5 Reasons Adding A Cat To Your Life Will Make Your 20s Bearable

I’ve never thought of myself as a cat person.

They were okay, I guess, but for me a puppy was always the way to go. I never had a pet growing up, as my parents were allergic and we lived in an apartment.

But I knew that as soon as I moved out, a pet would follow soon after.

When that day finally came, both my boyfriend and I realized a puppy was not in the cards.

I am a teacher and in grad school, and enjoy my social life and vacations. Ryan is in medical school.

Neither of us are home a lot, and we quickly realized that it would be unfair to adopt a puppy that we couldn’t care for the way it deserved.

At the end of September, Ryan left for a clinical rotation in Virginia that ends in December.

As soon as he left, I discovered I absolutely hate living alone, and wanted something (read: pet) to move in.

On a trip with my mom to Vermont, we stumbled across a quaint and adorable.

Somehow, I convinced my mom to pull over and let me check out the kittens.

Again, although never prejudiced against cats, I never really saw myself with one.

Forty-five minutes later, I was in the car with my new best friend.

The hardest thing to do was walk into a room full of kittens and leave with only one.

Nike, named for her white “sneakers,” because I’m an athlete and for the winged goddess of victory, spent the rest of the car ride in my lap.

We’ve been inseparable ever since, and she has made my life so much more fun and infinitely cuter.

Here are five reasons adopting a cat changed my life:

They are low maintenance.

Most 20-somethings are burning the candle at both ends.

We work, go to school, have hobbies, and enjoy going out on the weekends. Cats understand this. They want your affection but also enjoy their alone time.

Sometimes cats are all, “Eh, human, I don’t feel like being near you today so I’m gonna nap in the bookcase. See ya later, maybe.” And that’s cool.

As long as you make sure they are fed, cleaned and not ignored completely, your pet owner duties are fulfilled.

They are super cuddly.

For those days you binge watch an entire season of "Gossip Girl," your kitten will be right there next to you.

Although butt-in-face tends to be a cat fave, it is genuinely great when you can tell she just wants to be near her human.

Want to nap? She’s way ahead of you.

Nike has claimed the top of the couch and the pillow next to mine as her own. Nothing is cuter than seeing her stretched out on her belly sleeping.

It also means it’s okay for me to nap. So win-win.

They make an empty house feel, well, not empty.

Coming home to an empty apartment is not a great feeling.

Sometimes you just want to not be alone. Now, I never am. When I miss Ryan, I can always look forward to going home and hanging out with Nike.

Since I’ve been at work all day, she is usually very needy (as am I), and we both appreciate the next hour of head scratches and playing.

They’re really weird.

Cats are strange animals. Sometimes they want to lay on your head, and sometimes they will actively run in the other direction when you walk their way.

Nike gets in the shower with me -- why? No idea.

Her favorite toy is also binder clips. She legitimately loses her sh*t when I drop a clip on the floor for her to play with.

She has figured out how to crawl behind my bed and into my under-the-bed drawers for naps, and I don’t know she’s there until my mattress starts meowing.

She also likes to sleep on my face sometimes. Cat’s have no regard for personal space or privacy, by the way.

You may not be able to bring cats outside for walks or hikes, but the entertainment they give you in the house is more than enough.

Boops.

Booping is a skill unique to cats.

With either their paw or their nose, sometimes cats will approach you and just lightly tap you.

As if to say, “Hi, human, I’m ready for attention,” or, “Hello there, fellow roommate, I would like to alert you to the fact that I need some head scratches.”

Nike is a fan of nose boops, which, are undeniably the cutest things in the entire world.

Even when they happen at 3 am. Nike will hop up on the bed and crawl to my face, boop my nose with hers, and curl up next to me.

Trust me, I love my sleep, but the boops are just too adorable to be mad at.