Introducing Nougat the kitten

Meet Nougat the cat

I really wanted Kitkat to have a baby brother or sister so when my friend told me that he knows somebody who is putting up 2 kittens for adoption, I told him that I may be interested. The kittens were approximately 2 and a half months old and were abandoned by the mother (just as Kitkat was at a very young age). The mother is still around but seemed not to have the inclination of taking care of her kittens at this age and would just come and go as she pleases (the mother is a neighborhood stray but the father is a house cat named Carlo) a few months after she gave birth in the crawl space of their ceiling. The 2 kittens were largely independent and would wander about on their own and would eagerly eat table scraps when fed and would climb up on the roof to play. I have decided to adopt one of the kittens, which is mostly white with black patches on the face and tail, and named him Nougat because of his mostly white coloration. Although I have initially intended the naming convention of my cats to be after sweets and candies (I initially wanted to name him Oreo but decided that Nougat is better), it is starting to sound like Android OS code names. Nougat's birthdate is 7th March 2018.

Nougat first came to the house on the 15th of May 2018 looking very small and fragile but full of energy. One thing that I have noticed is that he is not one of those noisy kittens and would only make a very soft mewing sound if he wants to get our attention. Another thing I have noticed right away is that he looked a bit dirty and disheveled and spent some time trying to clean out his ears. Luckily it looked like it was just grime and I didn't notice any signs of fleas or mites in the outer ear but to be safe I will be treating both Kitkat and Nougat with some flea and mite treatment (Bayer Advantage II) in the next few months.

A trip to the vet was next on the agenda and the veterinarian did note that Nougat is a bit "pot-bellied" and has given him some de-worming pills and instructed me to monitor for signs of infestation in his stool. He also recommended some vitamin paste (I use Nutripet by Troy and the vet recommended some Sodium Ascorbate/Calcium Ascorbate supplement) to help improve his overall health (having been subsisting from table scraps may not have been the best way for kittens to get the nutrition they need) and I have bought some age-appropriate food for Nougat since all we have are adult cat food (I give Kitkat Orijen Cat and Kitten grain-free food but Nougat seems to have a hard time munching on the hard kibbles). I have chosen Royal Canin second age Kitten dry food (for kittens up to 12 months of age) for Nougat and supplemented by once a day wet food feedings. Nougat seems to be happy with that arrangement.

In the first few days, I was careful to keep Nougat and Kitkat separate. Not only was I worried that Kitkat would be unwelcoming to the newcomer but also since I was worried about Nougat passing on worms or mites. After the requisite checks and treatments have been taken cared off I finally let them interact in a controlled and well-supervised environment. At first, Kitkat seemed more alarmed than jealous. Nougat would follow him everywhere and Kitkat would climb on top of shelves just to get away. Kitkat did not show any signs of aggression towards the smaller kitten and would eventually engage in playful behavior with Nougat. Kitkat would still find an inaccessible place in the house if he has had enough running and roughhousing for the day. One unusual behavior of Nougat during playtime, he makes this Kroo-kroo sound like a chicken and I have since nicknamed him "Chicken Nugget" whenever he does that.