This post is long overdue. I’ve been wanting to write about my cat for a long time because she is the BEST CAT IN THE ENTIRE WORLD.
Now, we do have two cats…
We love Charlotte. Like all cats, she’s funny and quirky and has her own unique personality. But she’s not very affectionate. Sometimes I wonder if she even likes us. We had her for about three years when we decided to add a second cat to our household.
In addition to not liking us, Charlotte also hates all other cats. At least, according to the woman who gave her to us. She suggested that Charlotte should be an “only cat.” Our brilliant solution to this was to get a KITTEN. A little kitten would be non-threatening, and we could sneak her into our house without issues, right?
My daughter really wanted a calico, so we went to the Good Karma Pet Rescue website and found a calico kitten named “Greta.” We contacted them, talked to the woman who was fostering her, and she arranged to bring “Greta” over to meet us.
Well, as soon as she entered our house there was no way she was leaving. We immediately loved her SO MUCH and the kids renamed her Muffin. Her foster mom told us her history: Greta-Muffin and her siblings were found in a dumpster when they were a day old. Luckily a sanitation worker heard their mewing, and called the pet rescue.
Only Muffin and one sister survived. When they were a few weeks old they got very sick with a respiratory infection. Here’s a picture from the facebook post at that time:
SOB! Muffin was once a SICK DUMPSTER BABY. Again, we didn’t know this was going on at the time- we learned it all after we adopted her, became facebook friends with her foster mom, and went back to read her old posts.
It’s incredible that Muffin and her sister survived! Muffin’s sister was also adopted a couple weeks later (again, we learned from the foster mom’s facebook page.) We’re so incredibly grateful to the pet rescue and foster mom who saved our little girl.
We got Muffin in July of 2020, and here we are at Christmas:
And here’s the cake I made for Muffin’s first birthday:
One of the funny things about Muffin is her “meow.” It sounds more like “ngar.” We like to joke that she never had a cat mother so she never learned how to meow properly. And her meow (ngar) sounds extremely sad- “Ngar, ngar!” she’ll say plaintively, and we’ll go rushing over to her- “Don’t worry Muffin, you’ll never be in a dumpster again!”
Muffin is now three years old (so, an adult in human years) but we still treat her like a toddler. She’s an incredibly affectionate cat- she loves to snuggle, and if you come to our house she’ll run to the door to greet you, and possible even lick your hand.
So… how do she and Charlotte get along? Well, Muffin loves everyone and wants to be friends. Every single day she’ll run over to Charlotte happily, as if to say “Hello, best friend!” Every time, Charlotte hisses angrily. But Muffin is undaunted! She seems to believe they WILL be friends someday.
Do you have a favorite pet? Did you have a favorite pet growing up?
33 Responses
What a sweet little dumpster baby! I love her little toe beans. Some cats just won’t accept another in the house, but if Charlotte isn’t beating Muffin up, I think that’s a win. I grew up with cats and loved them, but my husband is VERY allergic, so no cats for me.
I’m glad your story has a happy ending. My dog Mulder was sold on Craigslist, and the rescue that took him in told us his prior name and a bit about him, so my daughter was able to cyber stalk the people who gave him up. They had some cute puppy pictures of him on their Instagram page for awhile. Fun!
Yes, we’re just happy the cats aren’t actively fighting. It’s probably the best we could hope for.
Ha ha, cyber stalking your pet’s previous owner is fun! It must have been nice to see Mulder’s puppy pictures.
Muffin’s beautiful!
Thank you Liz! We think so too <3
Gee I thought this was about food. Lol.
I have two cats. And I do love one more than the other. Sorry Mac.
Our tuxedo Champ is perfect.
Ha ha… I thought about that after I posted it. “I hope people don’t think this is about MUFFINS.”
So wait- is Mac the orange tabby? And Champ is a tuxedo cat? Just trying to keep everyone straight here!
Yes. Mac is hard to live. He’s pretty and orange.
SHE IS SO ADORABLE. And her NAME!! Oh my goodness. Also, that cake is fantastic.
Honestly, I was pretty happy with “Greta.” But the kids insisted!
Awww, it’s so wonderful she has such a good life with you after such a difficult start.
Yes, she has a good life! Maybe even a little too good- my son things she’s getting a little chubby. I baby her too much.
This was just the best post for starting my day and I’M NOT EVEN A “CAT” PERSON (my husband is and wants a cat desperately but I’m allergic, so this is highly unlikely).
Anyhoo. What a sad and tragic start to her life which has been redeemed by entering such a loving family. I love that she’s affectionate and still optimistic about making friends with Charlotte.
And that cake! All the gold stars for that. We have a birthday this week; can you come to my house and take care of the cake decorating?
Ha ha… that cake was one of my bigger triumphs. I also have some cakes that were not quite as successful. You wouldn’t want me to come decorate your cake (unless you’re okay with sprinkles all over it and candles in the shape of the age numbers.) Now I’m wondering whose birthday it is!
Pretty cat! It’s a shame that Charlotte doesn’t want to be friends, but if growling is all she does, that sounds acceptable to me. It’s so good to have an affectionate cat.
I wish I had baby pictures of Maggie, but I never did know who had her before I did. Maggie makes all sorts of non-meow noises; my favorite is when I’m bringing her food in the morning and she clearly says “Ruh!” Like, what is that, Maggie?
It’s really nice to have an affectionate cat! Oh, and Charlottes also has a weird meow- sometimes she sounds likes she’s quacking, ha ha.
AWWW! SO cute! I am typically not a “cat person” particularly either, though I love all animals. If I had a cat, Muffin is just the type I’d want though! I think what generally turns me off to them is just how so many cats aren’t that affectionate/ stand-offish. I love the Christmas ornament! I totally need to get one of those for Charlie, duh!
I have been feeling guilty because since we got Charlie, our tiny little hamster Summer has gotten a lot less attention! We used to bring her out everyday and snuggle her, but with Charlie bouncing around, well, that isn’t safe… so we’ve sort of been unintentionally ignoring her a little bit! I feel terrible because she is the sweetest thing and is already 1 1/2 years old so who knows how much time she even has left. sob. I’ve been trying to go in my son’s room with him, close the door, and then we can get the hamster out with no fear of Charlie coming in and excitedly flinging her across the room or something.
Do you ever feel guilty that Muffin is maybe seen as the “favorite” and Charlotte feels bad??
Yes, I definitely feel guilty! I do try to give Charlotte as much affection as possible, but it’s hard. I feel like after writing this glowing post about Muffin, I should try harder with Charlotte.
Wow, you have an affectionate hamster! I had a couple hamsters as a kid but they did not like to snuggle. Maybe when things calm down a bit with Charlie you’ll get into the habit again of taking Summer out more.
Hi Muffin!!!!! She is so cute and I loved reading about her! And what endless optimism in the face of Charlotte’s dislike. One of these days, she’ll wear Charlotte down!
I’m hoping so! Today I found them both lying on the bed… not exactly together, but semi-near each other. I was encouraged.
MUFFIN! Hi, pretty baby. Don’t ever let anyone call you a dumpster kitty ever again!! What a sad story.
I had a cat named Frisky when I was a child and he was so ADORABLE and cuddled with me, even though I was a hyperactive child. Alas, Frisky could not be contained and he used to escape the house every chance he could get and then one day he never came home. RIP, my little dude, you were the best cat a little girl could have asked for.
Oh, poor Frisky! It sounds like he was well-named. Actually, poor you- you must have been so sad.
I am in awe of the cake. So flipping cute. Sweet Muffin, still trying to be friends with Charlotte. I am very allergic to cats, so no cats for me. When we were very young we had a miniature schnauzer, but my brother was deathly allergic, so Fritzy went to live with my grandparents.
That cake was one of two crowning achievement of my cake decorating life. Other cakes over the years were not so successful.
Oh, this is so sweet. We don’t have pets right now because I don’t want to deal with one more thing on my plate but I am contemplating cats so that might be in our future. I think one thing is that growing up I never had pets. My brother brought home the class guinea pig and my grandma had a dog and a parakeet but that’s about it. I can’t say I had a close relationship to any of them. But I do think I would like cats.
If you think you might like a pet but don’t want another thing on your plate, a cat could be a good choice. They’re pretty independent, unlike dogs. I love the thought of dogs but I know the responsibility would be too much for me right now.
Oh, cats, aren’t they lovely! And how could you resist that sick dumpster baby? How hilarious about Charlotte though. And poor Muffin being nice and trying to make friends with her!
We live a good life without Ester but every time I think about her I realise how empty the house is without her. But we won’t get another cat, we’ll enjoy the freedom we have without pets. Like being able to go to Italy for three weeks just like that!
Yes, my sister and her husband did that for a while. When their cats passed away they were pet-less for a while so they could travel more. Then they decided their house was too sad and empty so they got more cats!
It’s nice to meet you, Muffin! It’s true that sometimes cats can be aloof and want their space, but I’ve been lucky to know a few that are very affectionate, and it sounds like Muffin is in that category. My parents’ cat that they’ve had for a few years is super affectionate. It took a few visits for him to warm up to me, but once I was on his “OK” list I was in. When I went to see them over the weekend, the cat jumped right into my lap and purred like crazy the whole time that I was there – and of course I was in no hurry to leave.
Growing up we had about the same number of cats as people in the house (3 of each) and each cat kind of “adopted” their favorite family member, so in that sense we had favorites. Does Muffin have a favorite member of the family? Our dog makes time for each of us, but she’s clearly the most smitten with my husband.
Awww, so sweet to learn about Muffin (and Charlotte – I love black cats!). I think it’s funny that her original name was Greta (my niece’s name is Greta, so it sounds odd for a cat to my ears)… Muffin is much more fitting and it sounds like she’s really happy to be with you and your family (and even Charlotte) 🙂
LOVE LOVE LOVE this post!!!!! Muffin is so cute and Charlotte would be considered a “real cat” in my world. hahaha… we have Cookie (we love naming them with food eh?) and she’s like Muffin, very affectionate and loves to be with us. She mostly follows Sofia if Sofia is around, but if not, she’d be happy to be with any human being. We love her, and i never thought in million years that I’d like a cat.
Muffin! I love this story – you rescued a poor lil dumpster baby!
Both of my cats are pretty affectionate with me – although they won’t sit in my lap or anything like that. But they will snuggle with me on the bed sometimes. And they love their pets, of course! They aren’t best friends, either, but get along pretty well. Lila sometimes plays with Ellie too hard and Ellie will hiss at her. But that’s about as far as it goes.
I so wish I were not allergic to cats. 🙁 Muffin is beautiful and definitely found Her People. I hope you have many more years with her.
Muffin … what a great name.