Post Punk Kitchen Forum

So I posted recently about how people decide to adopt another animal. I grew up with lots of cats and dogs and rodents, but mostly those were animals that came into our lives by chance. Nowadays I live with my boyfriend in The Netherlands and we have an older cat named Tiffany (he's a boy). We adopted Tiffany after his previous family (some friends of ours) moved out of the country. He came with quite a reputation from our friend group. He is big, grumpy, easily stressed, and had drawn blood on more than a few occasions when people tried to "cuddle" him without realizing Tiffany is shy and easily startled by people.

That said, over the last year Tiffany has grown more than Thomas and I could have ever imagined! He even sat on my lap to snuggle me once recently. His breathing was a bit stressed while he did it which made me think he was scared shiitake-less to be laying on me, but he chose to do it nonetheless and it was awesome. He lets me pick him up and carry him now. I don't do it too much, but I think he has finally learned that when a human picks him up it's not going to end badly. I'm not sure what kind of life he had before he went to live with our friends. Supposedly a squatter living in an apartment building where our friends lived had Tiffany and left him, so they took him in. Maybe he had a rough time before all of this, but he has slowly grown and relaxed.

So you can imagine why I was nervous about adopting a new kitty. We visited the shelter and looked at some older cats, but we were advised against it. We knew we needed a younger cat that Tiffany could boss around. So we found Milton. We went to visit him at his foster home today and he was the last one remaining of a litter of four that were left by their mother at around 4 weeks. He's a bit skittish, but submits when you pick him up or go to pet him.

And the best part? He and Tiffany sniffed noses a few times without incident! Tiffany even walked over to the couch while I was holding Milton to sniff him. Tiffany gave him a gentle bop on the head when Milton got too excited with the sniffing, but it wasn't vicious at all. Right now Milton is sleeping downstairs in our shower room with lots of blankets and toys and security. But I have a feeling this is going to be an awesome adventure. I'm so relieved and happy about the first day!

Also, my boyfriend is so adorable about the whole thing. He was bordering on a panic attack worrying about whether Tiffany and Milton would like each other. He's more relieved than me, I think.

And without further ado...meet Milton! I will post more pics when I capture more. Tonight I was focused on getting him settled.


Say hello to Milton...the newest member of our family! by pickledtreats, on Flickr


Getting used to each other. by pickledtreats, on Flickr

And one of Tiffany because he may not be a kitten anymore, but he's certainly a handsome man. This is when he sat on my lap for one of the very first times.


Someone knew I needed a hug. by pickledtreats, on Flickr

Awwwwww! What great kitties and a great story! Sounds like they are off to a great start!

Super cute! Welcome, Milton!

It seems so! I couldn't figure out why I was so stressed about the whole thing. I kept thinking "I grew up with tons of animals...why am I worried about this?" But I realized that all of those animals just appeared in our lives. We didn't have a chance to think about the pros and cons...we just took them in. This is the first time I've ever actually chosen to adopt an animal from a shelter. Even Tiffany was a chance encounter.

So little Milton is my first shelter animal and he's proving to be pretty awesome. Plus I am so impressed with the "dierenasiel" here in The Netherlands. All the animals come microchipped, with shots, they give you food to start, they sell reasonably priced and gently used animal supplies like toys and carriers, and they give you two weeks of free medical care for your animal. They make it pretty hard NOT to adopt if you want to bring a new animal into the family. I'll definitely be making a donation there this year!

I would totally be nervous about integrating cats too. I have an elderly cat and a younger cat and once the elderly one passes, I really want to get a companion for the younger cat as he seems to enjoy the company and likes having a playmate and snugglemate. I'll be nervous when the time comes. My plan was to get a cat that was slightly younger than Thurston (who will be 6 in April) and a female and maybe a ginger one who looks like Kizzy just thinking Thurston might be more receptive to a cat who looks familiar to him. I dunno though, it's gonna stress me out too when the time comes! Keep us posted on how they are getting along as it's the first few days when the adjustment is taking place that seem important just from past experience.

Hello Milton!

Also, you can't tell in these pics, but his ears are pink, too! His kitten fur is too thin so you can see his pink ears. It's making me squee nonstop.

Kitties! So wonderful of you to give another cat a home. It's great that they already seem to get along well.

Hi Milton! You're lucky to have a great new home!

I'm glad everything is going well with the two kitties!

SO CUTE!!!

I'm so happy it worked out!!!

they are both so gorgeous! so excited for you!!

Adorable!!!

That's why we named our cat Momo, which is Japanese for "peach" -- he has fuzzy peachy pink ears and has similar coloring to Milton! I am so happy things seem to be going well for the two of them. Your story is very similar to mine, in that we were on the verge of panic attack about them not getting along, but everything ended up way better than we could ever have imagined. That's why younger cats are usually better for integrating into a new household. New cat = original cat's new baby! Yaaay, I am so happy for you guys! More pics, please!!

Awww! Hi Milton! So happy Tiffany is adjusting well so far. : )

Aw look at that sweet little paw of his. So cute.

Yay for Milton! And Tiffany's markings are beautiful.

Yay, congratulations!

Okay guys! I managed to capture some photos of Milton. He's a really curious cat and seems to be stimulated by everything right now. I've actually yet to see him sleep. I'm sure he did last night, but you get my point. Also...I was way too happy about his first poop. When I bring a new animal home it's like waiting to win the lottery. Yay! He pooped! Everything is okay!

He's also doing a lot of finger licking and nibbling. When you pet him he really wants to roll over and just start licking and lightly chewing on your fingers. It's cute...is this a leftover of nursing? Or is he just tasting my fingers? He really wants to do it. I hid my hands under my legs and he started digging/rooting for them like crazy.

Tiffany is doing okay. He's very curious and sits by Milton's door when we put him away for the night. They make cat talking noises to each other. Tiffany also went into Milton's room to eat some of his kitten food and pee in his litter box. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to let Tiffany, the boss of the house, do that, but it was an accident. Things seem to be okay still.

Here's more of Milton:


Meet Milton by pickledtreats, on Flickr


Meet Milton by pickledtreats, on Flickr


Meet Milton by pickledtreats, on Flickr


Meet Milton by pickledtreats, on Flickr


Meet Milton by pickledtreats, on Flickr


Meet Milton by pickledtreats, on Flickr


Meet Milton by pickledtreats, on Flickr

I love hiiiim! I feel like the nibbling on his food/peeing in his litterbox is a good thing, that they can share territories. Mido did the same when we first brought Momo home, and to me, I read it as, "Ok, I think we can live together." That may be an incorrect interpretation but it seems to have worked in our household! They both still share all the litterboxes without issue.

He has been pushing his luck with Tiffany, but Tiffany is being pretty great about it. For example. Milton jumped onto Tiffany's chair while Tiff was sleeping, but they just exchanged some playful bops on the head and swats.

Tiffany keeps wanting to go in Milton's room and eat the kitten food, which is annoying. I'm trying to feed them wet food at the same time so Tiffany doesn't whine for Milton's wet food. Still figuring this all out, but it's going well.

I finally saw Milton sleep a little bit. He still won't sleep on/with me, but oh well. When I try to snuggle with him he prefers to lick/nibble my fingers.

He has a doctor's appointment on Monday for more shots and we'll probably schedule his neutering. Things are moving along!

I'm dying with the cute here! I'm so glad they're getting along so well, congratulations all round! <3






Note: the only thing that could improve this thread is a photo of that fine red headed man of yours holding the kittehs, just sayin'.

Regarding Tiffany eating Milton's stuff and peeing in his box--Kizzy did that when Thurston came home. In fact, Kizzy set up camp in Thurston's litter box and would hang out in there sometimes. He was probably establishing dominance which I felt was fine (I wanted Kizzy to be the dominant cat because his previous owners declawed him and Thurston's claws were staying and I felt if Kizzy established his dominance immediately, I would avoid any problems with claw/no claw fights as Thurston got older and would be able to overpower Kizz--just my theory, I have no literature to back this up but Thurston is five now and has never clawed Kizzy and they play nice). So long as they're not hurting each other, overly bothering each other, I wouldn't intervene and just let them do what they do to get along and learn to live together.

Thurston also has nursing behaviors as he was found in a dumpster as a wee kitten and dropper-fed by his rescuer and I've found that behavior in other cats taken away from their mothers too soon. Thurston doesn't nurse my fingers but he nurses blankets and fabrics and stuff.

Milton is super cute!!! Tiffany too!!! <3 <3 <3

I'll see what I can do, fezza! I should have taken video of Thomas trying to catch Milton earlier before we went grocery shopping.

Milton was found in a litter that was left by the mother at around 4 weeks. The foster parents had to feed him with some milk, so that's probably where the nursing behavior is coming from. Makes me feel bad for cat moms. Those needle teeth are painful!

Awwwww. What a cutie!