I am super excited to announce to everyone that I will adopting two kittens this month. Yes! Finally! I love cats, and it’s been one of my dreams to get pet kittens. They will be exotic shorthairs with frumpy faces and I look forward to introducing you to them this month.

Growing up my family and I moved around a lot. I mean a whole lot. Partly because of my dad’s job and partly because my mum has wanderlust. I take after her in that sense. We did have a few pets over the years, a hamster, some rabbits, a dog and several cats. I love them all, but cats will always hold a special place in my heart.

Our first pet was a hamster, and I can’t remember his name. Hamsters a cute, but they only come out at night and they’re not the best of companions. The rabbits were also very cute, but like with the hamster, I feel you can’t get the same connection with them as you can a dog or cat.

Our dog was called Max. He was very old when we got him from a shelter. A black collie, Max’s temperament was calm and loving. Great if you have a small baby as we did back then. Dogs are amazing pets, a friend and companion for life. However I’ve always felt very cautious around them, and I get nervous when meeting new dogs.

In Vietnam my nickname was Meo. It means cat. I don’t remember when I was given that nickname, I had it for as long as I could remember. Like a cat, I enjoy eating, exploring and taking naps in the sunshine. I find them cute, cuddly and I like that they’re quite independent.

It’s been my plan to get some pet cats for a long time. Living in London however makes that goal very difficult. Few landlords want the hassle of renting to someone who has a pet. There’s the risk of damage to the property, the house ends up smelling of them and there’s all sorts of other concerns like fleas to boot.

I’ve been spending more and more time in Budapest. It just sort of happened. I never planned on moving to Budapest, but some things just work out that way. I now spend about half my time in Budapest and half my time in London. Unless of course I’m flying to somewhere particularly exciting, such as Las Vegas for the AVNs.

 

Steak the kittenI share flat in Budapest with some close and friends and we decided together to some pet cats. Two in fact, so that one will never get lonely. One is a little bit older, because he had to wait for his little brother to be born before we could adopt him. I’m going to name him Steak. He’s beautiful, with white and grey fur.

His brother is mostly white and I’ll be naming him Milk. Naming things is hard. I wrote down a really long list of potential name for these two brothers, and nothing quite fit them. In the end, I chose Steak because it’s one of my favourite foods and because the big brother is larger. I chose Milk because the little brother is mostly white and it’s a good solid name for a cat.

harriet's new kittens Steak and MilkIn about two weeks time they will both be ready for me to collect them. They’re not in Budapest, but a little bit out. Another friend of mine who has a car will be driving me to pick them up. Until then I’ll have to stock up on cat food, litter and some toys. I can’t tell you how excited I am.

Pets offer a certain kind of companionship. They can be caring and funny. Perfect for me as I still get very lonely in Budapest. I can’t figure out the Hungarian language at all and I’ve only made a few friends here so far. Now I’ll have something to really look forward to coming back for.

They’re a big commitment though. At least a decade of commitment. I hope that I’m capable of giving them a good life and a good home. It sounds a bit lame, but I’m very excited to share their lives with everyone. I’m going to set them up their own Instagram account. By next year I bet they’ll have more followers than me!