Introducing myself and my cats...

Hey everyone!

I just figured since I'm new to these forums I would offer a little bit of an introduction. My name is Aaron, I'm 22 and currently living at home with my parents while I attend school. They have 2 cats and I have 2 cats for a total of 4. I'll start off by introducing my parent's cats.



This is Chloe. She recently became a mom of 8 kittens (Sadly only 6 survived.) 4 of them have found good homes with family and friends and 2 of them are mine. That will be the first and last litter she has as we spayed her as soon as the kittens were weaned off of her milk.



This is Brandy. She's a bit of a grump because she had full reign of the house for about 6 years before we got Chloe and she's never really gotten used to the company . She's the only declawed cat we have (I didn't make the decision) so she can't do any real damage, although she doesn't try anyways.

Now on to my 2 kittens...




This is Bailey. She's almost 5 months old now. You can see she sometimes likes to annoy her mother . She likes to cuddle and watch my betta fish (Barney Stinson) in his tank.



And finally, this is Buddy. He's from the same litter as Bailey. He's probably about 2 lbs heavier than her and is a little rough on her at times but when hes settled down he's probably the sweetest cat I've ever known.

I know that was corny but I figured if I was gonna post on here I should at least introduce the members of the family!

Aaron

Well, being this is The Cat Site, when it comes to talking about your cats, there just is no such thing as corny!

Welcome to TCS!

Your family's cats are all beautiful! DH and I happen to especially love black & white kitties - and Chloe is just too gorgeous! Baily and Buddy are so cute - and look like little imps.

If you love cats - you've found the right place!

Oh that wasnt corny at all. You love your kitties. What beautiful kitties you live with.

Welcome to you all to TCS. If there is any questions you may have you can just click on my username and send me a private message and I will do my best in helping you.

Hi Aaron, welcome to The Cat Site! I've put your thread into the "New Cats on the Block" forum which is specially designed for new members to introduce themselves and their kitties

You've got some really cute kitties there! Brandy may have a bit of attitude, but gee is she gorgeous! I love your 2 little ones too It's always sad when you lose kittens The last feral kitty I fostered lost 4 out of her 6 kittens which was heartbreaking! It's great you found all the kittens good homes and got Chloe spayed, good job!

Thanks Sarah,

Yeah we specifically didn't wanna get Chloe spayed when she was a kitten because she has such a great personality and coat that we wanted her to have 1 litter.

We had people interested in her kittens before she got pregnant and had homes for all 8 kittens after they were born (by coincidence 2 people backed out and 2 kittens passed on... so at least they backed out so we didn't have to hurt anyone's feelings.)

It won't be too long before both Buddy and Bailey visit the vet to be altered... no litters for them!

Aaron

And yeah, losing kittens is terrible.

1 of the kittens died on its 4 week birthday with no warnings whatsoever, it seemed just as healthy as the others and one day it just didn't wake up.

1 of the kittens died in a freak accident which I don't wanna discuss the specifics of, my girlfriend and I rushed it to the vet late at night but there was nothing they could do for it... it hit me very hard. Again I'm not gonna go into specifics but I will say it was avoidable and I felt (still feel) terrible about it.

I've always planned on breeding cats when I move out, and there won't be any opportunities for a kitten to get hurt like that again

If you're interesting in breeding cats, I would go into the breeders forum and discuss what's involved in being a breeder. Just letting regular old domestic shorthair cats isn't a good idea because there are so many out there already. Most breeders feel strongly about a particular breed, learn all about them, attend cat shows to learn the specifics of what to look for in a breeding cat - ear shape, eye shape, length of muzzle, length tail, colouring etc. to make sure only the best traits of the breed are being passed on.

They'll also tell you it's an expensive hobby because you would want to be a responsible breeder which means spending plenty of $$ to ensure the good health of all the cats, making sure all cats get a good diet, get their vaccinations, get spayed, and all those things before going to an approved home. If you're going to keep males, they tend to spray so need their own separate enclosure that you can easily clean. There is a LOT involved, so if you want to do it eventually, you'll want to start doing a lot of research now, and TheCatSite is a great place to start

Sarah,

Thank you again! Yes, I understand that breeding domestic shorthairs is not the way to go... there are already too many of them. I love bengal cats and there's a great breeder near me... unfortunately right now I'm a poor college student so there's no way I can swing that kind of purchase right now.

I can't seem to find very many shows around me (Ann Arbor, MI), but will be going to my first show in a couple of weeks near Detroit.

This is my first experience on a cat forum but by no means am I inexperienced with them or new to the concepts of shows and whatnot... I was the nerdy guy back in school embarrassed by the fact that I was subscribed to Catfancy magazine at about age 12! lol

I've been researching catteries and any information on breeding cats for years now, but I'm definitely not an expert or anywhere close to an expert.

I hope to learn more on these forums!

Aaron

Sounds like you've already got a head start then - I wasn't sure when you said you let your kitty breed if you were just going to breed DSHs. I've heard of too many mama cats have to be rushed to the vet during labour, and too many kittens dying, or just given away, and end up in shelters, and it's something I find very troubling!

A well researched breeder striving for the best out of their breed is a different story

Yeah I understand that breeding domestic shorthairs irresponsibly can ruffle some feathers, and rightfully so. Like I said, we already had people interested in Chloe's kittens and wanted a couple more for ourselves.

A more responsible way to go would've been to adopt of course, but Chloe is such a great cat we wanted to pass her good traits on to our next generation of cats. She's been spayed now and both kittens will be altered in the coming weeks and I won't be seeing any more newborn kittens until I'm breeding pure breeds.

Aaron

Hello Aaron, my name is John, welcome to the site

Hi there Aaron

we're so happy to get the chance to welcome you and your lovely furfamily to TCS. I'm sure you'll enjoy your stay with us - we're one great big family and you'll find loads of friends here. If I can help at all while you're finding your way around TCS just click on my username and send me a Personal Message - I'll do what I can to answer your questions

Hey there welcome along to TCS

what a lovely "family" you have there, i just love lil black cats

Hola y bienvenido a TCS, ...Catulina

Milky

y Horacio

te saludan!!!........

(Translate: Hi and Welcome to TCS, Catulina ,Milky & Horatio say hello to you!!!... )

Nice pictures Aaron!.. thank you so much for share with us!...

Please feel as you home here, we can learn so much and deep about out kittys in this marvelous site, I just only please ask you read the rules and other stuffs that can help you to feel as you Real home!.. here you have the link my friend.
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/showthread.php?t=82565

Please ask whatever you need to know, there are plenty of good members and of course our tireness Mod´s to help us here!....

See you on the forums!, Glad you join us!

Thank you everyone for the welcomes and the gifts!

I figured since I think I'll be around here for awhile I would put a face to the name.

This is my girlfriend, myself, and my awesome niece Paige on a family trip to Orlando. She's my favorite little girl and I think we love each other equally .

thank you for share!...

Hi Aaron, welcome to the site, I am sure will get on just great here, I have become somewhat of an addict All your kitties are gorgeous, I especially love Buddy, he has a fantastic looking face. Look forward to talking to you soon. xx