Anxiety after getting a new kitten… what should I do?

Hello strangers,

I’m a 4th year college student. I just got a 2 months old kitten a couple days ago. She is cute, quite well-behaved and is starting to trust us (me and my roommate), but ever since getting her I’ve been super anxious.

I wonder if I’ve made a mistake. I’ve never had pets before but have always loved cats, so I made up my mind to get a cat quite a while ago. I’ve been watching videos of people teaching you how to be a good pet owner, and I thought I’ll just be another happy cat parent, until I actually got my kitten. The first day she got here she hid behind the fridge (took a long search to finally locate her), which freaked me out, because I thought she might get stuck somewhere and I’ll find her dead. I barely slept that night.

Now it’s been 3 days. She’s trusting us a bit more and generally doesn’t hide away (and we’ve taken care of potentially dangerous hiding spots). But she’s quite needy — more needy than I thought a kitten would be. I’m still feeling overwhelmed because I’m quite busy already as a final year college student (although luckily my roommate is always at home and she loves the kitten. She’s been helping me take care of her. But I’ll probably be moving out after graduation in June.) Also, I cherish my alone time, and I’m afraid that having this little furry ball around me for the next 10 years of my life means I won’t be able to get some quiet time to myself anymore.

Plus, turns out I’m allergic to cats, or at least to this one. Never had allergic reactions before when I was hanging out with my friend’s cats. It’s nothing serious— just sneezes and runny nose. But it makes me feel even worse. Will this get better? Should I try some allergic medication or nose spray?

Any advice to help me feel less anxious? I saw some posts and blogs of people who have similar experiences, which makes me a little bit relieved. But I’m wondering how long this awful anxiety will last…

submitted by /u/eelhk
[link] [comments]

from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/qwf6xn/anxiety_after_getting_a_new_kitten_what_should_i/