This article was written in conjunction with Renee, owner of Kohby and Kohko. All content produced are to their credit.
Hello! I’m Renee, currently a full-time student who’s working part-time as a creative content writer. My family adopted Kohby in October 2019, about half a year before we adopted Kohko.
During that time, I was still working full time and as Covid-19 cases were on the rise in SG, my boss allowed us to work from home. One fine day, my dad exclaimed: “I want to adopt another cat” and of course, I wasted no time, got onto Cat Welfare Society (CWS)’ website to look at cats to adopt to look for a companion for Kohby.
I found Kohko’s listing (attached a photo of the screenshot I still keep where she was named Nadia by her fosterer) and got into contact with her fosterer. Her fosterer brought her over to our house and Kohko immediately started wandering around without fear. Seeing Kohko settle comfortably in the house, the fosterer immediately decided to let Kohko stay as she only wanted to bring her over to gauge her comfort levels with us.
Meeting Kohby
Working from home provided us with the perfect conditions to integrate both our cats together.
Initially, we weren’t sure how Kohby would react to having a companion as we got him since he was a kitten and he has never really interacted with other cats.
Though we kept Kohko isolated in a room on her first day, Kohby could smell/sense her and was really mad and upset. We could see him throwing tantrums and refusing to go for his daily walk (which is his favourite activity).
Hence, we decided to go to the pet shop to get a cage so that I could slowly introduce them to each other. As I was WFH, I could monitor their interactions and see if there’s a need to separate them. By the second day, Kohby seemed to have calmed down and was really curious, constantly staying outside the room Kohko was in. We put Kohko into the cage and let Kohby in to smell her for a while and both of them seemed to be okay around one another. By the third day, I allowed Kohko to start roaming outside of the room. They were still under supervision to ensure they don’t get into fights. They seemed to get along well almost immediately without much conflict (something I’m really thankful about).
WFH definitely allowed me to watch over them and eased the stress of introducing them to each other. I am relieved Kohby accepted Kohko quickly so Kohko no longer needed to stay alone in a room for long periods of time. Of course, the temperaments of both cats contributed to the success as well. I would not say that there are completely no conflicts though as Kohby is really mischievous and enjoys following Kohko around the house and disturbing her at times and sometimes it gets really rough so we have to step in.
That being said, they do truly enjoy each other’s company, having zoomies every morning and night. At times, when Kohko is unable to find Kohby around the house, she would go from room to room, meowing non-stop till she finds him, which is a very cute thing to witness.
Managing pets during Circuit-Breaker (CB)
To be honest, I don’t find it a challenge to manage both my pets and work from home. They are not too demanding, Kohko usually goes off for her extremely long naps after breakfast with occasional demands for attention.
Kohby does seek more attention, often bringing us his toys to play fetch with him. He’s a really smart boy though. As we work at our dining area, he would bring it there each time so it won’t distract us too much.
Besides that, they’re pretty independent, going about their day on their own. I clean up after them during my free time and as there are 2 litter pans and they are not too fussy with them, often sharing them, I don’t need to clean them often too.
I actually enjoy WFH as being around my cats provides me with lots of joy. During work or after meetings, I can just go up to them for hugs which they unwillingly give (with occasional cameos during my meetings as well).
Perks of having a pet during CB
Having a pet certainly helped to ease my pandemic blues.
The first circuit breaker where we were highly encouraged not to go out happened about a month after we adopted Kohko and I felt a little down, due to the restlessness of just staying at home and constantly working.
They definitely are an outlet for me to relieve stress, just looking at them provides me joy.
The pandemic also gave me more time to look after Kohkby and Kohko.
Besides the basics of needing to feed and clean them, I started to research more about food for cats and realised that the food I was feeding them was not the best. I started to try different sorts of food through trial and error and especially since Kohby is extremely picky (he does not enjoy wet food at all), I had to find ways to provide him with sufficient nutrients (since he is an active boy).
This may sound weird but I felt very happy to shop for their food and to feed them. It made me feel like a responsible meowmy as I watched them grow up healthily as well.
They definitely made staying at home feel a lot better.
Follow Renee, Kohby and Kohko on Instagram.