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From:

Well, actually he's not a kitten, I think he's about 6. I first met him in spring as a foster kitty from the Humane Society. I wasn't sure I could commit to a kitty for the very long term and my landlord was being kind of iffy about pets (he has since said it's ok), but I figured I could take foster kitties for a month or so at a time while they recovered from colds or took a bit of an R&R break from the stresses of shelter life or whatever. So Fitz came while he was recovering from some little thing, and he was a totally sweet boy. He had been surrendered by an owner who was elderly and not in good health, and he was a very affectionate kitty (if a bit rough on furniture). After a few weeks with me he was ready to go back and be put up for adoption, and I'd written a glowing recommendation for him and he got adopted right away, yay, and I had a different foster kitty for a few weeks. Later I got a call from the Humane Society and they said Fitz's new family had returned him because he didn't get along with their other cat, and when the vet gave him a health screening they found he was on the verge of going from stage 2 to stage 3 of kidney disease and at that point they don't think it can be reversed and they don't put them up for adoption, but rather look for someone to give them a foster hospice home. And since I'd recently had him as a foster kitty, they asked if I'd consider it. They would provide the special diet and vet care and everything, they just wanted him to have a comfy place to stay. And he had been such a sweet boy that I said okay. I was worried that he might go downhill fast but really, aside from peeing a lot (always in his box) and drinking a lot of water, he seems fine. It's been 5 months or so. I tend to forget that he is supposedly ill. He basks in the windowsill and snuggles and tries to rub his chin on my face and glasses (and drools) and is generally just a sweetie. So there may be heartbreak ahead but so far so good.

I remember having lots of kittens around as a kid - we had several unspayed females (that was in the 60's before there was much spay/neuter consciousness) and so there were always kittens. They seemed sort of bold and amoral. I think they develop into being affectionate later.