"Their bond is just amazing and unbelievably strong"
Can you tell us a little about yourself and your pet?
My name is Caroline and in 2019 my husband and I moved to Kerry, to the lovely Portmagee. Our kittens are Fia and Tadhg, both just over 5 months old.
Fia is a tabby, she likes action and to play a lot. Tadgh has a lovely black and white pattern; he loves to cuddle but can also be how boys can be.
Why did you decide to adopt?
We had thought about adopting a dog or a kitten occasionally during the last year but we never felt confident to take this responsibility because of work and other commitments. After we were fully settled down in our new area and our new house and also due to a change in our work, we were confident that now was the time. Shortly afterwards we found Fia via the KLAWS Facebook page.
How did you see the pet you adopted?
We saw Fia on Facebook and instantly fell in love with her. We then checked the KLAWS website again and got in touch with them. We only wanted to adopt Fia as Tadgh, her brother, was not available anymore at the time, but through a nice coincidence we got them both.
Why did you choose KLAWS?
I received positive recommendations that if I want to choose to adopt, I should contact KLAWS, so I followed them for a longer time already on Facebook. Looking back I have to say I would always choose KLAWS again. The contact was very nice, everything felt extremely trustworthy and everyone was very supportive. Apart from that, the cats were extremely good — litter trained, after two months we had no incidents, and they are in general really well behaved. You realise that our kittens came from a professional and warm-hearted foster mom.
Did your expectations differ compared to the reality of adopting a pet?
My expectations completely differed from what I expected, but in a positive way. My cat I had before also came from a rescue and we had big trouble with ear infections and litter issues due to the high volume of the rescue centre, which was the absolute opposite with KLAWS.
Another thing which completely differed from our expectations was that we had decided not to split Fia from her brother as the foster mum told us that both just belong together which is true, that bond is just amazing and unbelievably strong. Therefore, after the adoption of her brother Tadhg failed, we said we would take him as well, and I was more thinking of double trouble, double stress, double food, double vet costs etc. By the end it is not really a big difference and it made everything much easier, especially because they both are so well trained and socialised.
Do you have any advice for people currently adopting or thinking about adopting a pet?
First of all I would say that you have to consider the commitment, but you shouldn’t be afraid of it. It is just important to make yourself aware what adopting a pet means for you, your home and your daily routine.
Little kittens, and other pets as well, want to play and to discover everything, so you should spend enough time with them every day and prepare your home before they move in. Think carefully about what they need, for example a bed and some blankets so they have it cosy, enough scratch areas, a good litter box and some toys.
In our case, and I never thought I would provide this as advice, if you think about getting a kitten, consider taking two. It makes things so much easier. They learn from each other, they play and fight with each other, and they have each other's company when you have to leave the house.
Our last advice would be, give them the love they deserve and spoil them :-)