I would have never in a million years thought I would become a cat lover????

Growing up, we always had dogs, never cats. dad did not like cats (and still doesn't to this day).
My grandmother always loved cats, but i was not a cat lover by any means.
Not until after i married my soul mate, who loved cats.
I said from day one, "we are not going to have a cat" of course, i had to eat those words.
Then a stray cat came to the house, and my wife started to feed it, of course it stayed (a female) and i grew slowy to love that cat, she was so loving and funny.
we kept her outside, had her spayed and took her to the vet, had her shots and took good care of her. she was an outside, inside cat.
one night we came home to find her in the road, hit by a car, and my wife cryed for three days.
a few months later she wanted to get another cat, so we did, a kitten. I named her Penelope and we kept her in the house (i felt guilty for Prisy getting hit by a car).
From that point on, i fell in love with cats. We were lucky enough to have Penelope for 18 1/2 years before she passed away last year.
We have a new cat now, Delilha, and she has been a daddy's girl from day one.

i am glad i became a cat lover!!!

I'm glad you became a cat lover, too! They're so relaxing and entertaining, I think I get more out of the relationship than the cats do.

That's so sweet! My boyfriend is kind of the same way, after a year and a half of living together he agreed to let me get a cat, and even at the shelter when we got her he seemed pretty uninterested, but as soon as we got Genever home, he fell in love with her and now it's so precious to see him interact with his 'Sweetpea', as he calls her.

When my Dad and Mom were dating, she warned him that if they were to marry there would be a cat or two. Dad agreed, and soon after Mom's cat became HIS cat and followed him everywhere.

Those little furries will get you every time

Great TRUE story - and, so like a guy, they resist cats, but once one worms its way into a guy's heart, look out because the guy just turns into mush.

There's nothing more manly than a guy who appreciates the attributes of these marvelous creatures.

I know - it makes my heart melt when my BF sweeps one of the fosters off their pawpads and cuddles and kisses them!!

My fiance has never really liked cats...

Before we were together when we were just coworkers and friends he had told me about a stray that had given birth in his dad's barn. Unfortunately they only found this out because the dogs found them first and killed the mother and all but one of the kittens. The baby was old enough to live without its mother's milk but it was cold and she had been wounded by the dogs. I urged my now fiance to take care of her. She was terrified of people though so the best he and his dad could do was shut her off into one of the horse stalls where the dogs couldn't get to her. She got quite sickly and eventually was ill enough that she couldn't run away or fight being handled so they brought her inside. Upon doing this they found that one of her wounds had been infested by some kind of larvae. They managed to remove 2 larvae from her chest that were about an inch long and almost as big around. Disgusting. They cleaned the wound out and closed it with a hot knife then kept her inside to try and nurse her back to health. Within days she was running around and playing with the dogs. Over a year later she is still thriving. She lives at my future father-in-law's house as an indoor/outdoor cat.

When my fiance moved in with me, I had three cats. One passed away shortly after and we also found out that one was pregnant. We took in 2 mistreated cats from a friend's grandmother, then Mira gave birth to 3 healthy kittens. This made 7.

Needless to say, my fiance wasn't totally thrilled about that number and urged me to try and rehome the kittens. Just the opposite, I began searching for yet another kitty. I had a black cat, a calico, a tortie, a grey tabby, an orange tabby, one of everything it seems but I had always wanted a white cat. I fell in love with a turkish angora named Mystery, easily the most beautiful cat I had ever seen but was not approved to adopt him. I was devastated, but I had promised fiance that if I could not have Mystery I was done looking. But just a few days later he came across a cat that looked identical and brought him home to me. He said he couldn't stand to see me so sad over not being able to adopt Mystery, and wanted me to be happy again. He also said that he now knew I would be heartbroken if I had to get rid of any of my existing kitties and he was wrong to ask me to do such a thing. "But please, please, pleeeease NO MORE," he begged.

So we are holding steady at 8, and though he will never admit it out loud I think he would be just as upset as I would be if we had to part with any of them.

Cats domesticated us, not the other way around. I was noncommittal to cats until a stray adopted me. She turned me into a total cat lover. When I moved, I left her with my boyfriend and unfortunately, she disappeared after that. But I've had cats ever since.

I've always been a cat lover, since before I was born. In fact Ive never not had a cat around.

They really are wonderful little crazies.

jimanuel. I understand completely.

They grew on me too. I was like you in that I didn't particularly care for cats. My first two pets were Saint Bernards,two massive piles of fur that drooled all over the place. Surprisingly they got along with Tiger when I brought him home, then after we brought home Thomas, Manju and Onigiri (our first four cats), they gave up lolling around inside and decided to make their home in the shed (a shack-sized shed that we converted into their home).

When Meme and Sarge were born, it was after Duke (the second St. Bernard) passed on. Marissa (my first St. Bernard)passed on less than an year after that from grieving for Duke, because they were a mated pair

We brought home Buddy, a German Shepherd/Lab mix, but he didn't want to even come near the feline pack. He was scared pee-less of them. They were like a gang. And when Manju had Puffy and Buffy, the cats became a gang to be reckoned with.

It was growing up with that little gang that turned me into a cat-lover.

I think I love cats too

The bobcats are adorable...and Carmelo is just precious, as well as your regular kitties.

Carmelo was an eye-opener. Big kitty...bi...big...bi...iiii...ig...kitty...

Originally Posted by photogbuff1970

The bobcats are adorable...and Carmelo is just precious, as well as your regular kitties.

Carmelo was an eye-opener. Big kitty...bi...big...bi...iiii...ig...kitty...

Click to expand...

Big purr baby

Loved the pictures of Carmelo and John. Carmelo looked so affectionate.

Originally Posted by photogbuff1970

Loved the pictures of Carmelo and John. Carmelo looked so affectionate.

Click to expand...

Oh yeah, he is my big boy. He loves his hugs

I was the same way. I grew up with a dog as a brother, and my family were strictly dog people and cats were just a nuisance to shoo out of your yard. Until my old boss brought a box into work one morning. He found a tiny kitten about 6-7 wks old at the boat dock and it was being terroized by the dock rats (3 times his size!). Now, my boss and 2 other ladies in the office owned cats but that tiny little kitten took to me for some reason, and I was a goner. Laid in my lap or rode on my shoulder all day while I was taking care of customers and working on the computer. He wouldn't leave my side. That night, he stayed at the dive shop while I got all the supplies needed then I brought him home the next day.

Definitely a learning experience since I didn't have a CLUE about cats, especially kittens. But it's amazing how once you see a personality in one, you can see it in other cats. I then adopted 4 more strays and had a nightly buffet for the rest of the outside cats that weren't allowed in until I had to move back home. I found homes for all my adopted (and spayed/neutered) cats except Jasper (the first kitten). He was fixed, all his shots but was still an indoor outdoor cat and got hit by a car the day before I was scheduled to fly out. I did have a home for him too, but didn't need it after that. I still feel guilty about that but I was still learning where you can and can't let cats outside. But that little purrbucket changed my life. Now, I have 13 (and 4 dogs) and my mom is probably rolling over in her grave right now!

What a very lovely story about your love for cats. You were lucky to have a cat live until 18! Sorry about your cat that was hit by a car.
I have one indoor cat right now and I hope she makes it to that age. Congrats on your new addition.
I love dogs and I love cats. And I love reptiles Each is great, in their own way.

I used to be a cat disliker too! Until I took in Schweppie. His owner neglected him so I took him in. Only until my sister-in-law could find a good home for him. That was the deal. I am allergic to cats and didn't like them. Well wouldn't you know it, Schweppie broke me down and I suddenly was hooked. He wasn't an affectionate cat; really sweet and nothing like the cats I've met. He just found his way into my heart and I couldn't give him up. So now I have two cats and a dog. I adopted my second cat on the second day I worked at the animal hospital where I work. It's amazing what these kitties can do; I just bury my face in their fur and bask in the warmth and the purring....Schweppie is a kind old soul; I almost think when he looks into my eyes, he can see right through my soul. He always comes to my side when he thinks I'm hurt or he'll try to keep the peace if I'm getting frustrated with my dog. Too bad for his former owner!