Lucky those who have lived on a farm! I often dream of living out in the country with a bunch of critters. A goat or two, a few horses, some ducks, chickens, a donkey or two. I'd love to have one of those farms where it's all rescued animals and open it up so disabled vets could help come take care of the animals. Too bad even thinking about it makes me tired, much less actually doing it.
I have owned an iguana, a ferret, a turtle, fish, hamsters, hermit crabs, birds, once even raised a snail for a class project. Only ones I want to get again aren't on the list - more dogs and cats!
I LOVE kittens! I got both of my boys where they were 8 weeks old. "My boys" being my cats, Waldorf and Statler (named after the two old guys on the balcony on the Muppets). I do recall being woken up in the wee hours of the morn from them using me as a wrestling mat and calling them 'demon spawn'.
I got my pup, Mousse, when she was 12 weeks old and I will take a kitten over a puppy any day! At least the worst you'll have happen with a kitten is it will crawl up you to get the food you're eating, leaving tiny pin pricks all over your legs. My pup chewed up a chair, my XBox remote, my two pairs of prescription glasses, countless clothes (particularly bras and undies, she for some reason likes to shred those the most), shoes, books, you name it.
I agree with Pamela, try getting an older cat. I managed a non-profit, no-kill animal shelter back when I had energy and an even temper. It was very hard to adopt cats out. We adopted 8+ dogs a week out, yet considered ourselves lucky if we got one cat adopted a month. Please look into rescuing a cat from a shelter, it'll be worth it, I promise! One of the cats I adopted from the Humane Society ended up being the poster cat for my hometown shelter in WI to help get animals adopted for the holidays in 2014. It was a great tribute, since he had died shortly before Christmas in 2013. A year after his death and he still commanded attention!