I was wondering if anyone had any experience or advice taking care of a kitten (few months old) in medical school? My friend found him as a stray and we de-flead him and gave him food. I did have a cat previously but did not bring him with me since I wanted to focus on school, but now that I'm near the end of 2nd year, I was considering on taking on this cat. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
I adopted 2 kittens we found in a dumpster during 2nd year. They were adorable, and overall a huge positive addition to my experience.
Some advice: when they’re young study from home - you need to be around a good amount both to keep them safe and to allow for proper bonding. And be sure to set aside a 1-2 hundred dollars a year for vet expenses, some years are cheap, some years they have random health expenses.
Pros of cat: super fun, girls will want to come over to your apartment to play with it, endless supply of instagram material, companionship when the STEP 1 scaries come.
Cons of cat: they will wake you up probably every night until they’re 3 years old. They will ruin your couch, rugs, and anything else upholstered that you own. Scooping litter sucks. They don’t understand that knocking things down is bad, so expect to have some glasses/pictures/plates broken every so often.
I’ll leave you with a story:
I was studying at my desk, 2nd monitor hooked up, cup of coffee freshly poured, and a pine candle burning for ambiance. Cat jumps up and rubs against my 2nd monitor, knocking it over. The falling tv frightens the cat, which bolts across the desk. Cat knocks cup of coffee onto my laptop, trips over himself, and runs headlong into the candle. Startled by the fire, the cat does a backflip, knocking over the candle and flinging hot wax all over me, the walls, and the laptop. Cat also dragged his tail through the liquid wax, which lit his tail on fire. Terrified, the cat ran for the bedroom, and hid under the bed with his tail still smoldering - leaving burn marks all across the rug. He also ruined my beloved copy of First Aid in the process. All in all, the 30 second fiasco cost me $500 - to fix my computer, replace the TV, and clean the carpet. It would’ve been close to $1000 if I didn’t have a friend in vet school who could treat the cats burned tail.
All that said, I wouldn’t trade him for the world. The feeling you get when a cat curls up in your lap after a long day is all warm and fuzzy.
