Pet owners know that caring for an animal brings a new world of experiences. Some pets are affectionate and some are snarky, but only cats are consistently both. Between acrobatics, midnight cuddle attacks, and massive attitude problems, cats have managed to completely capture our attention. A mix of endearing and annoying habits, the following 20 situations are ones every cat owner can appreciate.
1. Sunbeams Are Magic
Don’t even think about ruining the magic!
2. The Joy of Kittens
No one appreciates the heart-warming joy that comes from playing with kittens quite like cat people. Whether it’s their pint-sized ferocity or surprisingly razor-sharp claws, cat owners know that cute power is strongest in a pile of kittens.
3. The Look of Pure Patience
Any cat owner with more than one pet knows that cats are the most patient animals on the planet.
4. Sharing Your Desk
When you’re a cat owner, keeping your desk to yourself is virtually impossible. Warm laptops or keyboards are cat magnets, no matter how many times we shoo them off. Even if your desk holds nothing more than notebooks and pens, cats are determined to prove that your space is their space. Luckily, the internet brought us the desk/cat box hack, or else cat owners would be perpetually at war between productivity and cat snuggles.
5. Preferring Cats to People
Cats never complain, leave you, seriously impede on your space, or need an explanation. What’s not to love?
6. Wishing You Could Take Your Cat Anywhere
Unlike dogs, cats take a lot of coercion to go anywhere. So much so that a cat willing to take a walk is likely a sign you’ve finally achieved full nirvana.
7. Cats Are the Boss
It’s so sweet of you humans to buy me a cat scooter. Now just get rid of the dog.
8. Cats Are Too Smart for Their Own Good
Anyone who has ever nearly died laughing while watching a cat furiously trying to figure out a mirror knows all about this.
9. Being Your Pet’s Servant
Just like cats see our space as theirs, our time is theirs as well. You could be cooking, gardening, or getting ready, but when your cat decides it’s time for attention, almost nothing can dissuade them. Cat owners know that when it’s time for your cat, you’re better off listening.
10. Kitty Cat Eyes Are More Powerful Than Puppy Dog Eyes
Resistance is useless!
11. Random Acts of Snuggles
When your cat is in the mood, cat owners can expect aggressive cat cuddles. Just don’t try and snuggle when it’s time to hunt.
12. Midnight Wake Ups
Much like your cat deciding your daytime schedule, cats are happy to decide your sleep schedule too. Cat owners are all too familiar with waking up in the middle of the night to cat paws batting at their ears. It seems that time is not a factor for cats, and us owners can just get over it.
13. Tiny Cat Paws
This one’s self-explanatory. Every cat owner’s been caught swooning over these little foot pads.
14. You’re Really Just Furniture
Nothing summarizes being a cat person quite like feeling like you’re part of the furniture. Despite (sometimes) craving your attention, cats are also pleased to lounge all over you. Cat owners understand this best, and are fast to change hats between being an owner and a cat couch.
15. Cats Are Part Liquid Grace, Part Idiot
Yah, I meant to do that.
16. Cat Toys Aren’t Impressive
Another experience cat owners know too well is the untouched pile of cat toys you just brought home. Cats are notoriously picky, so cat toys we humans like don’t always interest our furry friends. Every cat owner can commiserate over the mound of unused, bright, fluffy toys in the corner.
17. Your Furniture Is Impressive
On the other hand, every cat person knows that cats will decide what is a toy. Couches, chairs, beds, and virtually anything else that can be scratched, were clearly purchased just for your cat. Despite notches and sawdust at the corners of all of our furniture, we still don’t get mad. Just as integral to cat ownership as watching your furniture melt away, is getting sucked in by those wide, round kitty eyes.
18. Pure Paper Bag Excitement
When you’re tired of buying toys your cat doesn’t respond to, every cat owner has offered their prized cat a paper bag to play in. Second only to catnip, paper bags drive cats crazy. Who knows if it’s the crunching, the movement, or the built-in ability to hide, nothing is more at home to a cat owner than the sounds of your kitty destroying a paper bag. Such a simple toy brings cats so much joy, and cat owners find themselves jealous of such simple happiness.
19. Lasers Are Everything
Learning about science fiction laser weapons as a kid is immediately followed by disappointment when you learn the comparatively limited capacities of real world lasers. However, all of this is pain is made up for the first time you show a laser to your cat. Instantly ecstatic, cats go together with lasers better than peanut butter and jelly. There’s nothing like watching your cat cartwheel around the room chasing a laser pointer to remind us cat owners that there’s really something exciting about this bit of technology.
20. Your Keyboard Is Sacred
Much like trying (and failing) to keep your cat off of your desk, keeping your keyboard clear is nearly impossible when you’re a cat owner. Like letting a toddler free in a candy store, turning your back for even one minute results in disaster. A cat will seize absolutely any opportunity to slip under your working hands and take a snooze. If you’ve ever swept hair balls out from between your keys, you might be a cat owner.
Featured photo credit: Dramatic kitten/Gabriel Rodríguez via flickr.com
