How did your cat(s)...

[HappyKatz]

Hello lovely Catsey people!

This thread has probably been started before but I wanted to start another one.
Its nice to hear how all of our cats came into our homes...

How did your cat(s) come into your home? (or where did you adopt them from...)
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Sliver was adopted as a kitten from a humane society. We had to drive a long way to adopt her. As soon as we seen her, we took her home. She was our first kitty The man at the shelter told us this kitten was a male. We went to get "him" neutered only to find out - he is really a she!

Snowball was adopted as a 1 year old adult from a humane society. We only remember him being there among all the other cats, it felt like there was a light around him. When he was taken out of the cage, it was immediate love He was so scared, he was there for many months, and he was always passed by...Because of certain personality traits of his (he has a shaky tail that looks like hes spraying but its just a nervous tail) We thought he was cute - lucky us! He was meant to come home with us

Sage was adopted from a pet store. He was the most scared kitty there, he was less likely to get adopted so thats why we got him. Plus hes a handsome boy! Because he came from a pet store, he had many health problems but after many visits to the vet, hes doing well

Sushie was found from a newspaper ad for free kittens. Unfortunately she was raised outdoors, which she still has issues with to this day. She was the last female kitty there, we took her into our arms & took her to her forever home. She sat in my lap on the ride home and never moved.

Spooky was a kitten from a friends cat. She wasn't treated correctly so she wanted nothing to do with us but we still had to have her. We knew we could help her to be a more trusting kitty and she is now! Shes improved beyond expectations!

Spici was adopted from a pet store like Sage. She sat on the top shelf of the cage looking out with her proud but sad eyes. She was so beautiful, we took her home the next day. In the car, I had her in the cat carrier, she pushed her face so hard against it, that I had to let her out. As soon as I did that, she layed at my feet and gave me a nice kitty smile

Shilo & Sadee are Spookys daughters. We got to watch their births. They were born in our house and are now living together as two happy sisters. They are the first kittens that we had as a pair & we will always adopt pairs in the future just because of them...They have so much sisterly love

Sasha was picked up by my husband. She was a couples cat who was in the middle of a bitter breakup. They forgot about her, she was starving and had ear mites. When she got home, all you could feel were her little bones. But as soon as my husband put her down, it was as if she was part of the family already. We have never seen anything like when she came into her new home. No cats hissed at her, our cats just sniffed her and walked away as if to say "We understand why shes here, shes needs help" Our cats know that we were saving her Now Sasha looks so healthy & shiny - we hardly recognize her from before

Sasha is our last cat for many years...we have the purrfect feline family now

[Kazz]

What a good idea for a thread, I will read with interest.

[Mags]

Good thread HK

After I lost my ginger boy Sam and was ready to start thinking about taking another kitten into my heart, I decided I wanted one that had a bit of ginger in it as I felt it would help keep the memory of Sam with me.

I like to say I 'rescued' Cassie from a dark hut in a field in the middle of nowhere.
I saw kittens advertised in the local paper and one was a tortoiseshell. We went to the address in a small village and was surprised when the woman there asked us to follow her in her car. We stopped at a field with no sign of life around except this hut. The woman had a torch and we went inside...... the kittens, 4 of them, were in a small run. I asked to see the tortie and she managed to catch this frightened little ball of fluff and hand her to me........ she was so scared that it was obvious she had had no socialising at all - someone used to just pop in there to feed them and that was it

Straight away I said I would take her. It took a long, long time for her to learn to trust me. She is still terrified everytime the doorbell rings, doesn't like strangers in the house and she still doesn't like me picking her up. She will come onto my lap of her own accord though and enjoys fuss and cuddles that way and she will follow me everywhere round the house.

I often wonder what happened to the other three kittens that were with her and if they are still as timid as Cassie.

[angieh]

Yes, good thread HK!

Kizzy came to me through the grace of Smudgely and Kazz and Cats Protection here on Catsey! I had lost my dear old Merlin in March and was pining for another cat - OH, MIL and I travelled to Birmingham on Easter Sunday to pick her up. She'd been found at the Guide Dogs for the Blind Training Centre where Smudgley works. She took a while to settle with us, was very wary for a couple of weeks, but is a very kind and gentle cat and I started to trust her almost immediately. She's never bitten nor scratched. Her past is a complete mystery.

I was then looking for a Kompanion for Kizzy - all documented here on Catsey! I mentioned it to my oldest school friend who phoned some time later and said that a friend of a friend of hers had a cat who'd had an accidental litter (!). We travelled to Oxford to pick Pip up at 9 weeks old. He and his brother were the last of the littler of 4 - all very nicely socialised and well cared for. Pip is now 6 months old and has had his "op".

There's always a story of how a cat came to you isn't there. If you want stories of how I got Merlin and Smudge (which is a fairly spooky story!) let me know!

[smudgley]

Emily we got from an advert in the paper when we decided to get another cat as company for another cat we had at the time. So we had Emily & Mitten. (6 weeks old)

We decided to get another cat and John was at his sisters house, and discovered that his sisters mate had a litter of kittens, he went & had a look and came home with Smudge. I got home from work to find a very little ball of fluff on his lap. She fell in love with the dog immediately & they have always had a very special bond. Now we had Mitten, Emily & Smudge. (6 weeks old)

Our tabby cat Mitten got run over & we decided we weren't going to actively look for another cat. However I was by this point fostering for CP and when Bluebell was brought in with her brother, sister & mommy, my husband instantly fell in love & said he was keeping her, I said that wasn't a good idea because we were at the time living in our caravan in the garden whilst the house was gutted & major building work took place. He just went into the pen, put her in his pocket & walked off with her. That night she was curled up on my bed in the caravan. He idolises that cat and worships the ground she walks on, she can do no wrong! (6 weeks old) now we had Emily, Smudge & Bluebell.

Only ever having had 2 or 3 cats we thought that was it for us, until I collected a cat with her litter of kittens, they were found in someones garden. Straight away I thought the white tortie was cute, but it never entered my head we would end up keeping her. My daughter fell in love and asked if we could keep her, we thought about it and decided we could. Her argument was that Emily was Lucy's cat because she always follows Lucy everywhere & sleeps on her bed, Smudge was Mommy's cat because Daddy got her for Mommy. Bluebell was Daddy's cat for the simple reason they are inseperable; yet she didn't have a cat. So we brought her straight up into the house and let her sleep in Ashleighs room. (5 weeks old) allthough she did go with her litter mates during the day and came into the house at night for about a week. We said Ashleigh could choose her name, so she asked her cousins to decide. One said Lilly & one said Tiger, so she thought Tiger-lilly was nice, but as it was halloween, I suggested a halloween-type name would be good, she decided to put pumpnin (note pumpnin not pumpkin, becaue that's how Lucy always used to say it) so she became Tiger Lilly pumpnin. We do actually call her by her full most of the time. So now we have Emily (8.)Smudge (6) Bluebell (4) and Tiger Lilly Pumpnin (1) and there will be no more!

[dandysmom]

Great thread!

Scamper, childhood cat was gotten by my parents from a friend who's cat had a litter/

Su-ling, my first cat as an adult, I bought from a breeder in the neighborhood who advertised Siamese kittens in the paper. I didn't know way back then that backyard breeders were not a good choice, but he was a healthy cat, although spooky with strangers.

Sultan, my Aby I bought from the local pet store after Su-ling went to the Bridge. Again, didn't know that pet shop kittens weren't a good idea, but lucked out as he was a magnificent cat , healthy, poised, self assured and fearless.

Misty appeared in the neighborhood on a bitterly cold March day with snow threatening. She was a little 3 month old blue torbie with vivid green eyes, and very hungry.... so I took her in "just for the day" till I could find her owner... she passed in her sleep almost 20 years later,

After Sultan passed, Misty missed him terribly, so I rehomed Patches, a lovely 1 1/2 year old brindled tortie who was advertised in the paper as needing a new home because an allergic family member.

Meanwhile, I'd been on a breeders waiting list for a Singapura kitten ,,, supposedly a long wait which is why I'd gotten Patches. Then suddenly Dandy was available, so he came!

Then Misty went to the Bridge, and a friend of mine was fostering an employees kittens, and when she saw Leia, knew she was for me as she was another blue torbie.

So, that's my long story about my cats!

[dandysmom]

Angie, of course we want to know the stories of dear Merlin and Smudge!!

[angieh]

Thanks dandysmom - always ready to tell cat stories, aren't we?

Merlin was brought into the office where I was working. OH and I had decided that we could look for a cat when we came back off holiday - we'd just returned. Little Brockley (as he was then) was about 12 weeks old - he'd lived with a young lady but her landlord found out she had a kitten and it was a case of her being thrown out of her lodging or the kitten going. He came with a cardboard carrier, litter tray and food bowl. I took him home that evening. OH came home to find me sitting on the kitchen floor with a kitten fast asleep in my lap - I was scared to move as I didn't want to wake him! He lived with us for 23 and a half years before he was pts in March this year.

That was during September - the following January on a bitterly cold night, I had gone out to a staff member's retirement party and OH had driven me and visited a friend in the area while I was at the party. We got home to find a strange cat sitting on our gatepost and a little B&W cat by the front door. We opened the door and the strange cat came in, looked around and then ran off after (it seemed to us) making sure the B&W cat was going to stay. It was so dreadfully cold, we couldn't turn her out. We advertised in our local shop and someone did come to see if it was their cat, but no. She presented us with three kittens in due course and we never saw the strange cat again. In our imagination, of course he was the father of the kittens!

I ought to add that when OH and I started going out one of my first serious questions to him was "Do you like cats?"!!!

[dandysmom]

A great story, Angie. I'm loving this thread.

[farthing]

Gosh, this could be a long one.

Smudge was dumped with her litter mates beside somebody I worked with, 3 of us took home a kitten each, and Smudge stayed with us- she came at about 6 weeks and is now 18.

Samson, moved into our utility room one night, apparently he had been moving from house to house in the estate looking for somebody to tae him in. He was advertised but no claimants, so he stayed- he was between 6 months and a year old- he is now 15.

Pumpkin and Mustard came from the CPL. The were 10 months old and feral, but soon settled down, and although not cuddly are handlable. Pumpkin turned out to have dislacated kneecaps, which have been operated on and Mustard has toxoplasmosis. I think they are about 9 now.#

Sooty's owner died and she wanted him PTS, her daughter told her about us, and she was happy for him to come here when she died, he was 6 and is now 8.

Spice and her siste, Chokki were being rehomed because their owners were being moved abroad. They were both 15 at the time and nobody was interested in taking them, a local rescue ask us to take them. Chokki died of CRF 6 months later, but Spice is still here aged 18.

Misty's owner had a terminal illness and Misty needed to be rehomed, she was 18 so nobody wanted her, she was booked to be PTS, but a vet nurse contacted the same local rescue, who then contacted us, she is now 20.

Candy's owner died and the daughter didn't want Candy, again she was going to be PTS, until the rescue was asked to take her. We fostered Candy, but she is very feisty, so we decided it was better she stay here. She was 10 in arrival, she's now 13.

Tabatha's owner was moving back to Canada, and didn't want to take Tabs. She had just been diagnosed with hyperthyroid and FIV, so wasn't likely to be rehomed. The vets asked if we could take her, so we did, she is the study cat and awonderful companion!

Jimmy's owner was no longer able to look after him, and the vet asked if we would take him, he has been here a couple of months and settled well. He is 15.

Finally, Fluffy arrived a few weeks ago, her owner died and the local rescue took her in, they are on the verge of closing down and asked if we would take her in because she has a few health issues- uncontrolled hyperthyroid. Fluffy is 12 and starting to meet the other cats.