Misaki: a name I knew only because of my favorite anime, one I even considered naming my first child, and a name I knew was meant for my little kitten when I saw her. Misaki means "cherry blossoms" in Japanese and it really has no correlation to how she looks or where she came from, however, it's a name she has made all her own.
Believe it or not, she was much smaller than she was in my cover image when I first adopted her. I was told she was seven weeks which was young already. Kittens are usually given at about twelve weeks to give them enough time to learn how to function normally on their own. Meaning, use the bathroom without stimulation, etc.
Three weeks after, I took her to the vet to get her second deworming treatment and I found out she was actually three weeks when she was given to me. She was a bit underweight because I had opted to skip the milk replacement time, since she was already more than eight weeks at that point which is when you are supposed to wean them off.
In the beginning, she was so tiny and completely dependent on me. She needed to be stimulated before using the bathroom and she had to be taught to use the litter.
The most exhausting part of having a kitten was the early morning wake up calls. She would wake up several times during the early morning. Once at 3 a.m. and again at 7 a.m. She wanted to play and wouldn't go to sleep until I gave her attention. She would start with biting my leg, then my arm and finally, my face. It was annoying because I barely sleep, the very little that I do get to stay in bed, I do not want to compromise it. To this day, she continues to wake me up, not as frequently though, much to my delight.
It was difficult when I had to leave her alone for the first time. It was the first day that I had to leave her for more than an hour. I´m pretty sure it was harder for her than it was for me. I'm sure she is used to it now, but I still find myself rushing home after class.
She's growing every day, getting longer and chubbier. Misaki is becoming more independent and is now able to spend more time away from me to play around with other things. I am happy because she's turning into the cutest social cat, but it's hard to know that one day she won't need me for much, besides night cuddles.
Raising a kitten is one of the most rewarding experiences I've had. It has taught me about responsibility, love, and compassion. I always say that Misaki is the best forty dollars I've ever spent because not only did I get to save a kitty from growing up as a stray, but I got a cute best friend out of it.