The New Guy

I like to disguise errands as fun field trips for the kids when they're out of school. We visited this neat little aquarium store. It has saltwater tanks, which means more exotic fish and other sea life. This time, they even had a tank of jellyfish, which took on the color of the LED on top of the tank. The light changed colors and so did the jellyfish. I was in the market for a new aquarium filter. One of our tank filters wasn't functioning well and it has some maddening features we don't like (such as the tendency to NOT TURN ON after being cleaned). I didn't find what I was looking for, so we went to the nearest Petsmart to continue the search. The kids have always liked looking at the smaller animals there and they do so whenever we go in search of fish food or whatever. They like to pick out a small hypothetical pet and then they're good sports when it's time to go home. I found an aquarium filter to try and the kids went to look at the kitties that were up for adoption, as well as the dogs in "doggie day camp."

Later, we figured out that the filter I picked up might not work out, so the next day, we plotted another quick visit, this time to a different Petsmart, on our way to a library branch we don't visit often. While there, the kids went to see all the usual animals- mice, gerbils, birds- and the cats up for adoption. Upon conferring with Paul, I thought the new filter might work out after all, making it unnecessary to transact any business at all. However...

Back story: We have had two cats for almost the entire time we've lived in our house. In November, the older one had to be put down. She was gray with black spots and stripes and her name was Gwen.

Every so often, the kids ask about maybe getting another cat. On this second trip to Petsmart, we found this little kitten that looked like Gwen. All the kids zeroed in on him and one of the boys referred to him as the "Gwen cat." They watched him for several minutes, and started up on the questions about getting another cat.  The kitten was climbing on the bars of his cage and batting at everything that was around him. The kids were just glued to him and they all agreed he was their favorite. The whole time we were driving to the library and even after coming out of the library, we discussed what responsibilities a new cat would require. Through the afternoon, the "Gwen cat" kept coming up. Paul and I weren't opposed to the idea of another cat since we were all set up for two cats, but the break from taking care of two has been a very good thing, at least for me. We decided to go see if the kitten was still even there and what would be required to adopt him. I tried to go up to the attic and retrieve a cat carrier discreetly, but that's impossible to do silently. One of our girls was very interested in what I was looking for in the attic when I got back down.

I told the kids that we could go see if the kitten was still at the pet store. They were all in the car in an instant. Paul was done working for the day and agreed to meet us at the store. We found the kitten asleep in his little bed. The tag on his cage said his name was Milton. We got to hold him.

We had just decided to take him when the lady who fostered him in her home showed up. She gave us a lot of assistance and good information about Milton and seemed glad to meet us before he was adopted.

Side note: Yes, we got a kitten from a pet store, but the place doesn't breed kittens for profit. They don't even get any of the adoption fee. All adoptions are done through an animal rescue organization. Milton had been a stray.

So we brought Milton home (the name has stuck) and are trying to convince our other cat that this is a good thing. The kids are having fun playing with Milton and he has lots of energy.

This picture may give some perspective on his size. He is almost three months old and is very small, but not tiny. Our other cat (on top) is on the small side of average (and pretty t-o'ed at the moment).