Mia, the day we got her. She’s the little grey and white tabby in the middle/right.

Mia 5 and a 1/2 weeks old

My husband and I had been discussing getting another dog, and we didn’t feel we had enough time to devote to another one at the time. So, we had decided to rescue a kitten. We wanted a kitten because we needed it to be ok with dogs. And we needed to make sure our current dog, Napoleon was ok with cats. So, we started looking. We visited rescues and shelters, and finally found one we fell in love with. She was a little tiny tabby, only 5 weeks old. Her litter had been found in a shed with the mom dead.

I realized the foster had her hands full, and wanted to take this little kitten as quickly as I could. I wanted to nurture her and save her, and give her a home with a family who would love her. So we did! We brought home our little furball and named her ‘Mia’. She immediately fell in love with my husband and became my husband’s cat. Silly little creature! She didn’t even know I was the one who picked her out and did all the research to find the right food and litter and learn about how to do CPR on her just in case something happened. I learned how to give her formula and learned what kinds of diseases cats can get… I over-researched, and now I’m a fountain of verbal diarrhea when it comes to cats (and dogs, for that matter).

Mia, 6 weeks

Anyway, her and Napoelon hit it off! No problems there. Had her for the first night, and she was very shy. She started to get some green discharge coming from her eyes. I wiped it off with a washcloth, and didn’t think much of it. Next morning, they were so gooped up, they wouldn’t open. So, I carefully used a washcloth to get all the goopies out, and now I’m a little worried. She was acting lethargic and not active at all. She wouldn’t play, and was sneezing a lot. Took her into the vet, and found out she tested positive for FHV as well as having an upper respiratory infection. Poor thing couldn’t breathe! We got her on some meds, and she got better in a few days.

Now, we just manage the FHV and she can’t go outside. She could get other cats sick, or she could get sick, since her immune system is weaker than normal. That’s ok, I wasn’t going to let her outside anyways. Strictly indoor kitty! She got better and was EXHAUSTING! Seriously, I thought it would be fun having a little kitty in the house.. no. Not at all. I was completely wrong. Cute? Yes. That was all she had going for her. She wanted to play all the time, get attention all the time, scratch the furniture… and worst of all. She BITES! HARD. Like blood bites! I thought she was a vampire kitty or she hated me.

Mia, 7 weeks

So, back to the drawing board. Kitty training, google, the cat whisperer, whatever helped! I did everything it said. Scratching post (actually 3 of them), don’t play with your hands, plenty of socialization, and make her feel comfortable. I did all that. Nothing helped. So, next steps, scruff her and hold her up until she calms down. Yeah, she just got more pissed, and then when you let her down, she would come back to you and lunge at your face. DEVIL CAT, I swear! Eventually, it got to the point where we were dreading. The one thing I DID NOT want to do… adopt another kitten so she could have a playmate. So we did. And it worked!!

We adopted a grey tabby named Max. He was feral and had some problems. We worked with him and within a few weeks, he’s the center of attention! At first, he hid under the coffee table, and wouldn’t even come out for food. We had to physically remove him from under the table to hand-feed him. Eventually, he realized when it was meal time. Then he started coming on his own, and every time, we wouldn’t pick him up, but just pet him once or twice. Then, he started to like it.

Max

He went through a phase where he wanted to be held all the time. Now, both our cats are the biggest loves you’ve ever met! Mia meows all the time, so it’s a bit annoying still. Especially when I’m not having a good day. I seriously just want to drop kick her and shake the crap out of her until she stops meowing. So, instead, I remove myself from the situation and go cry in the shower or something. It’s better than hurting my cat.

Max, on the other hand, all he wants to do is snuggle. Calmly snuggle. He doesn’t want to be in your face, just on your lap, or near you. This is really nice when I’m working from home, or just playing a video game or something. He’s my favorite cat (don’t tell Mia… actually, go ahead. She won’t care, and she knows it anyway).

Well, they are still under 6 months old, and full of energy. They are inseparable now.  Wherever one is, the other closely follows. They sleep together, eat together, nap together, play together, and get into trouble with each other. We have a good 20 YEARS to learn more about them, but I think we are on the right track!

Inseparable

Napoleon meeting Mia for the first time