Cats are my life, here's why they should be yours too

Cats are my life. Cats are the best. They are vital. The trinity of the spicy bean: cats, wine, bed. Cats first though, always. Even above food.

I have had three cats in my life, and sadly lost two of them in the past year. I don’t want to talk about that now though, I want to focus on all the joy and happiness that cats bring to our lives, and why they are my faves. Don’t get me wrong, I love dogs too. Doggos are amazing in different ways. In fact I’m a trustee for a charity that works with disabled people to train their dogs to to amazing things, so I know how wonderful they are. (Check out the Independent Assistance Dog Agency for more info and for photos of dogs of course).

But cats are my main animal that I love. I love their SILLY MEOWS and their TWITCHY WHISKERS and their SNIFFY NOSES. Their little trots, how sometimes they drop kibbles out of their mouths, and the way they stop dead in the middle of the floor to lick their bumholes. I LOVE IT ALL. Cats make me emotional. Dan once showed me the cats up for adoption on the PDSA website and I cried. Full on tears and ugly face. How could it be that there are SPARE cats? All cats should have people who love them. I love them all.

Aside from all this weird emotional stuff, why do I love cats so much?

Their diverse personalities

All three of my cats have been completely different. Even Biscuit and Smudge who were from the same litter and had exactly the same upbringing were different in so many ways.

Tiggy was a rescue from Cats Protection and we have no idea how she came to be in their care. She was very timid girl for most of her life, and we’re not sure if that’s because she had a tough kittenhood or if that was just how she was born. Either way, she was a tough nut and Cat of the Neighbourhood, but took a while to trust new people.

Biscuit was completely the other end of the spectrum. He was basically a dog. He loved everyone he met, and I’m sure he would have lived with everyone on the street if he was an outdoor cat, whether he liked it or not. To anyone out there who thinks all cats are aloof, I wish you could have met Boo. It was annoying how much he needed cuddles. Many a good friend has woken up on our sofa with him licking their toes or their face, or any other skin they might have exposed (he did lick a couple of bottoms in his time). That cat turned people into cat lovers.

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Smudge is somewhere in between. He likes to keep to himself sometimes, but can also be incredibly loving. We got him at eight weeks old with Biscuit, and you could immediately see the difference in their personalities. Smoo stayed up all night meowing for attention on his first night with us, whereas Boo bravely explored. However it was Boo who became clingy and Smudge who’s a bit more of a loner. Or just more discerning with who he spends his time with.

Cats are pretty low maintenance

Generally, cats will take pretty good care of themselves. They wash themselves, exercise themselves, and generally amuse themselves. Of course you need to provide the basics – food, water, toys and cuddles, along with regular trips to the vet for vaccinations and check ups. But there’s none of this walking the every day business, not even any clearing out their poop if their an outdoors cat like Tiggy was for most of her life.

Our boy are indoors cats, so we have the matter of the poo trays, which is kinda gross. At least we don’t have to leave the house to deal with them though. I’m pretty cool with most things that don’t involve changing out of my pyjamas. We also have to play with the more, especially now Smudge is an Only Child. It’s not exactly a chore though, playing with our boy is great fun and stupidly cute.

It can be kind of annoying when you want a cuddle and the cat’s like “MUM I’m trying to SLEEEEP”, causing them to bugger off somewhere you can’t reach. But I suppose as a human I am the same, so I can’t really complain. With Biscuit we got about thirty years worth of love in the seven years he was around, so again, not really a lot to complain about. However, Smudge is currently hiding upstairs and I desperately want to bother him. Poor guy gets so harassed now he’s not got Boo as a buffer!

They never stop surprising you

Even when she was very old, Tiggy was still full of surprises. She’d never been a cuddly cat. She much preferred choosing who she was going to sit on and when. Until she got old and soppy, and started letting my mum carry her like a baby, getting her tummy rubbed. Young Tiggy would NEVER have allowed this. EVER.

Since Boo went, Smoo has been constantly doing new things. He’s started going to toilet in the corner of the garden. Neither of them ever did their business outside before, but it seemed to suddenly click for Smoo. We think it might be a territory thing. Now he’s not sharing with Boo, he feels more comfortable marking areas as his own (with his poop). He also went to sleep in the castle on top of my wardrobe, which used to be Boo’s spot. Smudge always liked the castle, but kept his visits short.

The main surprise from Boo was being woken up every morning by either having your head used as a cat bed, your body used as a cat tree, or by being licked to death. A very odd boy, he was. He also played fetch occasionally. Though by far his best role was as Poo Companion. When we all moved into the Bean House, I think this came as a bit of a surprise to the Other Beans. A welcome surprise. It’s nice to have something soft and fluffy sat on your lap while you make plop.