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High maintenance cat
Our cat Ella is a six-year-old Maine Coon. She's a big fuzzy goofball, as is pretty standard for the breed. If you haven't seen a 15-pound cat that can chirp but not meow, and that likes to play like she's a three-month old kitten, then really you should meet a Maine Coon. (It's worth reading the wikipedia entry on the breed - whoever wrote about their behavior must have lived with one.)
One drawback about our fuzzy angel is that's she is rather high maintenance. Most nights, she'll wake us up twice - once for feeding and once when she wants to play. Oddly enough, when she wants feeding (around 2AM), all she really wants is attention (petting, talk) while eating - she rarely needs actual new food in her bowl, as we top if off before we go to bed. In a similar manner, when she wants to play around 5AM, it seems more important to her that some somebody is awake and paying her attention than that we're actually playing with her - she has plenty of cat toys, there's lots of windows to look out of, and the playing she does (jump in and out of the tub, run up and down the living room) doesn't require human assistance. But ah well - it's a small price to pay for such a cute kitten.
We're planning to get her a little brother, also a Maine Coon, in three to six months; and while I'm looking forward to having a second cat, I am a little worried on what's this going to mean for ever getting a full night's rest again. When Ella was a kitten, she wanted to play every hour, all night long; so adding a kitten to a high-maintenance cat is likely to lead to even more chirps at 3AM, things being knocked off tables, and running around or chasing each other at 80 miles an hour. On the other hand, she'll be less lonely during the day, and hopefully they'll enjoy each other's company once they get used to each other. After the fighting dies down and the fur stops flying around, of course.
One drawback about our fuzzy angel is that's she is rather high maintenance. Most nights, she'll wake us up twice - once for feeding and once when she wants to play. Oddly enough, when she wants feeding (around 2AM), all she really wants is attention (petting, talk) while eating - she rarely needs actual new food in her bowl, as we top if off before we go to bed. In a similar manner, when she wants to play around 5AM, it seems more important to her that some somebody is awake and paying her attention than that we're actually playing with her - she has plenty of cat toys, there's lots of windows to look out of, and the playing she does (jump in and out of the tub, run up and down the living room) doesn't require human assistance. But ah well - it's a small price to pay for such a cute kitten.
We're planning to get her a little brother, also a Maine Coon, in three to six months; and while I'm looking forward to having a second cat, I am a little worried on what's this going to mean for ever getting a full night's rest again. When Ella was a kitten, she wanted to play every hour, all night long; so adding a kitten to a high-maintenance cat is likely to lead to even more chirps at 3AM, things being knocked off tables, and running around or chasing each other at 80 miles an hour. On the other hand, she'll be less lonely during the day, and hopefully they'll enjoy each other's company once they get used to each other. After the fighting dies down and the fur stops flying around, of course.