I remember back all those years ago when my wife and I first decided the time was right to try our luck at parenting and opted to adopt a kitten. Our apartment was small (like most couples just starting out are) and our budget was smaller, yet we felt sure we could give a pet everything it’s heart desired. Being cat people the choice of animal was easy, but come time to pick up our new pet we discovered our tastes in regards to size, personality, and what was considered the best kitten for us was widely different. So we did what we swore we’d never do and took two home instead of the one we could afford. The first stop after picking them up was to the vet of course and immediately we were informed about the importance of spaying/neutering our new pets. How often we should treat them for fleas. The barrage of tests that needed to be ran on them just in case they had some type of disease in which the symptoms wouldn’t show until it was too late. We learned about litter box training and how often to give them milk along with what not to feed them.

Being students at the time and this being our first experience in pet owning we naturally hit the books. You name the cat-centered subject and we were up to date on all the latest techniques. Immediately we decided not to declaw them and so that meant more studying on the ways to save our furniture while teaching them to resist their impulse to rip our couch to shreds. What we didn’t learn though…what was never once told to us in any of the books or discussions with our vet….what we didn’t discover until those first few nights… is that what goes bump in the night isn’t always some thug with a ski mask and a crowbar looking to swipe our $200 television set. Sure we knew that cats were mainly nocturnal and that of course meant they’d be awake most of the night, but it never dawned on us that this also meant that they be making nightly patrols around our small apartment and leaving a train of disaster in their wake.

Now whenever I find out a friend is about to get a new kitten for their child or simply for themselves, the first thing I do is make them aware that when they hear glass breaking at 2:00 A.M. there’s a better chance that their new kitten has decided to turn their lamp into a tackling dummy rather than a cat burglar looking to make a quick buck.