After our senior cat Timmy passed away in April of 2021, I decided to adopt two female kittens from a local rescue to join our family. That July, we adopted 14 week old Kiwi and Nala. We were only going to adopt one kitten, but the rescue said we had to take both. Of course I couldn’t say no! Caring for these little ones has been quite the trip for me and my family as we all had to adjust to having not one but two tiny fuzzy troublemakers rambling around the house. Here are some things we learned through the last few months! 

The Lessons I Learned from my Kittens

1. Kittens are constantly with each other and absolutely inseparable! If Kiwi can’t find Nala, she will cry out for her until they find each other. Every time I see them, they are either grooming each other, cuddled up sleeping together, or finding mischief together. They even use the litter box one right after the other!

Lesson Learned: Cats create incredibly strong social bonds! I’m so glad we chose to adopt Nala and Kiwi together so they can keep each other company.

2. Nala and Kiwi have a ton of kitten energy, but they burn off most of it around 3 am! We were completely surprised to hear them running laps around the house in the middle of the night – like it’s the Indy 500 – every night! They chase each other, galloping full speed up and down the hallway, occasionally knocking over picture frames and glassware from tables and counters.

Lesson Learned: If you want to sleep at night, engage cats in playtime during the day to let them burn off some energy! We knew cats are naturally nocturnal, but I really underestimated exactly how much energy they would burn off in the early morning hours without daytime play sessions.

3. Both kittens LOVE to hunt! I first noticed this behavior when I saw them watching the birds and bugs outside our window. They sit on the back of the couch and make a ‘chittering’ noise whenever they see something move outside. Then we saw them do it again when we played with the red laser toy! They really do look like their stalking and hunting prey, like a wild cat!

Lesson Learned: Cats – even kittens and indoor cats – are hunters at heart. They have strong natural instincts to stalk, chase, hunt, and catch their ‘prey’, even if it is just the little red laser dot. 

4. We really weren’t expecting the kittens to have such voracious appetites. We feed them small meals several times a day, but they are always hungry! We’ve caught them stealing food from our plates right in front of us. When they eat they shake the food with their mouth, like wild cats!

Lesson Learned: With high-activity kittens comes a high food drive and ravenous appetites. Kittens need many small meals each day – more than an adult cat – to stay satiated. Watch out because they’ll eat your dinner, too!