How did you acquire your feline(s)?

[Tink]

Thought this would be fun. You can explain as much/little as you want and just stick to your current cat(s) or go back further in history if you like.

Me first..

Kuan Yin: Found in an oil pitt at my OH's work. She was four weeks old and survived a six foot drop and was apparently seperated from her litter (doesn't surprise me now, she probably wandered off, she's always gotten herself in trouble with her curiosity!)

Hestia: Was thinking about adding another cat to our home and went on Craigslist and spotted an ad that listed an older cat that needed a new home because her humans had children and she wasn't coping.

Solomon: Craigslist again but this time I wasn't looking in the pet section, was searching household items and i saw a cat ad and rolled my eyes and clicked on it and was met with the most handsome face I'd ever seen. Instantly fell in love and before I knew it I was contacting her and tossing and turning, could not get this boy off my mind. Turns out the person was a college age girl and she'd bought him to replace a dog and realized she didn't like cats!

[babycakes]

Awww I remember you getting Kuan Tink makes me smile

Denis I got from an animal rescue I had spent 4 years persuading my OH to get a cat and he is such a character. Noone wanted him cos he was feral and as it was explained he would be too much trouble, yet no other cat appealed to me. He was so fed up and upset with himself and he snuggled into my jumper when I held him, that I knew I was having him. When we brought him home he spent most of the time hiding from us and it took a lot of time to get him to accept us.

Tigger and Ginge were dumped on our doorstep when I was 12. they were in a plastic bag and didnt have their eyes open. We became their mothers. Ginge died after being deliberatley set upon by a greyhound on the front step and Tigger ied of a tumour at 18 years of age.

Tinker wondered around the neighbourhood looking for a home and ended up at our house. he was tinker balls when we got him and very soon he was shortened to Tinker. He used to rummage in the bins on bin night and be sick the following day!! He used to walk up with Dad to the paper shop and chippy. he was run over. I found him dead under my neighbours bushes while Mum and Dad were away.

Fluffy we rescued from next doors garden cos they didnt look after him, he was beautiful but didnt like to be cuddled. He used to chase the plastic bits off Dads cigarette packages but unfortunately he chased one into the road and was hit by an ice cream van

[Velvet]

Most of my life i wanted a cat , however lifestyle prevented it. When dad died & mum moved in with me things were more settled. Contacted a lady through a lOcal rescue forum who told us abour a tortie, in meantime mum changed her mimd & i had to decline the kitten. Several weeks later the lady emailed again about the feral mum & litter had been brought in - i was getting involved with cat rescue in the litter was a cream kitten. Only days old, a cream kitten got mum's interest & thus Tim was booked!

After few months we decided another kitten would be a nice addition & contacted rescue again. They had a nice ginger (feral) boy who would be ready in two weeks. When we went for him he was ill They wouldnt release him however as we had gone such a distance - 3 hour journey they offered us choice of any of the others. Most were very young or still in act of being tamed. There was only one kitten near Tim's age. She had a sore leg - had been limping tho vet coukd find nothing wrong. They set her (Amber) in my arms & that
was it. Fate sealed! Oh - she never limped onve we got her home & our vet said she was fine too

[dandysmom]

Su-ling. my Siamese seal point boy, first cat as an adult.... bought from a backyard breeder who advertised in the paper! I didn't know better back in the late 60s!!

Sultan, ruddy Aby male: bought from the pet shop in my neighborhood! Once again I didn't know any better then and I lucked out, he was a very healthy intelligent cat.

Misty; blue torbie, showed up as a little kitten lost on a cold March day with snow sleet and freezing rain predicted; I brought her in "just till I can find the owner"; she died in her sleep at 19 1/2 ....

Patches, brindled tortie: advertised in the paper as free to a good home because of familial allergies. I knew that wasn't such a good idea, but she was an adult, 1 1/2 years old, and it wasn't a backyard breeder, so took a chance ... she was a lovely cat, and went to the Bridge at 20.

Dandy, the Singapura boy! Bought from a breeder in Massachussetts. Quite a trip getting him from there to here!

Leia was found for me by an old friend. She recognized that this little kitten in need of a loving home was another blue torbie like Misty. I'd planned on my next cat being a male, but who could resist that darling little kitten?

[fancyabrew]

Marmaduke bought for £395.

Chloe RSPCA rescue cat. She was 8 when we got her, it was her 3rd time at the same rescue centre! We don't know why people kept giving her back as she is a lovely cat full of character. In the 6 years we've had her she's not managed to break anything or mess in the house she's been perfect. Marmaduke on the other hand, in 8 months has broken quite a few things and craps on the door mat a few times a week!

Chloe has just been to have her 1 remaining tooth out today, but is now home and is doing well

[Netty]

Oliver - given to me by a neighbour who was moving and didnt want him. Hubby didnt want us to have him, but after some gentle persuasion (), I won. He really likes him though, honest!

Benny - just came into the house one day and stayed!

[lynz85]

Pip , came from cats protection aged 8 weeks. I gather that he was born while in their care, whether mum was a stray or had been handed in while pregnant I dont know.

Mondo, from cats protection aged five months. He had been handed in by his family because the other cats bullied him and the children treated him like a toy, so he needed a house of his own. Died aged five of kidney failure.

Tigger aka jungle cat. My mum was in the pet shop and couldnt resist this beautiful we tortie kitten.

Hobbes, tabby cat from the pet shop. He was such a lovely wee. boy, killed on the road about a year old.

Mac, our first ever cat. We got him as a kitten out the pet shop, lovely tabby markings but quite a grumpy bum. Died on the roads around two and a half years old.

[lynz85]

Pip , came from cats protection aged 8 weeks. I gather that he was born while in their care, whether mum was a stray or had been handed in while pregnant I dont know.

Mondo, from cats protection aged five months. He had been handed in by his family because the other cats bullied him and the children treated him like a toy, so he needed a house of his own. Died aged five of kidney failure.

Tigger aka jungle cat. My mum was in the pet shop and couldnt resist this beautiful we tortie kitten.

Hobbes, tabby cat from the pet shop. He was such a lovely wee. boy, killed on the road about a year old.

Mac, our first ever cat. We got him as a kitten out the pet shop, lovely tabby markings but quite a grumpy bum. Died on the roads around two and a half years old.

[Darky]

After my cat Tiger died (obtained when I was a child, I don't really know how we ended up with her), I was desperate for a cat to replace the hole in my heart.
We looked everywhere (newspapers, online, shop ads, rescue shelters, etc.) but just always seemed to miss out, or there were no cats suitable for homes with dogs, etc. I wasn't up for getting a kitten, I wanted an adult cat to rehome.
However, one day my parents were driving to the place that was cremating Tiger on my behalf, and they came across a really out of the way farm selling kittens for £30. They came home and told me they'd reserved one for me.
So I ended up, some weeks later, with my little ball of fluff - who is now a massive ball of fluff, Honey.

Lemon was a fairly spur-of-the-moment deal. My friend contacted me trying to get help in rehoming some kittens - her "friend" (turned out to be a very unpleasant woman) was raising a few litters of feral kittens in behalf of her neighbour who had rescued them, and she was looking for homes.
So I convinced my parents to rehome one of the kittens so that their cat would be less lonely when I moved out with Honey, and I decided to give a home to one of the kittens as well so that Honey would have company - and also as a lovely surprise for my Fiance, who had never had his own pet before.
It turned out that both kittens had horrible cat flu with eye infections and the like, and the woman had clearly never taken them to a vet. So they became quite expensive kittens, but obviously worth every penny of veterinary treatment.
My parent's kitten grow into a completely mental but amazing cat (Enki), he is a typical ginger tom and the feral in him is obvious (never stops playing, hates cuddles), but he's a wonderful pet. His poor health as a kitten has left him with bad eyesight and he's prone to colds and the like so he frequently has to visit the vet, but he has the strongest spirit of any cat I've ever seen.
And our kitten grew up into the dumbest cat ever. XD Lemon is amazing, but you'd never in a million years guess that he has feral blood in him. He's clumsy, dopey and loves everyone.

[Manyana13]

Oh I am loving all the stories on this thread.

As a child, I had plenty of cats but during my so called 'grown up' life I have only had the three that I have now.

Harry - A friend in Bristol knew somebody whose cat had a litter and showed me the pics. I instantly fell for him, it was definitly love at first sight! He is the most unique cat out of the three. Very demanding of attention, chatty and moans a lot but would spend all day giving cuddles if he could. If I say 'put your head on the pillow' he will get on the sofa, put his head on a cushion and make us give him belly rubs.

Vinnie - He is from the same litter as Harry, now I had fallen for him too but my OH said that we could only have 1 kitty. So when we went on a night out, I got him quite a few Jagermeisters and got him drunk and got him to agree to having another. So Vinnie is our Jagermeister baby. He is the 'big daddy', he loves playing outsid and is very clever, he even plays fetch with his mice!

Lola - Well, she found us. We say that the Angels brought her to us! She was this tiny 5 week old thing I found on the side of the road in the pouring rain one night. It turned out that she was part of a litter that had been dumped. She was absolutely crawling in bugs and had bald patches all over her. She was so feisty, it took me, a vet and a vet nurse to get a de-worming tablet down her. She ran like a bullet everywhere and pretty much lived under the sofa for about the first year of her life but has calmed right down now (almost 2 years since we got her now) she is incredibly loving, happy, sleeps with us, is trusting and so beautiful. She is the boss of the house, so is still a little feisty when she wants! She doesn't meow, never has... she is very chatty though and makes a stange noise... she sounds like a deflating balloon! We wouldn't have her any other way.