Volunteering at the Houston SPCA, I see adopted pets returned for various reasons–including young kittens sent back for having “too much energy.” I always used to think, “What’s the matter with those people? Didn’t they know that kittens are, by definition, frisky?”
Then I brought home Jewel–my first all-indoor kitten–and I developed a new empathy for “those people.”
Playing with an as-yet-unadopted kitten, outside your own turf, is all pleasure. Sharing your personal indoors with a kitten 24/7–that’s a different dish of kibbles.
- Kittens forget that, unlike their littermates, humans were not designed for play-biting and claws-on wrestling. (We used up a few boxes of bandages during Jewel’s early days here.)
- They climb up, chew on, and knock over anything they can get at. (We can’t leave things lying on any convenient surface anymore. Our toilet paper rolls are now kept in a closed cabinet, and no one knows when it’ll be safe to use the TP holder again.)
- Just when you think you’ve put everything safely out of their reach, they grow big enough to scale new heights.
Jewel is now nine months old and has outgrown some annoying habits, mostly outgrown some others, and developed a few new ones (like dipping her paws in the sink where dishes are being dunk-rinsed–that’s what we get for not having a dishwasher). Despite her energy level, she’s remained a household member for at least three reasons:
- Being cute, cuddly, and a great purrer makes up for a lot.
- I firmly believe that pet adoption is “till death do us part.”
- We’ve learned to take Jewel’s antics with a healthy dose of laughter–not just the less destructive antics, and not just weeks later, but in the immediate aftermath. Even as a mess is cleaned up; even when your carefully planned schedule is in shambles; even if you’re crying and laughing in alternate breaths, it’s possible to see humor in the situation. Things are still just things; and so long as no one (on two legs or four) is seriously injured and the house is still standing, nothing is really a disaster.
You may not have a kitten or any other pet, but everyone has frequent disruptions and messes to deal with. Will you choose to wail about how life always picks on you; or will you laugh, count your blessings, and enjoy the lighter side of life’s annoying moments?
