One Dog-Loving Mama’s Unexpected Journey into Feline Parenthood

Hi there. I’m a stay-at-home mom with three little ones—a 4-year-old and twin 2.5-year-olds—and life is busy (to say the least). Add in a couple of pets and you’ve got a full house with lots of noise, mess, and love. My fiancé and I have always considered ourselves dog people. Big, happy, goofy dog people. We love the loyalty, the playfulness, the way dogs just sort of fit into the chaos.

So… how did we end up with two cats?

Well, it started with one stray kitten. He showed up out of nowhere, tiny and meowing, and my heart just couldn’t turn him away. We knew nothing about cats. Not a thing. I was googling stuff like “do kittens need baths?” and “why does my cat attack my toes?” within the first 24 hours.

Let’s just say it was a huge learning curve. We watched so many Jackson Galaxy videos. I even binge-watched My Cat From Hell, hoping I’d figure out why our sweet little furball kept nipping at our feet. The litter box smell, the weirdly intense cat food scent, the random scratches on my ankles—it all had me wondering if maybe we made a mistake. I even considered rehoming him at one point, which broke my heart, but I genuinely didn’t know how to manage everything.

Then I stumbled across something called “single kitten syndrome.” Apparently, kittens need another kitten to help them learn how to cat properly—how to play, how to bite without hurting, how to be, well… less wild. So we took a leap of faith and adopted a second kitten.

Best decision ever.

They became best friends almost immediately. No more toe biting. No more lonely meowing from the hallway. And honestly, it was kind of sweet watching them snuggle and wrestle. My dog-loving heart started to soften for these quirky, purring creatures.

But here’s the part I need help with. My kids. Their energy level needs a dog and they do SO WELL with other family’s dogs. But cats? Cats don’t play the same way. My kids don’t quite get that. They want to pick them up constantly, hug them too tight, chase them when they run away. The cats tolerate it (bless them), but I can see the confusion on both sides. The kids think they’re playing. The cats think they’re being attacked.

It’s honestly kind of funny—my kids are dog people too, and they don’t even realize it yet.

So, to all the cat parents out there—especially the ones with young kids—how did you teach your little ones to cat? I’m doing my best to model gentl behavior, but at these ages, everything is a little wild and unpredictable. I’d love any tips, tricks, or even just some reassurance that we’re not totally screwing this up.

Thanks for reading my little story. I’m trying, learning, and loving these pets more than I ever thought I could… even with the litter box.

Love,
One tired, cat-covered, dog-loving mama