somehow, rather, check out their temperament, what habits they have (just like humans cats all have their different little personalities and habits I've noticed over the past 15 years)
• Be aware of the costs of owning a cat. Because Charlie was a kitten, I spent a lot of money at first. The adoption fee, the booster shots 1 & 2 months later, and the rabies shots add up, plus there's the yearly vet visits. Food and litter aren't very expensive, though!
• Do consider adopting an older cat - I know I will at some point. Some of them have the cutest personalities and are much calmer than kittens. (Charlie isn't very cuddly, and he may never be, I'll have to find out as he ages- but by adopting an older cat you can almost be sure that they'll behave the way they do now for the rest of their lives) There's the cost benefit too.

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May 29, 2010, 08:28PM PDT | 1 comment | 5 cheers