What's the Name of That Book??? discussion

Book read around 2003. It was about a girl who was finally allowed to have a kitten, but it tends to get into trouble, usually doing normal cat stuff. When she first gets it, it runs and hides under either her bed or her brother's bed (her brother's name might've been Ira). She tries to take care of the cat, and I remember her trying to train it to roll over. The last straw with her parents is when the cat runs or chases something over the kitchen / dining room table and leaves a paw print in something her mom is serving at a dinner party. (view spoiler)[They make her get rid of the cat and she either has to find a home for it herself or they'll do it for her while she's at summer camp. I think she finds a good home for her cat, because I remember the book ending on a more peaceful note, not a stressful one. (hide spoiler)]

Was this part of a series? Do you remember anything about the cover? Were there any illustrations in the book?

I don't think it was part of a series. Sorry, I don't remember the cover or if there were any illustrations. If there were illustrations, they didn't stand out enough for me to remember them.

Bump.

Here are some guesses:

Nell the Naughty Kitten by Jenny Dale?

Meet Trouble by Susan Hood?

The Curious Little Kitten by Linda Hayward?

Thanks for trying, those all seemed aimed at a slightly younger reader base than the age I was at the time (ten or eleven), though. The focus was more on the girl and less on the cat, too.

Also, I THINK the thing the kitten ran through might've been liver pâté, but I'm really unsure of that part.

Bump.

Bump.

Bump.

Bump.

Meow Means Mischief ?

Was the kitten a stray cat or did someone give the girl a cat?

I don't think that's it. There wasn't anything about grandparents or making friends. Thanks for trying.

I can't say for certain how she got the cat. The ending made more of an impression on me than the beginning because it seemed outrageous that they were making her get rid of the cat for getting into the kind of trouble every young cat or kitten gets into.

Bump!

Bump, again. I wish I could remember more information to add.

Bump.

Bump

Still searching for this one for you, Kate. A few more questions that may trigger a memory:

You mentioned the book focused more on the girl and not the cat. What did you mean by that? Is the "getting a new cat" plot secondary and not the main plot?

Was the tone more serious, light, humorous, etc?

Location/time period the story takes place?

I'm honestly not sure what I meant by that anymore. I'm pretty sure getting the kitten and taking care of it was part of the main plot. I know there were secondary plots but I don't remember any of them.

The tone was more on the serious/realistic side.

I don't think it took place any later than the 80s, at oldest. And I think they lived in an apartment building, so probably a city of some sort, definitely North American.

The tip about them living in an apartment did the trick.

It sounds like Want to Trade Two Brothers for a Cat

If you scroll towards the bottom of the Google Books page, a couple of the frequently used words is "Ira" and "Ira's bed."
http://books.google.com/books/about/W...

That's it! Thank you!