When I was a little kid, I used to have a ginger kitten. I found her in the middle of the street, stranded and separated from her mom. At the time I had very little clues on what to do or what it takes to own a cat. She loved to scratch and made every one who came to my house scared for being scratched, especially on the legs.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get to keep her for long time because she went missing after my aunt put her outside when we were preparing for a family gathering in my house.
Fast-forward to today, I have become meaowmy to Mila for almost three months now. Though I have had a kitten before, I would still consider myself as a first-time pawrent because now I am fully aware of what I am doing (compared to last time).
Mila the cat was 18 months old when I adopted her from RAK Animal Welfare Centre, UAE. She was one of the sweetest and the nicest cats being presented that day. Almost every one who came for the adoption day took Mila in their hands, hugged her, and she was so calm. I fell in love at the first sight.
Some friends who knew me for years asked why now suddenly I wanted a cat. Well, it has been for a while actually that I want to have a cat. But at the time we were staying with my mom who has a severe allergies to medicine, dusts and furrs. Now that we are on our own, also we stay in a landed house instead of apartment building (here they call it a villa), it is easier to make place for a cat.
I am glad that the adoption process was not difficult. All I needed to do was:
- Fill up a form
- Presenting my Emirates ID
- Presenting our housing contract with the municipality
- Pay the adoption fee of AED 730
I gotta be honest that the past two months had been a roller coaster because I constantly worried whether Mila was comfortable enough or not, or whether she was happy or not in her new house. Every little move, pose or sound makes me google just to know what it means.
Vet visits also keep me a bit busy. First few days since she arrived, she was sneezing with brownish discharges. Her X-ray and blood work came back with a lung inflammation diagnosis. She was on antibiotic for almost a month. Not long after that she was vomiting and loose weight but blood work and X-ray came back normal. Got an IV fluid for one night at the clinic to dehydrate. The last vet visit, which was last week was for her ear infection.
The many vet visits, according to my pawrent friend, is pretty normal. She also went through it when she was just adopting her cat.
Talking about this, I have a realization about adopting cats. These are 3 things I wish I knew before I adopted my first cat:
- Research what kind of breeds that suitable for me is a must
- Prepping my home for the cat with good quality products (scratch post/tree, feeder bowl, litter box, bedding, toys and many more)
- Pet’s Budget (food, toys, medicine, vet visits, and many more)
Now, I am slowly ease into my role as a pawrent to Mila. I can tell that she is very comfy and loving her home with us. What I have to do now is to keep her entertained enough so she won’t be bored and lonely as she is a single cat at the moment.
Of course, I created Mila’s own instagram account too so I have a dedicated outlet to share about her daily life. If you want, you can follow @adaywithmila.
PS: Let’s connect on social media too!
Shelorina’s Corner 
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