Did having kittens prepare you for DC?

[Bobcatcornea]

I read the thread on all the things that are bad about being a Mum (I think on the Relationships board) A lot of the things on there are my life now - lack of spontaneity with trips as we constantly have to think about the cats even down to a spontaneous night out after work (I can't get home so they'd be left and not fed for over 24 hours), being woken up at 6 am and every other blooming day of the week, the constantness of things - scoop litter trays, feeding, playing with them etc

Having DC is bloody hard (I know, I have a DSD). But do you think that maybe the transition was just a tad easier if you already have pets such as cats or dogs?

No.
There are similarities dealing with pets and small children:- cleaning up pee, poo and puke; demands for food (some are fussy eaters); general mess etc
I think having a pet teaches you about responsibility and caring for another living being but parenthood to a small human is very different.

I give up. Nowhere in my posts have I said they're the same. Nowhere in my posts have I said they're the same level of responsibility.

Thank you @Crockof that's exactly how I felt when I got the kittens.

I do see what you mean, in a way. There are certainly adjustments that you'd have to make for kittens that you'd also have to make for kids, IFYSWIM. So with kittens you might have to adjust your working schedule so you could be home at a certain time, or avoid spontaneous overnight trips.

I mean, obviously having children would be a significantly bigger change (!!), but I do get where you're coming from. It presumably depends also on the lifestyle you had before getting the kittens - for some people adjusting to a lack of spontaneity would be a big change, whereas other people might already have the sort of life that kittens can fit into without many problems.

I totally agree with everything you've said @Jennyfi

For us it was a huge change getting kittens. It's like I suddenly realised we were 100% responsible for these little things and they currently wholly rely on us (they're currently only 3 months old). We used to go spontaneously camping a lot if there was decent weather both on weekends with DSD and weekends without. We now have to plan them a lot more as cat sitters are involved. We'd have spontaneous nights out in the city and stay out when DSD was with her Mum but again we can't do that now. Last year I spent 3 weeks away one month, most of which was planned last minute but again I can't do that anymore.

I know having a baby is a whole other level. I have a DSD who I've known and been involved with since she was 2 so I'm aware of some of the responsibilities that come with DC.

Anyway, seems the majority disagree. No doubt I'll be posting in the future about how delusional I was and what on earth was I thinking 🤷‍♀️

I agree with others that the OP isn't saying that having a cat is the equivalent of having children. She's saying that it gives a little taster of not having the total freedom that no children/kids give.