Rewind to the summer of 2012. I was a 7-year-old child with so much curiosity about the world. Then, along came an unpredicted amount of responsibility: a cat. You heard that right, I was given a cat at a mere seven years of age. Obviously, I named her Snickers, and we became inseparable. Now, fast forward to the present day in 2025, Snickers is still with me and has reached the golden age of 18, about the age of an 88-year-old in cat years. Not only is she thriving and living her best life, but she’s also started a new relationship with a little sister — a rescued kitten named Oui. Â
Oui was rescued from a balcony during a stormy, summer night earlier this year. After finding her, we did the appropriate thing and took her to a vet to see if she was microchipped. In conclusion, she was not; we treated her like a kitten and gave her all the necessary vaccines and posted on Facebook and Petfinder to see if anyone was missing a cat. A few weeks had passed with no response, so she was officially declared ours and named Kirby “Oui” Priestley. Â
Throughout the past few months of owning Oui, I started to realize why I love being a pet owner so much. After having Snickers for 13 years, we started to fall into a routine, and we basically know everything about each other. Not to mention, I haven’t had to deal with the kitten stage in quite a while; I also barely remember it due to how young I was when we got her. However, Oui has brought a dimmed light back into my life: the joy of owning pets. Â
Due to Snickers’ age, she wasn’t as playful as she used to be, but Oui has rekindled her youth just a tiny bit. The two of them getting along definitely started out rocky, and they still have their moments. But since we rescued Oui, she has been a light for everyone. My partner and I both have a cat during movie and tv time, we wake up to two cats yelling for attention and food and we have twice the amount of play time as we did before. It honestly has been great for pretty much everyone in our tiny household. Â
When it comes to owning a pet, you take on this role of being everything they know in this world. You become their whole lives, while they are just a small part of yours. Owning a pet is committing to taking care of them as well as having them by your side. When it was just Snickers and I, we were in a comfortable position where we found joy in just ourselves. Now, with the addition of Oui, it has rekindled our relationship as well as started a new one. Being a pet owner is one of my favorite qualities of myself. The joy of knowing that I have friends and companions waiting for me to get home is something that fully satisfies me. I don’t think I’ll ever not have a pet in my life, and if that’s the case, I’m dedicated to making their whole lives be worth every second they live.