Two weeks ago, the cat my family and I plucked from the side of the road gave birth to two kittens. Our former stray cat, Baby Syrup, is now doubling-down on her momma duties while my parents (who didn’t even want one cat, let alone three) struggle to learn how to raise kittens.
As I watch Baby Syrup, who once ruled the heart of every family member (the kittens have now taken her place), turn into a genuine adult cat, I can’t help but reflect upon what it took to get us there. It had been so long since we had owned a pet and while my parents could not be bothered to get another pet, I was determined to fill my parents’ lives with something even better than their kids…a cat. My parents, while they vehemently oppose this label, are empty-nesters. My brother just recently left the house as he got married earlier this year, and I have been gone for nearly four years because of college, so my parents house is EMPTY. And what better way to fill it, than with cats :)
It took me less than a year to achieve my goals, and if you too want to rid your parents of empty-nest syndrome, I recommend you follow these four simple steps:
- Buy the cat food before your dad can say no
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Major key. What’s your dad gonna say? Return the cat food? Of course he’s not, he’s going to want to feed the stray cats so that he can get rid of the cat food that you bought without his permission. Be aware, your dad will be upset with you for enabling this behavior, but this will eventually fade.
- Name your cats and make your parents send you photos
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Here, you will start to familiarize your family with the cats, by naming them really quirky, unexpected names, like Syrup and Snow. Not only will your family be appalled at the ridiculous names, but since you seem so fond of them, they will start to send you photos of each cat while you’re away at school or somewhere else.
Now, they will be watching and waiting for the cats so they can send you photos, effectively building their bond. #anothermajorkey
- Feed the only friendly stray cat Costco Rotisserie Chicken
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And then it happened–– a Christmas in July where we met Baby Syrup. Baby Syrup was a very small, very timid domestic shorthair cat (similar to Syrup, her namesake) that we had never seen before, and we wanted immediately. She was a kitten and seemed more inclined to the presence of humans, so as a family, we were more inclined in actually petting her (which I had been trying to do with all the other cats to no avail).
My brother began to seduce her with a classic: Costco Rotisserie Chicken, and, of course, the cat came right up to my brother’s fingers and snatched the chicken right out of them! During that feeding, my brother got two or three pets in on Baby Syrup, while my SIL (sister-in-law) and I excitedly watched. When retelling the story to my father, he seemed a little jealous, so you know what that means (it means he’s falling in love).
- Let your dad take over <3
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Oh boy. After feeding the tiny stray cat Costco Rotisserie Chicken, there wasn’t much my brother and I had to do to get our parents on board to adopt this cat. Slowly, and when I say slowly, I mean two months later, my father started leaving the food bowl just beyond the boundary of our home for Baby Syrup to come in and use. I’m not sure if he wanted to see if she’d come inside or wait for the food to be put outside…but nothing could’ve prepared him for what happened when the cat came inside the house.
Baby Syrup came to eat, and then she went to explore. Please take a moment to think about my father chasing this cat around our house, trying to take photos of her for my brother and me, because who could believe it? The cat acted as though this was her home!
And you know what? She was right.
I think the novelty of having a cat really pulled my parents in—playing with this little kitten and watching her eat, witnessing how she found corners of our house to make her own and sleeping by my parents feet.
Whatever it was, one thing was for sure, my father had fallen in love.
I feel like I should emphasize, you really should not be feeding stray cats, and if you are, you want to try and catch these cats to ensure they are spayed/neutered in order to minimize the stray cat population. There are between 60-100 million stray cats on the streets of the United States and if we do not ensure that the cats have been spayed/neutered, we will help contribute to that growing number. If you really want a cat, you should head to the animal shelter, where there are so many lovely cats that are waiting to find their forever home.
Just bring a cat home, what’s the worst that can happen???