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Why cats are good for your wellbeing

A few weeks ago my parents bought me a card which contained the slogan, 'dogs have owners, cats have staff'. The events of last night / this morning have certainly reinforced the fact that this statement is true, but I will get to that in a bit.

I should state at this point that I am the proud owner of two incredibly fluffy 4-month old Ragdoll kittens, named Lennie and Leo. They are brothers, and the original plan was only to purchase one kitten, but that would have left Leo on his own and I just couldn't do it.

I had previously thought that a cat, or cats, was not an option as living in a maisonette means they would have no access to outside space. Being out of the house myself was also a factor, as it would not have felt right leaving them alone all day. The latter issue is no longer relevant since I finished work back in July, and thankfully the only other thing preventing me from taking the plunge has been overcome after learning about Ragdoll cats, a breed which are most definitely unsuited for the dangers of the outside world.

So I am now reaping the emotional benefits of having cats and I really cannot overstate the impact that they have had on my wellbeing. There is of course the fact that having two kittens to look after takes up quite a bit of time, which fills up those moments when the brain tends to wander into its darker corners, and I have also found that Lenny and Leo have the uncanny ability to notice when I am starting to become too introspective, at which time they will decide to do something to reconnect me with the real world.

I know that I was right not to get them whilst I was working, but there is a part of me that thinks I would have dealt more effectively with my mental health challenges then if I had taken the plunge and become a cat owner whilst also being a head teacher. I would certainly recommend cats, or perhaps pets in general, to any current school leader that has the capacity to take them on whilst still in post, as they will repay the effort you put into looking after them a hundred-fold.

Anyway, back to last night. The kittens have a section of the bed which is theirs and it is demarcated by the leopard print blanket that we brought them home with on day one. Over the past few weeks they have started to move into human territory at night, which appears to have been part of a bigger plan that was executed last evening. I sensed something was up when they spent the first part of the night on the other side of the bed, on top of the covers. They then cunningly made me fall asleep with the television on, which meant that I woke up at 3am with a headache. As I stumbled to the bathroom to find some tablets they sprung into action and captured the human territory on the bed, quickly pretending to be asleep upon my return, knowing that as a soft touch I would not 'wake' them and claim back my spot. 

As a result, I spent the last part of the night sleeping on the cats leopard print blanket, whilst they luxuriated in the rest of the bed. As 'staff' I certainly know my place now! 

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