Hi Sam ! I'm thinking about finally adopting two cats, but I still have some doubts. I know that I will make them happy, that's the whole point of having cats, but I'm just to see how much efforts I'll have to do. Do the sisters share everything ? Same litter box ? Same water bowl ?
These were worries I had too, to be honest. Mostly I worried about being competent enough to scoop their litterbox daily, which I solved by buying an Omega Paw rolling box, which makes scooping super easy.
My Cryptids are a bonded pair, so they do, yes, share just about everything. If you want two cats who get along and share, tell the shelter or adoption agency that you’re looking for a bonded pair or a pair of siblings who like each other. They’re harder to adopt out, so the shelter should be able to help you easily.
Let me give you a little breakdown, though....
In the morning, the kittens wake me up and I feed them breakfast, which is a small Sheba cup of wet food each (roughly 15 minutes).
Then I sit on the couch for a while, which often involves lap time with the kitties (15 minutes to an hour, depending).
In the evening I get home and they rub my ankles while I drop my bag; Polk attacks my shoelaces as I untie them. They sit on the bed and tell me about their day while I change out of my work clothes, and then I feed them dinner (roughly 20 minutes).
In the evening I try to give them at least 20 minutes of play time, with cat dancers or the laser pointer or lap pats.
Daily, I scoop their litterbox, dumping the litter into a trash can I bought for that purpose (about 5 minutes, and then once a week I empty the trash can, maybe 10 minutes).
They share one dry-food bowl -- until they got big they used to share one wet-food plate, but now they each have their own. I refill the dry-food bowl whenever it’s empty, usually daily around dinnertime. They don’t REALLY need a wet food dinner so I’ve been considering weaning them off of it; it was more vital when they were babies and underweight.
I have three water bowls located around the condo -- one near their food, one in the living room, one in the bedroom. I rinse and refill them about every two-three days, because they’re large. (about 10 minutes)
So in the course of a week, the time they require is about an hour per day. The time we actually spend together is between an hour and two hours more per day. Sometimes that’s just me working on the computer and them sleeping nearby.
If you establish a routine, the whole thing is pretty easy. Daily feedings go on autopilot, and weekend trash emptying is the norm. I didn’t have much trouble integrating them into my life, and the joy they bring me is acute. Even just from a physical standpoint, I love to pet them; Dearborn is the softest creature I’ve ever encountered, and Polk LOVES to be brushed. So for me the joy is absolutely worth it.
If you’re feeling on the fence, however, my suggestion would be to talk to your local shelter about becoming a foster. The cats you foster will be impermanent, so you get a sense of the job without making a commitment, and if you really feel you can’t care for them, you can say so openly and without fear of stigma. If fostering goes well, you can speak to the shelter about adopting, or you might even find you “foster fail” on a cat or two that catches your fancy. :)
