Why cats and kids don’t always mix!

It seemed like a good idea at the time. The sign read: Animal sitters needed. Ask at the desk.

‘Go on, Mum,’ urged Lucas.

‘Okay,’ I said, needing no persuading. (I grew up with the most adorable Siamese cat, Ollie).

Indi’s face lit up. She’s been collecting a magazine called The Cat Collection for the past year and her bed has so many cuddly cats crammed onto it that  there’s barely room for her.

The rest of the two-hour shopping trip passed rather stressfully with the kids running around willing the time to pass until they picked up the cute kitties.

Oh and did I mention, that you’re not allowed to take one, you have to take two, so they don’t get lonely (not much chance of that in our house!).

Anyhow, we eventually picked them up. We were given a gorgeous black tabby (9 weeks) who looked he was wearing two pairs of white socks and a Ragdoll kitty (12 weeks) with fluffy white fur and dark tips on his ears, face and tail.

He reminded me a bit of Ollie and instantly I felt the first stirrings on love. ‘She’s $850,’ I told myself sternly. And besides we already have the most gorgeous dog, Coffee. I have three children, a dog and a worm farm – I don’t need any more work.

So out I went with a bag of food, trolley of shopping, three wildly excited kids, a compliant hubby and two kittens.

We got them home and banished poor Coffee to the garden. Then we tried to contain the kids (well Indi) as Tuna and Maxen (named by the kids) wandered around their new home.

Maxen the Ragdoll proved to be far braver than Tuna and was soon exploring the territory. He even found the litter tray – woo hoo! Tuna hid for a few hours under the sofa – poor thing, obviously traumatised by his arrival at the Brown household. But even he, by early evening was beginning to explore this new territory.

Of course, having kittens in the house means you get NOTHING else done. And it also means the kids go to bed VERY LATE and that meant that Alec and I went to bed VERY LATE.

I felt worried about Coffee feeling left out, so I let her sleep in our bedroom while the kittens chased one another around the lounge. I had an extremely restless night. Coffee kept trying to clammer under the door, I kept hearing the odd “thud” in the lounge and when I eventually woke, I felt terrible.

The light had filtered through the curtains, so I willed myself to get up. And that’s when I realised it was 4.08am and there was a full moon. No wonder we were all so hyped up!

But by now it was too late, I was wide awake. I used the time to cuddle the kittens – who were showing no signs of slowing down. I managed to use my relaxation CD to get a little bit more sleep, but I’m still pretty tired. And I’m also feeling very sad, as now we have to take the kittens back to the pet shop…

It’s been great fun and I’m sure we’ll do it again, but you need nerves of steel not to fall in love with them and the ability to survive on very little sleep and I’m not sure I have either…. Katie x