Hi all. Hope this is allowed here. I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a cat for the past several months now. I’ve actually never really interacted with cats, though. I don’t even know if I’m allergic to them. I visited my coworker a couple of times and one of her cats rubs up against my leg to either greet or mark me and then goes elsewhere.

Some info on me:

• Early 30s, lives alone, works ~40 hours a week in a NON wfh job (so I will not be home for significant portions of the week)
• I do not have much of a social life, so most of my time outside of work is spent at home
• I am very comfortable financially to own a pet. I frequently pay vet bills for my mom’s dog who has ailing health.
• I own my own place, ~1200 sq ft (111 sq m), and do not plan to leave any time soon
• I do not plan to move, have a partner, or have children
• It is impossible for me to ever wfh with my career and I do not want to change my career
• I am familiar with taking care of dogs, and took care of my mom’s dog on my own temporarily for 1 year without issue
• I am only interested in owning a single pet, not two (I know people frequently get 2 cats to keep each other company)
• I am interested in an adult cat, not a kitten
• I don’t do lengthy traveling, however I frequently visit my mom (and vice versa) for a couple of days at a time

One big important thing to note is that my mother and I take turns visiting each other every couple of weeks. It involves us traveling a couple of hours by car and then one of us staying with the other (either my place or my mom’s place) for 2 days. My mom has a dog who is quite old and has ailing health, so I’m not sure how much longer she will live. Her dog is a small dog ~15 lbs, but is not necessarily great with other animals. She is ok with other dogs if they do not antagonize her, but I don’t know if she would fight with a cat or not as she has never met one. Her dog also has bad separation anxiety. I have enough rooms in my house that I could separate the cat and dog when my mom visits, but idk if that is a ok or not. It also means that I might leave a cat home alone for a couple of days when I visit my mom. I have read that people can do this with cats, but I don’t know if it is a good idea. I would plan to purchase pet cams, auto feeders, etc.

I still haven’t had the balls to go down to the local Human Society and ask them about cats and cat adoption, but I don’t know. I am thinking about going there tomorrow. Is my situation too complicated for me to have a cat? I feel like mentally it would be nice to have a companion to come home to every day. One of the reasons why I’ve never bothered to look into getting a pet is because I live alone and don’t work from home and because my mom and I visit each other. Although I have experience with dogs, it seems like a cat might be more doable for my life situation.

Would this be too poor of a life for a cat?

Thanks for your time, all.