I have never understood the "cat lady" stereotype — that is until I, without a doubt, became one. This summer I found myself living alone in an apartment, extremely single, and working a lot, all while having a very introverted personality. I often find myself really disliking people, yet craving the feeling of attachment and wanting to love someone and give them my attention and care.
So, with that being said, I ended up at the humane society buying a kitten. I didn't know the first thing about cats; I've only ever had dogs growing up. However, my apartment is not dog friendly and I am gone way too much to have puppy.
Within the first 24 hours my little kitten stole my heart, and just like that I was transformed into a cat lady. Now that I've had him for a few months I've realized there are a lot shameful secrets we have that make us cat ladies. The funny thing is that we are truly not shameful about these at all.
1. Ninety percent of the pictures on our phones are of our cats.
When my cat is cuddling with me, I can't not take a picture. Even though he does this all day long, I take a picture every time. I have to have so much self control to not post every single picture to my snapchat story or on Instagram. You think I post a lot of pictures of him already? Trust me, I'm playing it cool.
2. We go shopping and end up in the cat aisle.
I spend just as much money on myself as I do on my kitten. I want to buy the cutest toys and sparkly collars — even though he would be content playing with a box.
3. Our cats don't make us feel bad about being anti-social.
When I get off of work I look forward coming home and cuddling with my cat. I shamelessly will text my friends and decline post-work drinks in order to spend some quality time with King Louie.
4. We are on a level with our cats that no one will ever understand.
My cat will circle the bathtub ledge while I shower. He has no concept of boundaries, and I really don't mind. The second day I had him I was sitting on the toilet, and next thing I know, I have a cat on my lap while I'm peeing. Luckily, that was just a phase, but we still reached that level — and there is no going back.
5. Separation anxiety is a real thing.
I went on a beach vacation with my friends and made my mom FaceTime me so I could see him.
It's just something about having a living thing surrounding you that depends on you to care for them and gives you nothing but unconditional love in return that gets to me. Sure, a lot of these little secrets are funny, and may make me a crazy cat lady, but he keeps me sane.
There is nothing shameful about being a cat lady. It helps they are absolutely adorable — more adorable than most college boys and definitely fluffier.
