I wasn’t sure where to post this, so forgive me if this is the wrong place. I am just looking for people’s thoughts and opinions since this has been going round in my head for months now and I feel like I am just going around in circles. I would appreciate anyone’s opinion.
Backstory: In 2013 my husband and I got two kittens, Mio (pictured) and Nozawa. Nozawa was and is more my husband’s cat, and Mio was completely attached to me. Mio was the sweetest little cat who was always happy to see you, loved attention and had such a sweet little personality, I loved her so much. In 2016 she got sick suddenly and we found out she had FeLV (Nozawa didn’t have it). She passed soon after and I was (and am still), heartbroken and devastated about it.
Afterwards we would put down a deposit for 2 exotic SH kittens in a future litter from a very reputable breeder. We decided to get 2 as our other cat Nozawa is kind of cranky and we wanted them to have a playmate. While we waited for her to have kittens available (it would take 8 months), we decided to foster some kittens with our local animal shelter. We did pretty good until this one kitten came along in a litter of 6 who was super cute, and we ended up foster failing her. So after we picked up the two shorthair exotic kittens - and we now have 4 cats.
The two exotic kittens are sweet, great with strangers, great at the vet, very healthy, social, but neither of them really like getting pet or like getting attention. They love food and will sleep with us at night, but if you try and pet or brush them they will kind of move out of the way.
Our foster fail kitten as well sometimes likes being pet, is very sweet, but she also doesn’t like being fussed over at all.
I really miss having a cat who was always happy to see me and loved attention. I have seriously been considering getting another cat, but the stigma of having 5 cats is really holding me back. When I tell people we have 4 cats, their eyes go kind of wide, so I can't imagine telling them 5 cats. Though part of me thinks I have this one life and if it makes me happy who cares?
We can afford it (all our cats have insurance and we feed quality wet food), have the time, our cats like other cats, and space isn’t really an issue (though we do plan to move to a slightly bigger place in 2 years), but still I keep going around and around. There have been a couple of rescue persians that I was on the brink of adopting, but just as I resolved to do so they ended up being adopted by someone else. Also I feel like there is just no guarantee how a cat is actually going to behave once we get them home, or if they are a kitten they can change so much as they get older.
My other worry is that no matter what kind of cat I get, nothing will ever fill the hole that Mio left and I just have to live with it forever. And I worry that I just haven’t given our current cats enough time (they are now 15 months old), and maybe they will become more affectionate with time?
I feel like I am just putting myself through the emotional wringer by being on the verge of adopting another cat, going backwards and forwards about it and then backing out, then being disappointed about backing out.
I love all of our cats dearly but I get really upset at times that they basically don’t even like to be pet.
Thank you if you read all of this, sorry for the length.
Backstory: In 2013 my husband and I got two kittens, Mio (pictured) and Nozawa. Nozawa was and is more my husband’s cat, and Mio was completely attached to me. Mio was the sweetest little cat who was always happy to see you, loved attention and had such a sweet little personality, I loved her so much. In 2016 she got sick suddenly and we found out she had FeLV (Nozawa didn’t have it). She passed soon after and I was (and am still), heartbroken and devastated about it.
Afterwards we would put down a deposit for 2 exotic SH kittens in a future litter from a very reputable breeder. We decided to get 2 as our other cat Nozawa is kind of cranky and we wanted them to have a playmate. While we waited for her to have kittens available (it would take 8 months), we decided to foster some kittens with our local animal shelter. We did pretty good until this one kitten came along in a litter of 6 who was super cute, and we ended up foster failing her. So after we picked up the two shorthair exotic kittens - and we now have 4 cats.
The two exotic kittens are sweet, great with strangers, great at the vet, very healthy, social, but neither of them really like getting pet or like getting attention. They love food and will sleep with us at night, but if you try and pet or brush them they will kind of move out of the way.
Our foster fail kitten as well sometimes likes being pet, is very sweet, but she also doesn’t like being fussed over at all.
I really miss having a cat who was always happy to see me and loved attention. I have seriously been considering getting another cat, but the stigma of having 5 cats is really holding me back. When I tell people we have 4 cats, their eyes go kind of wide, so I can't imagine telling them 5 cats. Though part of me thinks I have this one life and if it makes me happy who cares?
We can afford it (all our cats have insurance and we feed quality wet food), have the time, our cats like other cats, and space isn’t really an issue (though we do plan to move to a slightly bigger place in 2 years), but still I keep going around and around. There have been a couple of rescue persians that I was on the brink of adopting, but just as I resolved to do so they ended up being adopted by someone else. Also I feel like there is just no guarantee how a cat is actually going to behave once we get them home, or if they are a kitten they can change so much as they get older.
My other worry is that no matter what kind of cat I get, nothing will ever fill the hole that Mio left and I just have to live with it forever. And I worry that I just haven’t given our current cats enough time (they are now 15 months old), and maybe they will become more affectionate with time?
I feel like I am just putting myself through the emotional wringer by being on the verge of adopting another cat, going backwards and forwards about it and then backing out, then being disappointed about backing out.
I love all of our cats dearly but I get really upset at times that they basically don’t even like to be pet.
Thank you if you read all of this, sorry for the length.
