Five Things I Have Learned as a New Cat Owner as a Previous Dog Owner

Before I moved off to college, I had lived with only dogs for 18 years. My only experiences with cats were them hissing and trying to bite me. The first time I had a cat be nice to me was weeks after my fiance and I moved in together. Since then, I have learned several things that changed my views on dogs and cats.  

I learned that dogs are always happy to see you. On the other hand, I quickly learned that cats rather have a more separate relationship. For the first several weeks, Alice, the ragdoll cat, refused to be in the same room as me. I made sure that I was the only person to feed, water, and litter-change Alice.  

I learned that cats were more like plants than they were like dogs. Even though I still need to interact with her, for the most part, I leave her alone. I have a lot of plants that I don’t do anything with, except water once a fortnight. Cats don’t need that much space, but it is less than a dog.

Unlike all the dogs that I have had, Alice doesn’t like human food. Even if I drop some food that I don’t want to pick up, she won’t pick it up. All my previous dogs would beg for me to drop something and then eat it up quickly.  

Cats DO NOT like their bellies rubbed. I have seen myths that some cats like it, but I don’t think I will try to do it again. I have tried doing it with almost every cat who is turned over near me, but it never goes well.

The last thing that I have learned about cats is that you shouldn’t underestimate them.  Physically, they can jump a lot higher than what I originally thought. I started noticing paw prints on the counter and table, and I learned that she can jump really high. 

I am glad to have the chance to live with a cat. Even though it was hard at first, cats are cuddly and are really nice to have around in the house. They have different requirements than dogs, but they are a lot of fun.