My Kids Want a Cat So Bad

My kids want a cat so bad and dad's not on board.

For their birthdays the last two years my girls have collected donations for our local humane society. They love going in to drop off the donations and getting their picture taken with the pets.

They have been asking and asking and asking for a kitten, but my husband is concerned about how our senior dog would react to a kitten in his home. He's also more of a dog person than a cat person though he loves all animals.

Throughout the school year our oldest daughter, Mia, would bring home books about kittens and cats every week from the library. She read books on different types of cats, how to care for them and how to play with them. She insisted on reading them to Daddy.

Over the weekend we were at my parents' house and while we were working out in the yard I overheard my three little girls talking up on the deck about what they are going to name their new kitten (which we have not yet agreed to). Names were flying and my oldest suggested Donut and that was it. The conversation continued, would Donut be a boy or a girl kitten? Where would they put Donut's food and water dishes? What about Donut's litter box? There was no question about who would clean said litter box because Mia announced that she has experience with that from taking care of the neighbor's cat. Where would Donut sleep? When all of these questions were answered then they were talking about all the ways they would play with the kitten and how they would introduce the kitten to our dog, Mookie.

Not realizing that we heard their conversation Mia asked when is the humane society going to open again because it's kitten season and "we wanna go look at the kittens."

I think our dog would be fine with a kitten. He really isn't bothered by much. The kids want a kitten so bad and Mia has put in the work doing her research. How are we supposed to deny them?

I'm also a little worried about not having a pet in the house when Mookie leaves us. He is 15 years old and his joints are giving him problems. He's pretty healthy besides that, but he's old and we know that day is coming. My daughter, Zoey, has taken it very hard when friends and other family members have had to put down their pets I can't imagine how she is going to react when we have to make that decision for Mookie. If we had another pet at home I think it might be a little easier for her to cope. Am I wrong? No other pet is going to fill the void of losing a pet, but would it help ease the pain?

Nikki "Nikilicious" Montgomery

I'm a Central Wisconsin girl born and raised. I grew up in Port Edwards and participated in cheerleading, basketball, volleyball and softball as well as many clubs like National Honor Society, SADD, yearbook and forensics. I was a very busy high school student and still managed to get good enough grades to go to college at UW-Stevens Point where I was just as busy between working 3 jobs including executive staff positions at the campus alternative rock radio station and volunteering at the campus television station.

After graduation I thought I would take my BA in Mass Communications with emphasis in Broadcasting and Journalism and Minor in Political Science and become a big time reporter in some major city. But instead my internship with our news station here at Midwest Communications turned into a part-time job and opened the door to the morning show co-host position at WDEZ. After 9 1/4 years of fun in the mornings I was promoted to Assistant Brand Manager and moved to The Workday Getaway.

I couldn't deny my love for rock anymore! It was time dive head first into the genre I spent my formative years listening to day in and day out. When the opportunity arose for me to become the Brand Manager for Rock 94.7 and host the morning show I couldn't pass it up.

I'm so happy that I stayed in Central Wisconsin I couldn't imagine raising my three daughters anywhere else.

Favorite band: STP

First concert: Bryan Adams 1992 at the Target Center in Minneapolis (I was 12)

Favorite color: Yellow

Favorite pasttime: Watching Walking Dead, American Horror Story and Covert Affairs

Vice: Wine