Millennials and Gen-Zs spend more time indoors. There are various reasons for this, but a statistic shows that one of the reasons is because individuals who owns cats would rather stay indoors with their cat.
Emily (25), Management Assistant, however, disagrees. She shares her story as to why she adopted her cat named Conan. After Emily graduated from university, she started her job-hunting journey but found it hard which led her to fall into depression. At first, she would travel to Japan with her boyfriend as she fell in love with the Japanese culture and ended up visiting Ao Island in Ozu, Japan. In this island, wherever you go, cats can be found everywhere like flocks of birds and from then on, she felt happier spending time with cats and found their behaviour funny and because she cannot always travel to Japan due it’s expensive tickets, she adopted a cat.
surrounded by cats.
Photographed by Thomas Peter/Reuters
How did you hear about Ao Island?
Interesting, right? The Island is not really known but I found it when I was watching random YouTube videos and thought how it feels like to be surrounded by a majority of cats than humans and jotted it down on my bucket list.
What encouraged you to adopt?
During my stay at the Island with the cats, I found it peaceful and comforting. The island is small, and everyone looks happy with their simple life, and it made me reflect about my own because in London, you know how it is; everyday is busy and even trying to get on the train is a bit of a challenge. A memory that I could not forget is while I was reflecting, it made my thinking darker that I ended up sobbing and after a few minutes I heard someone trying to get inside the traditional Japanese house that I was staying at and heard a cat meow, so I opened the door and the cat stayed by my side as I look at the cat going to sleep. It felt as if the cat wanted to comfort me by making me feel that I have someone and that the cat understood what I felt without having to explain it.
Another reason is because I cannot keep coming back and forth from London to Japan because the flight ticket is expensive, and I also want to contribute into helping reduce the number of stray cats. It was not very hard for me to decide because growing up, my parents adopted us a few animals such as puppies, hamster, guinea pig, turtle, and cats- I guess you can say I am a certified pet lover.
Studies show that owning a cat and a cat’s purr can help lower blood pressure making their probability of getting diagnosed with heart disease lower. Having them around also helps with the improvement of mental health and well-being which is why owning a cat is in the rise of popularity between age categories of Gen-Zs and Millennials.
How long have you been with your fur friend, and did you notice any difference in your daily life?
4 years. Yes, I was surprised because when I get notifications about my screen time- I’d say the average is 9 to 10 hours but now it has gone down to 5 to 6 hours. Another surprising fact is that my cat loves to go outside for a walk! If Conan wants to go, he will head at the front of the door and look at me or sniff his leash- it’s a sign that he wants me to put it on him fast so that we can leave right away.
The difference is massive and cats with a leash on to go for a walk, that’s new.
Yes, it just shows how I do not use my phone that much anymore which is great for the health of my eyes! I think it’s also because of how they look at you in the eyes. Their eyes are so big, almost mesmerizing, it makes me want to give them my attention and time.
He is different because when I let my other friends know about Conan, they would associate cats with the boring or lazy as they would sleep a lot and I would not deny that Conan loves to sleep but he also loves playing and going outside the park for a walk, I put him inside his outdoor bag and once we arrive to the park, I take him out with his leash, but I must make sure it is secure and walk him in circle because he tries to brisk walk and hide when he sees a dog pass by.
Have you ever gone to any trips with your cat?
Yes, every time my parents wants to go somewhere it would usually be the beach and one time, we decided to bring Conan with us but that was after he got used to me taking him to the park for a walk. That was like a way to get Conan used to the environment outside whenever I have the time and when he first got on the car with the engine on, he was making sounds that showed he was nervous but after taking him off his travel bag and sat on my sister’s lap, he calmed down and started looking out the window.
It is kind of new listening to this information, but they do have personality traits like dogs, but they are more reserved. As soon as we got to our destination, he was sniffing around but when people started arriving with their dogs, he went straight into the tent and fell asleep.
Do you have anything that you would like to add?
I hope that stereotypes about cats being lazy and that all they do all day long is sleep changes because not all cats have these personality traits and if they do, it is not really a bad thing. I would like people to know that they are lovely, curious about everything, and they would prefer to be next to their owners most of the time as they feel safer. Another fact is that they like having their owners next to them while they eat because they have their guard down, which again, makes them feel safer.