Does anyone prefer adult cats over kittens?

[RamseyGordon]

We have an adult cat and a kitten. I had no idea how much hard work it is to have a kitten. I knew it'd be tough, but she's 9 months now and I'm still exhausted with her.

This is light-hearted though, we love her to bits and she has enriched our lives so much and it's so fun to watch her grow. She's funny, affectionate, playful, has all her own little quirks.

But I also cant wait for her to grow up. It's reminiscent of when my children were young. Waking up in the night, wanting to get up at 5am. Crying for me if I'm in another room and the door is shut, needing to have eyeballs in the back of my head in case she gets into any trouble or starts destroying something. Dedicating lots of time in the day for play. All the energy! And more energy! We started letting her go out but not unsupervised but she won't go. She just stands on the grass screaming lol she's not very confident. I was trying to encourage her to play outside but she wasn't having any of it. We've tried quote a few times but there's no sign of her moving a muscle. She won't even go back inside she just stands on one spot frozen going "WAHHHHH" until I pick her up and take her back in bless her. I just thought that it'd help her burn off some energy but if she doesn't want to then that's fine.

As funny and cute and delightful as kittens are, and as much as we adore her..... I think in future I would stick to adult cats. Does anyone else prefer adults too?

God, no, I love kittens. The tiny paws and toebeans and little roundy fluffy tummies and bonkers determination to conquer every damn thing. They're brilliant. Adult cats ate great too but kittens are special.

This is a good summary of a kitten! I agree.

Kittens are babies/toddler cats, they are learning to deal with the world and although they can be hard work and require watching a lot of the time, the sheer cuteness overload makes up for it. I love the kitten stage and I also love the cat stage.

Hi OP, my cat is one and a half. He had a period when he kept waking us up between 3 and 5 am, and we were exhausted really as we were renovating a place we had bought as well. He calmed down instantly once we moved in, he only woke me up this morning at 9 am. He goes through phases, at one point when he was a kitten we could not have someone over for dinner as he kept getting up on the table. Shut doors were a big no no as he would destroy the carpet otherwise. He used to like chilling on the hob as it was a sunny spot in the morning, again, whatever we tried could not get him off. I realised that the more I was trying to deter him from doing stuff the worse he was. He was just curious and these days he has no interest in getting up on the kitchen counter or higher surfaces apart from window cills. After he got neutered he also became very scared of people, to the point where he left very visible marks on me from trying to escape every time someone would walk in the proximity. I used to take him out on a lead in the communal gardens when I lived in the previous property, now he enjoys the garden and walking on roof tops. But I am a bit overprotective and don’t let him out at night.
However what I really wanted to say to you is that as energetic as he was before, he got me out of bed as I felt I was depressed again, and I really miss his kitten days. Even my partner who did not want a cat, as tired and stressed out he’d be from a day at work and more hours working at the house would get a smile on his face when seeing the cat. And throughout those crazy times of waking up at silly a clock after very little sleep he would make time to play with the cat for at least 10 -20 min while I was getting ready for work. So yes, your kitten will calm down, only a few months down the line. Just cherish her crazy days while she is still playful. What I could suggest for you is get a wheel for her to run on, she may burn some energy that way and it would be beneficial for both cats in the long run.

@123andgo thank you for writing this. It did actually hit home because you're right.. even though we are tired after work etc and just want to chill we can always count on being cheered up by her and having a laugh in the evenings while we play with her. She's always doing hilarious stuff and is a huge presence in the house. I miss her when I'm at work. I think I'm finding it more difficult though because I have low iron and low B12 and also sleep badly. So I am very tired a lot of the time and I find her very very exhausting. Sometimes when I've had a day at the office i just feel like going home, having a shower, food, and an early night or if I'm poorly I want to just go to bed straight away but I can't because I have to entertain her I can't just get home from a long day at work and get in bed and ignore her. So I'm just struggling with the responsibility a little bit but it's not too bad, I'm not completely fed up with it. It's just more difficult than I thought it would be and thought that by 9 months she may have started to settle a bit but nope 😆

When we were looking for the overlords , we decided on two adults (at the time DC were late teens and DH and I were out in the day ) . DH now WFH but the thought of kittens storming about is exhausting .

Ours have their routines , it is fun to find their latest sleeping spots without worrying abput them getting lost or stuck !
They sail out of the cat door , wander round the garden, lie on beds and chairs . Occasionaly on their cat tower (which takes up a good part of the lounge )

Don't feel like you have to come home and entertain her - she's not a dog! She'll be fine playing with her toys for a bit or having a cuddle.

I really like what I call 'teenage cats', about a year old I suppose. Long legs, very active, still very playful.

Kittens are fun and cute but I do like being able to properly cuddle my adult cat. I also didn't miss the holes in the bedding before he learned how to retract his claws!!

All the talk about kittens and not a single photo!
☹️☹️

Here you are @Riapia !

Here's mine!

A rare moment of peace

I love kittens

I've just had to retrieve the kitten from behind the fireplace. He was investigating whether he could climb up the chimney. He's now balancing on top of the clothes airer.

Your kitten sounds exactly like mine! She has also disappeared up the chimney a few times and still tries to but we now watch her like a hawk in the living room. And her face place to sleep is balancing on the heated clothes horse (or maiden, whatever you call them)

My god yes. We have 3 older cats (2 aged 12 and 1 aged 11) who are lovely and calm, just pootle about the house and garden and sleep and purr a lot.

Dd19 decided earlier this year she wanted her own cat and brought home a kitten and he’s bloody wild! He terrorises the other cats and hasn’t yet learnt they’re much bigger than him and he should leave them alone, he’s climbed the curtains in the living room so much he managed to pull down the curtain pole the other week, the bannister on the stairs is scratched to pieces where he keeps trying to walk up it, he pounces on your feet when you walk past and he’s a bloody nightmare 😂. He’s very cute though so it doesn’t take us long to forgive any misdemeanours.

He’s 6 months now and booked in to be neutered tomorrow morning so I’m hoping it will calm him down a little as he’s an absolute fruit loop at the moment!

This is the little reprobate looking very cute and calm right now…

Right now I'm loving the kittens because they are fast asleep. Earlier when they were literally running up the curtains not so much.
I'm loving watching their bond grow (they are the same age give or take a day or two but came from different litters) and their different personalities evolve. I do prefer to have pets from young but it will be a relief once they have calmed down a little!

You might be able to find a Bengal Queen that is retired from having kittens and in need of a loving home. They are often about 5.

We call those cattens.

I wouldn't contemplate kittens. Cute but too much work. I'd rather give a home to senior kittizens who get overlooked.

Definitely! We have three cats, the ‘baby’ is two now but she is still bloody hard work 🙈 we ‘fostered’ her (yeah, right) when she was around 4 months old and she has run us ragged ever since. She constantly bugs the older two to play with her, grumpy old man cat adores her and will indulge her every time but even grumpier, older lady cat thumps her if she bothers her. Old lady cat is more than capable of keeping up with a playful kitten but makes a very violent point of refusing.

She’s also the greediest pig I’ve ever known, even from day one she was literally shoving her entire face in the bowl, trying to steal food from the others, climbing our trouser legs if we were not serving the food fast enough for her liking. She still does it now, and SCREAMS the entire time while we are dishing up their meals. Monstrous little thing, but we love her.

Here they're "catlets"

Ours were a year old when we got them , still slinky and leggy (now 5yo all Judgey and lardy , though he claims its Winter Fur )

We call them catlings!

I prefer adult cats but then they become elderly and also require a lot of care and attention, just like anyone really.