If you’ve followed me on Instagram for more than 24 hours, then I’m sure you know I’m a major cat person. I wouldn’t call myself a crazy cat lady yet since I only have one, but I’m definitely crazy about my girl Milly! Today is her 5th birthday, which I think is worth celebrating. Since she’s such a big part of me and Nick’s lives, I figured I’d write out her adoption story!

Growing up, I always had a cat. My first cat was a Christmas gift when I was probably 4 or 5 years old. My parents placed the kitten in a box, stuck her on the front porch, rang the doorbell and pretended Santa had dropped her off. Her name was Silver Bells (Belle for short). She was a sweetie.

So when I went off to college, I really missed having a cat. I wanted to adopt one, but I had three roommates to consider. I was against any of them getting a dog, so I wasn’t going to be a hypocrite and go out and adopt a cat. Lucky for me, an opportunity presented itself. I’m not sure how, but one day we got it in our heads that we wanted a house pet. We all went to Petsmart together, and when we got there, we saw a beautiful Siamese cat up for adoption. I of course immediately volunteered to be her primary caretaker and pay for most of her care if I got to be the one to keep her after college. So we went home, thought it over, decided to name her Katniss (lol) and went back the next morning to adopt her. Sadly Katniss had already been adopted by someone else. But our hearts were set on a cat now, so we headed to the local animal shelter!

At the animal shelter, we looked at all the cats they had for adoption and one little gray and white kitten with a pink nose stood out to me. She was the last one from her litter to be adopted. She was only five months old, and whenever you picked her up, she immediately melted in your arms. She loved being carried around like a baby and had no problems being handled. We decided she was the one. We couldn’t take her home right away, but we were so excited that my roommate Katlyn and I came to visit her after class the next day at the shelter. We were already so in love!

 

When we brought her home, she was extremely timid. She hid under the coffee table for the first week because she was scared of the ceiling fan and TV. She’s still a very timid cat, but she’s gotten better. After that first week, she started to warm up to us and show her personality! It took us forever to decide on a name, but someone finally suggested the name Milly, and we went with it. (The spelling was a whole other argument, but I stick by my decision to spell it with a y!) Over the next three years, she lived with my roommates and me at our college house. I took her home for the holidays, but she was very much a part of our little family! After graduation, she came home with me and has been with me ever since.

 

Nick wasn’t sure how he felt about me adopting a cat. Nick used to be one of those people who claims they aren’t a cat person just because they’ve never had one (or met the right one). He never had a cat growing up, so he didn’t know the joys of owning a sassy little snuggle bug! When we got engaged, he worried that Milly was going to get on his nerves, but it didn’t take long at all for her to win him over. One of my favorite parts of marriage has been watching him transform into an obsessed cat dad. lol. Milly loves laying in his lap while he’s playing video games, and it’s the sweetest thing!

 

 

5 facts about Milly for her 5th birthday:

1. Her favorite treat/food flavor is turkey.
2. She’s run away twice, and the first time she got hit by a car. So she has a bad hip, but she doesn’t let it hold her back!
3. She loves to play with her laser pointer.
4. I’m her favorite person, but Nick is a close second!
5. She meets me at the door every day when I get home from work to get a hug and a treat!