How My Kitten Became My Best "Coworker" and Made Me Happy in the Process (with 50+ Pictures)

Chelsea appeared in my life unexpectedly - well, almost unexpectedly. I had unwelcome guests squatting at my apartment for a few months, and I needed someone to get rid of them. I'm talking about mice if that wasn't clear. Do you know how upsetting it is when you're a clean person who sorts food waste and recycling, and you still get rodents? Thank Godness it was only a few of them, and they made appearances rarely; having that said, I'm terrified of mice, and they turned my life into a living Hell.

We tried so many things in my family to get rid of the damn mice. We bought traps and ultrasound machines - the second ones were supposed to scare the mice away, but that didn't work. The superintendent called pest control three times, but everything was useless. The mice liked our home too much and chose to prolong their vacation at our expense.

A decision was made: we had to get a cat. I never thought I'd get a pet for "work" reasons - as in I needed the animal to "work" by using their instincts. In this particular instance, I needed to get a kitty so that he or she would hunt for mice. I love animals, so it didn't matter why a cat would enter my life - I was ecstatic to get one.

Are you also a COVID-pet-parent? As in, did you also get a pet during the pandemic, just like me? There are quite a few of us. The problem with that is, all the shelters in the vicinity were out of kittens. You see, I still live with my family, and the only way my mom agreed to get a pet was to get a kitten.

"I don't want to have a grown cat with an established behaviour pattern. We don't have experience dealing with grown cats, so we need to take in a kitten whom we can raise and teach proper behaviour," - were my mom's words.

And she was right. I would be super happy to become a cat mom for a pet who went through a rough time, but I have almost zero experience dealing with cats. I couldn't allow myself to take a grown cat with special needs and then fail at making them feel better. I inspected shelters within a 2-hour drive and looked for a kitten, but almost all the shelters didn't have kittens. Additionally, shelters preferred someone who lived in a stand-alone house instead of an apartment, which meant my family would end up at the bottom of the application list. Therefore, despite my best efforts, getting a kitten from a pet shelter wasn't an option.

"It's okay, - I thought. - Let's see if we can get a kitten from another country. There are always pets in need of adoption, so I can just adopt a kitten from another country."

I surely had good intentions but poor judgement. I forgot that things aren't running normally, and there weren't too many flights around the world. Also, the companies that provide animal transportation services temporarily shut their doors, making it extra difficult to get a pet from another country. I spent two weeks trying to arrange for a kitten to get flown to Canada, but unfortunately, I failed. Not to mention, I'm sure it's a huge stress for a precious little creature to be separated from its mother, taken into a noisy airport, sit in a cage for many hours before the flight, be on the plane for several hours – or even many hours – then go through customs, and only then finally appear in the hands of a total stranger. Can you imagine the stress and trauma it may cause? I decided I didn't have a moral right to put a kitten through that. I had to find another way.

I asked around to see if anyone was giving away kittens. None of my friends were much of a help. I went to Kijiji and started looking. I found only posts from breeders who bred kittens commercially or individuals who didn't spay their cats and ended up with kittens. The last ones were trying to sell their kittens for almost as much as professional breeders did. The idea of getting a kitten from someone who didn't want to spay their pet because they "didn't believe in it" or were simply irresponsible and who's now trying to monetize on it didn't sit well with me. It meant the only option I was left with was going to a breeder.

I wouldn't say I like the idea of buying a pet. I think everyone should adopt, and if the shelter can't accommodate you, you need to look for other options. But I did… I wasn't sure what else I could have done. While I was trying to adopt a kitten, the mice kept using my home as a party club. I started to get anxious and lose sleep. I needed to get a cat ASAP.

So I went to a breeder. I paid the deposit, let my mom choose our little furry baby – and low and behold, it was delivered to our home on a Sunday. And trust me when I saw this: when I saw my little Chelsea for the first time, I couldn't care less about where she came from, whether it was a breeder, a shelter, a friend, or elsewhere. I fell in love right away, I cried with happiness for the first week, and I felt a constant need to love her, protect her and be a good cat mom for her. Also, it turned out I got a coworker!

Here are a few pictures of my kitten in her first few months with me:

Chelsea spent most of the time sleeping:

To her credit, she did her best to stay awake. But little kittens sleep a lot, so I can't blame her. Chelsea would often climb onto me and fall asleep on my chest, which still allowed me to work as she was seeing dreams:

She certainly became an expert on sleeping anywhere, including my chest as I was working, joining work conferences and typing:

Sometimes she would give up and search for a new sleeping place, but would return pretty fast.

She wasn't happy when I was working too hard and didn't pay attention to her:

So she would go back to her "job". But then she'd fall asleep right away, sometimes - in weird places:

On the keyboard, as usual:

Near me - always near me!

"Ummm, sorry miss, this is my keyboard and I have to work".

She never really cared about me, her cat mama, having the need to work to pay for her toys. In Chelsea's mind, she was contributing to the household by being near me at all times:

Did someone call for a coffee taster this time?

Nah, coffee didn't help. Employee down! Repeat: employee down!

"Did someone say "treats"?

Ate all the treats. Tired again:

After taking a prolonged nap, Chelsea would be back to being my valuable and hard-working colleague again and again:

I still cannot believe that 80% of my pictures of this cat is her sleeping:

Chelsea truly believes she's the boss, and she takes over my work chair all the time:

Cats can fit anywhere, even when you think they are too small:

As time went by, Chelsea never stopped appropriating my chairs, sofas, and other household objects:

I think she knows she can get away with almost anything, because she's super cute and cuddly:

Well, there you have it! Chelsea and I have spent a whole happy year together, and we're hoping to spend 15-20 more!