There comes a point in every cat parent's life when they realize they're no longer just taking care of a pet. They're raising a tiny, furry child who has very strong opinions about absolutely everything. And despite being fully grown, that child still needs help opening doors and occasionally gets stuck behind the couch.
We've noticed that cat parents have a whole vocabulary that probably sounds strange to anyone who doesn't own a cat. We don't just have cats. We have sons, daughters, little boys, and baby girls. A fully grown, fifteen-pound cat can be referred to as a tiny baby without anyone questioning it. And if someone asks how old our children are, we're more than happy to explain that our eldest is seven and our youngest just turned three.
The family relationships can get pretty complicated, too. Our parents become cat grandparents, our siblings become aunts and uncles, and suddenly the family group chat is getting updates about a cat who has absolutely no idea how many relatives they have. Some grandparents even start asking about their grandcats before asking how their actual children are doing. We can't really blame them.
Then there are the conversations we have with other cat parents. We compare our cats' personalities, talk about their latest antics, and proudly announce little milestones that probably mean nothing to anyone else. Your cat finally learned to play fetch? That's exciting news! Your shy kitty voluntarily sat on someone's lap? We'd want to hear all about it.
Let's not forget how defensive we can get about our feline children. Someone calls our cat chunky, and suddenly we're explaining that he's just fluffy. Someone says he looks grumpy, and we're insisting he's actually very sweet once you get to know him. We know our cats aren't perfect, but we reserve the right to complain about their behavior ourselves.
We also love how every cat parent is convinced their baby has a completely unique personality. One is a spoiled little princess, another is a mischievous toddler, and another is a grumpy old man who just wants everyone to leave him alone. They might all be cats, but their humans could probably write entire biographies about them.
We may have adopted them as pets, but somewhere along the way, they became our children. And if that means proudly showing off pictures of our furry sons and daughters to anyone who will look, so be it.