“My cats are my babies,” I say. “Uh, no they are not,” you tell me. Well, you’re wrong. My cats are my babies, and all of us with pets will tell you the same thing.

You say that moms have to wake up numerous times throughout the night to care for their children. You feed them, and change them and tend to their every need until the sun rises. Well, us fur-mommas wake up several times when our babies are hungry or have to pee. We wake up too, I promise. Especially when our babies are young, just like yours. If you think a newborn puppy is not like a newborn baby, you are sadly mistaken, my friend.

You use your baby talk to communicate with your little precious one, cooing at them and smiling when they make a noise that you think is just absolutely adorable. Have you ever heard a kitten meow in a new way? There’s nothing like it. You’ll sit and coo and meow at them back for hours, and it’ll make your heart so warm to hear that little new weird meow. I mean, I’m sure your baby makes cute sounds too, but this meow is seriously the best. Your babies first word is precious, but I promise that my babies first squeak is beautiful. I’m as proud of him as, well, a mother.

When your baby falls asleep in your lap, you don’t move, no matter how bad you have to pee. You’ll do anything to keep that little one happy and dreaming. You’ll do anything not to wake them up. Well, when my little fur-baby falls asleep in my arms, I will stay there until he wakes up, just like you. There is absolutely no way I’m going to wake him from those sweet dreams of catching mice and chasing his tail. You feel true love when you look down at that sweet little face, but when I see those little eyes close, I feel the same thing,

Even though my children did not come from my womb, and they don’t speak my language, and they're covered in fur, does not mean that my love for them is not strong. My love for them is eternal. Just like yours. The difference? My baby isn’t going to backtalk me when they become a teenager, and won’t steal my money out of my purse and sneak out to go to out with their friends.

I wake up for them in the middle of the night, I smile when I see something at the store that I think they might enjoy, and I think about my plans with them before I think about my plans with actual adult humans. They are my world, just the same as your baby is yours. I know there is something special about having a part of you live in this world, but my love for my pet is strong and never ending. You love your baby, and I love mine. Isn’t that what matters?