I'm glad that so many of you understand what I mean... thanks for your replies!

Some of you mentioned an aspect I was also thinking about: That we too get older and that we may reach an age at which our cats will most likely outlive us. In fact, there was an article a while ago in one of my cat magazines, suggesting that elder people shouldn't adopt young cats. On the other hand, even when we are younger, something can happen to us every day, so the best thing is to make arrangements for such a case - meaning trying to find people who would adopt your cats in case something happens to you... I think this is somethig we should do anyway - no matter how old we are.

About cats being our family... For me, they certainly ARE my family, and I prefer my cats to most people I know. I don't have children, and I prefer to live on my own. For some reason, I could never imagine a life with an own family - but I can not imagine a life without cats!! I've been let down and even badly betrayed by people I knew, so my feelings about the human race have turned to bitterness meanwhile (I know there are exceptions, but usually I feel this way), and most of the time, I prefer feline company.

Kirsten