Over the summer, I adopted a tiny orange kitten. He was being fostered, along with his brother, by the neighbor of the family I nanny for in the mornings. I hadn’t had any plans to adopt a pet, but I offered to petsit the pair of brothers once and immediately fell in love. Right away, I began planning the adoption and preparing my house and bank account for the decision. The more time I spent around the kittens, the more I felt drawn to one of them. For such a small creature, he sure had a big personality. He was cuddly and energetic, scruffy and clumsy. Before I had even officially adopted him, I had picked out a name: Buttercup.
As soon as I brought Buttercup home, he felt like part of my family. My parents, who had originally been against the idea, ended up quickly loving him as much as I did. He spent the summer at home with us, along with the other three cats and two dogs that we already had. Buttercup grew rapidly, but still hasn’t lost his kitten personality. I knew that when school started I would miss him too much to leave him at home, despite the short half hour commute. So I began the process of getting Buttercup approved as an emotional support animal.
There seemed to be infinite hoops to jump through when it came to completing all the steps of the application process, but after several very tedious months, he was finally approved. After going through an extremely challenging breakup in the fall, I needed Buttercup with me more than ever. I was so relieved to finally bring him along with me when school started up again at the beginning January.
Now that the month is coming to a close, Buttercup is getting more used to his new routine. Luckily he hasn’t crawled into the walls again since we moved in, he gets cozy on the bed when I leave for class, and he even tolerates getting into his carrier for car rides. Just having him around has certainly helped me navigate an extremely difficult time in my life.
As I’m writing this, it has been almost exactly a month since Buttercup moved into my dorm with me. Coming back to school was a tough transition for both of us. I’ve been so heartbroken and overwhelmed, I strongly considered taking a semester off. I’ve spent many evenings crying in my dorm, but Buttercup is always there to curl up by my side. Although, he’s had challenges of his own since we moved in. It’s been tough for him to adjust to his new environment. On the first day, he found an unfinished spot under the cabinets and managed to crawl into the wall to hide. He also took a while to get used to me leaving the dorm for class several times a day, not to mention the trips in the car to visit home on the weekends.
I look forward to many more adventures with my kitty, and I’m sure there will be many more stories to tell of the antics he gets up to. Despite his shenanigans, having Buttercup has truly helped me so much. Having a companion to take care of has helped me feel motivated to keep taking care of myself. Whenever Buttercup is by my side, I feel like it’s all going to be okay.