Meet Nilla: The Kitten Who Won Our Hearts

For my daughter’s 15th birthday, she requested a cat or kitten. We thought it might be best to go with kitten since we have an 8 year old chocolate lab named Sasha and thought the transition would be easier with a kitten. We decided to go through the shelter because that is where we adopted our other pets and had great experiences with that. We went into a room that had 7 newly arrived kittens. We took some time to sit in the room to observe the kittens’ behavior and to see which one would be a good fit for our family. I fell in LOVE with a creamy colored 2 month old pointed kitten with light brown streaks on her fur and bright blue eyes. She made herself very comfortable in my lap and began purring immediately and stayed there the entire time we were in there. My daughter ended up wanting to adopt this adorable 3 month old black kitten with white socks/feet and a spunky personality named Athena (whose name she kept) instead. I had EVERY intention of getting only one kitten but I couldn’t leave behind (then named) Daphne the creamy colored kitten and so we adopted them both. I found out after I adopted her that my kitten was a ragdoll but didn’t know much about them so I did some research on that breed. I loved everything I read about them and got quite a lot of information from the floppycats website.

We found out the night we adopted them that both kittens were very sick with feline upper respiratory disease and had to bring them to an emergency pet hospital. It was scary because it had turned very bad overnight and they were having a little trouble breathing. They were also very congested, lethargic, and didn’t want to eat or drink much. We also found out that they were underweight and dehydrated. We treated them with hydration packs, antibiotics, saline drops, and warm cloths to clean their noses. We also gave them comfy beds, and a vaporizer so they could breathe a little easier. We even gave them kitten milk and warmed soft kitten food so they would be encouraged to eat while they were sick. We did this over a period of 2 weeks and noticed a drastic difference in their behavior and personality. They ate and drank more independently and was a lot more playful during and after their treatment.

I ended up naming my kitten Nilla Hazel Grace Evanesco or Nilla for short. Nilla because she reminds me of Nilla wafer cookies and she has vanilla colored fur, Hazel Grace because like the character from “The Fault in our Stars” she had an amazing personality even though she was sick when we met and she dealt with her treatment like a champ and we are currently going through my mother’s treatment of cancer as well and this lovely kitten provides a great comfort during this time, and Evanesco because she likes to disappear and likes to hide in the strangest places (by the board games, by the plants (which made her smell like citronella), in the Christmas tree etc.). She was very skittish at first and would hide when people came into the room but once you find her, she loves to snuggle and cuddle for long periods of time. She likes to nuzzle her face with yours and will sit and purr on your lap for what seems like hours. She loves to be brushed and loves the cat tree especially napping at the very top. She is very laid back but loves to play kitten games with the other kitten and has even finally gotten used to our Labrador (mostly, she will still hiss a little if my lab comes galloping in from being outside)! Her birthday is Oct 25th 2016 & mine is the 20th so we will definitely have fun celebrating together. We are very lucky to have found these kittens and can’t wait to share lots of fun memories together!

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