First Cutest Kitten Ever, Kirby! June 2010-now.

by Maria Kryszak
(Oak Lawn, IL)

We adopted Kirby in May of 2010. He was a tiny ball of fluff, alert and curious, but it was soon apparent that he was in trouble. Thankfully, we were able to save him from succumbing to Fading Kitten Syndrome! As you can see, he has grown into a very handsome boy. Kirby never fails to amuse us and make us smile.

He is a big boy, almost 12 pounds, but he's still a little kitten at heart. He tries to make himself as small as he can to curl up in the crook of my husband's arm when he sits on the couch watching TV. When he plops himself down on my chest while I'm lying in bed, his weight causes my breath to leave my lungs in an involuntary sigh. He's a bit of a bully with his siblings, but a true "scaredy-cat", despite all his bravado. Whenever he hears the dog bark at the front door, or any kind of commotion in the house, he bolts for his hiding place under the couch in the back of the house, and often doesn't come out if we have guests in the house.

For such a large cat, he has a really tiny voice. His vocalizations always amuse us, and I am a little ashamed to admit that we often mimic him. He sounds like he is recovering from laryngitis, which cause his yips and meows to sound odd. The vet assured us that he is okay, though.

We find it kind of ironic that he has such a HUGE appetite, for his food and everyone else's, considering he had to be force-fed with a syringe for weeks, and then coaxed to eat his food from his bowl.

He is a kitty klepto, stealing various items from our rooms and carrying them down the stairs and into other parts of the house. He especially seems to love my daughter's things. I often come home to find her hat, or one mitten, or a scarf or slipper in the middle of the living room floor. Once I caught him dragging her blanket off her bed and into the hallway! I have yet to find the sock he took.

I can hardly believe it'll soon be three years since Kirby came into our family. He is such an amusing cat, I could go on all day. He has effectively stolen our hearts!


To see more of Kirby visit Kirby as a kitten