By Yoda – The Snuggly Cat

From the day I was born, my mommy-cat’s human was there to watch over us. She fed mommy-cat, cuddled her and she also looked after us too. The human would pick us up, and because of that, we became comfortable with humans too. We didn’t feel threatened by humans, even though we still preferred our mommy-cat.

When I was about six weeks, I would often be taken away from my furry family for an hour or so. It was scary at first, but it soon became exciting. I knew that after an hour with these other humans, I would be reunited with my mommy-cat again.

While this is unusual for most kitties, it was a good opportunity for me to gradually bond with my human BFF. I also become acquainted with the new smells and sounds of my soon-to-be new home.

I remember being dragged to into this loud, roaring, vibrating machine. I absolutely hated it at first. My humans call it a ‘Kaarrr’. It purrs loudly when at rest, which is OK when you get used to it. But roars quite wildly as it accelerates. It doesn’t bother me so much these days. I spend hours in the car with my humans driving from my country home to my city apartment. We can discuss the Kaarrr story in more detail another day!

Anyway, back to the separation from mommy-cat thing. Finally, when I was eight and a half weeks old, I left mommy-cat and my three remaining siblings for good. It was traumatic for me, but not as bad as for many other kitties. My transition was made easier for me.

Mommy-cat’s human would often let us sneak out of our cosy garage loft, to play in the bushes and run free on the grass. We would enjoy the last walk autumnal sunshine. We’d play hide and seek together and run to catch the invisible mice. We had a blast.

While we would regularly go for daily play-fests outside, mommy-cat’s human would keep a watchful eye on us. The human would pick us up and bring us closer together. We can’t help it – we get too excited and run off after that great mythical unicorn of the mice kingdom. Humans have never seen this great wonder, but us felines can sense him, he makes us want to run wild and crazy for seemingly no reason at all!

Seriously though, letting us play away from mommy-cat and giving her some ‘me-time’ made the separation all the more easier. Human interaction from an early stage also helped us feel more comfortable.

Lots of us kitties suffer from separation anxiety, when we first leave our mommy-cat. Imagine, since the day you’re born, every waking moment, or even moment asleep, it’s like living in a constant fur bundle. You wake up with your sibling’s paw in your rib cage, their tail in your face, and some other kitty’s lying on top of you! It’s a continuous furry-fest of movement.

Then one day, you’re on your own. You wake up one morning, without a mouthful of someone else’s fluff. No one’s crawling across your head and the sweet-smell of morning cat-breath just isn’t there.

It takes time to adjust. Good humans will give you your own room to get used to. They will put fresh water in there, lots of nice bedding, amazing fake mice to play with and a quiet, undisturbed private area for your litter box.

Humans should also ensure that this is your own special room. For the first few days you should be able to stay here without interruption, from any other new furry four-legged friends!