Kittens come home

The population of the Cearns household has now doubled. Recently, my family and I adopted three rescue kittens from the Humane Society of Kawartha Lakes.

They are all siblings, two girls and one boy. It’s been interesting to see them warming up to their new surroundings and starting to see their unique personalities come out. Kita, the older sister of the three, seems to act as a mother to them, keeping an eye on them and ensuring they stay safe. But she’s also the first kitten we’ve had who seems to like watching television. Since the first day of the adoption, Marco has seemed to be the most comfortable with us. He loves to be involved with anything we are doing and anything his sisters do. He loves to explore and seems to be one of the most daring of the three kittens. He also has a big personality, wanting the attention to be on him at all times. Lily, the smallest of the three, is kind of shy at times, but she’s been slowly finding her voice. She wasn’t as excited about exploring the house at first, but in the last week or so, she’s started to really enjoy chasing her siblings through the hallways and around the furniture. It took a bit of time, but she’s started to get more comfortable with us petting her too.

I’m also pleased to report we’ve been able to get all three of them to purr at least a couple of times.

Having to get Darcy, a cat we had for nearly 15 years, euthanized late last year, due to illness, hit me hard. She was my best friend and was always there for comfort when I needed her. I still think about her every day and all the positive memories she left me. While I took time to mourn her, having the new purpose, of taking care of and playing with these three new kittens, has helped to ease that sadness.

While having three kittens at home seemed daunting to me at first, I feel good about keeping this family together and giving a home to three kittens who needed one. These three new family members seem to have quickly found their way into my heart.

Let me end this by stressing pet adoption is a long-term commitment. When you adopt an animal, you should be ready to keep that pet for its full lifespan. It’s unfair to them if you’re buying them, only to return them later. Just like people, pets deserve stability too.

#column #DanCearns