Well...I've posted a few things on here already but I thought I should probably introduce myself to you all.
I'm Brooke and I'm owned by 10 cats
. I currently live in Washington State thanks to the Navy (my husband is a pilot), but I'm originally from New Jersey. Just in the past 5 years I've lived in New Jersey, North Carolina, Texas, Florida and now Washington, and yes my kitties have accompanied me on every move.
I was never really a cat person until about 5 years ago. I never disliked cats, but to be honest I never gave them much thought either. I grew up with rabbits and even now I will always have at least 1 rabbit in my house (so I actually have 11 animals - 10 cats and 1 rabbit).
I became a cat lady when my old roommate brought home a sickly, undernourished cat that she found living in the dumpster at her old apartment complex. We took care of her together for a while, but she spent a lot of time at her boyfriend's house so Wendy became my responsibility and I spent many months nursing her back to health. She's probably the crankiest, moodiest cat that I've ever met (though she is very attached to me), but she'll always be my first cat and I love her to death.
After Wendy came Patches, a stray that my husband and I found living at a brewery in San Antonio. The restaurant was feeding her but when we asked if she was a stray they seemed thrilled that we were interested in taking her home, so we did!
My third cat was Cledus and he's what really started my cat obsession. He was by far the sweetest and most loving animal that I ever knew. He even made people who didn't like cats love him. Sadly, he had FeLV and he died around 8 months of age. His death really traumatized me, mainly because he had tested negative originally. So when he got sick it was a huge shock. But he set the rest of my life into motion. I decided that I wanted to save the cats of the world from feline leukemia and while I know I can't save them all, I did what I could. My husband and I started trapping some ferals around our apartment complex in Jacksonville. My goal was to neuter them, attempting to lower the risk of FeLV spreading. I never intended on socializing them, but I did. We decided that we wanted to rescue and then adopt them out, so we did that with 2 of them. We found amazing homes for them, but a 3rd one I was very attached to. Sheena was the first feral I socialized and she was MEAN when we first trapped her. I somehow managed to turn her into a sweet little pampered princess so I wasn't really willing to let someone else adopt her.
Then came Moses, my Maine Coon mix that "replaced" the 8 month old Maine Coon that had recently died. I knew he couldnt' replace him completely, but they have very similar personalities, so while Moses is different than Cledus, he's also so important to me because he filled the hole that Cledus had left in my heart when he died.
We trapped another feral in Jacksonville, who we discovered was actually very friendly and not feral, so we kept him too. He was pretty beat up, but so sweet, so that is Oreo.
Before we moved from Jacksonville we trapped another feral. This one was pregnant and about to have her kittens any day. She ended up giving birth to one single kitten who my husband got VERY attached to and we still have him. He makes a meeping sound instead of a meow, so we named him Meepers. He turned 2 years old this past weekend. His mother was feral, but definitely able to be socialized. We were moving soon so we actually gave her to the lady who gave me Moses. She also trapped and socialized ferals and after a lot of talk we decided that instead of moving her across the country this lady would finish socializing her and then find her a good home, which is what we wanted to do anyway.
Once we got to Washington we found Marmalade wandering down the street. He was neutered and friendly but not one single neighbor knew who he was, and we put up "found" signs at several vets and the local shelter and no one ever claimed him. So he is still here.
Then Phantom and Oscar joined the zoo. They were living under a ladies trailer and were being abused by the local kids. She posted an ad on Freecyle because she didn't know what to do with them, didn't really want them, but also didn't want them to be abused and mistreated anymore. So I responded to her and took them. My original plan was to get them healthy, socialize them (they were about 4 months old, sort of friendly but VERY scared. I would say they were more scared than feral, probably because of the abuse they suffered for so long) and then find them homes. But they were just so pitiful and while Phantom socialized very easily, Oscar never did. They are very attached to each other and I didn't think that anyone would really want Oscar. I can still barely touch him and I've had him for almost 2 years now. Since I didn't want to split them up, they just stayed with us.
And finally we have little Samantha, our newest addition. We swore 9 was our limit until my husband saw her at the vet's office with an "I need a good home" sign on her cage. She reached out to touch him and meowed at him, so he said that she chose him
.
Anyway, wow that was much longer than I ever intended it to be so hopefully you're still reading at this point! I'm thrilled that I found this site and I'm looking forward to spending more time on it!
(and as a side note, please don't think I just give animals away. I don't. When we first started socializing ferals we went into it saying that we would socialize them and then find them homes. My husband and I want to own our own rescue one day, but that will have to wait until he's out of the Navy, so this is the best we can do for now. However, our plans changed a little as we got attached to a few of them. We're at our max now though, so any more rescues will probably have to be rescues that are looking for a good home. We do what we can though and we'd love to keep them all if we had the means to take care of them all!)
I'm Brooke and I'm owned by 10 cats
I was never really a cat person until about 5 years ago. I never disliked cats, but to be honest I never gave them much thought either. I grew up with rabbits and even now I will always have at least 1 rabbit in my house (so I actually have 11 animals - 10 cats and 1 rabbit).
I became a cat lady when my old roommate brought home a sickly, undernourished cat that she found living in the dumpster at her old apartment complex. We took care of her together for a while, but she spent a lot of time at her boyfriend's house so Wendy became my responsibility and I spent many months nursing her back to health. She's probably the crankiest, moodiest cat that I've ever met (though she is very attached to me), but she'll always be my first cat and I love her to death.
After Wendy came Patches, a stray that my husband and I found living at a brewery in San Antonio. The restaurant was feeding her but when we asked if she was a stray they seemed thrilled that we were interested in taking her home, so we did!
My third cat was Cledus and he's what really started my cat obsession. He was by far the sweetest and most loving animal that I ever knew. He even made people who didn't like cats love him. Sadly, he had FeLV and he died around 8 months of age. His death really traumatized me, mainly because he had tested negative originally. So when he got sick it was a huge shock. But he set the rest of my life into motion. I decided that I wanted to save the cats of the world from feline leukemia and while I know I can't save them all, I did what I could. My husband and I started trapping some ferals around our apartment complex in Jacksonville. My goal was to neuter them, attempting to lower the risk of FeLV spreading. I never intended on socializing them, but I did. We decided that we wanted to rescue and then adopt them out, so we did that with 2 of them. We found amazing homes for them, but a 3rd one I was very attached to. Sheena was the first feral I socialized and she was MEAN when we first trapped her. I somehow managed to turn her into a sweet little pampered princess so I wasn't really willing to let someone else adopt her.
Then came Moses, my Maine Coon mix that "replaced" the 8 month old Maine Coon that had recently died. I knew he couldnt' replace him completely, but they have very similar personalities, so while Moses is different than Cledus, he's also so important to me because he filled the hole that Cledus had left in my heart when he died.
We trapped another feral in Jacksonville, who we discovered was actually very friendly and not feral, so we kept him too. He was pretty beat up, but so sweet, so that is Oreo.
Before we moved from Jacksonville we trapped another feral. This one was pregnant and about to have her kittens any day. She ended up giving birth to one single kitten who my husband got VERY attached to and we still have him. He makes a meeping sound instead of a meow, so we named him Meepers. He turned 2 years old this past weekend. His mother was feral, but definitely able to be socialized. We were moving soon so we actually gave her to the lady who gave me Moses. She also trapped and socialized ferals and after a lot of talk we decided that instead of moving her across the country this lady would finish socializing her and then find her a good home, which is what we wanted to do anyway.
Once we got to Washington we found Marmalade wandering down the street. He was neutered and friendly but not one single neighbor knew who he was, and we put up "found" signs at several vets and the local shelter and no one ever claimed him. So he is still here.
Then Phantom and Oscar joined the zoo. They were living under a ladies trailer and were being abused by the local kids. She posted an ad on Freecyle because she didn't know what to do with them, didn't really want them, but also didn't want them to be abused and mistreated anymore. So I responded to her and took them. My original plan was to get them healthy, socialize them (they were about 4 months old, sort of friendly but VERY scared. I would say they were more scared than feral, probably because of the abuse they suffered for so long) and then find them homes. But they were just so pitiful and while Phantom socialized very easily, Oscar never did. They are very attached to each other and I didn't think that anyone would really want Oscar. I can still barely touch him and I've had him for almost 2 years now. Since I didn't want to split them up, they just stayed with us.
And finally we have little Samantha, our newest addition. We swore 9 was our limit until my husband saw her at the vet's office with an "I need a good home" sign on her cage. She reached out to touch him and meowed at him, so he said that she chose him
Anyway, wow that was much longer than I ever intended it to be so hopefully you're still reading at this point! I'm thrilled that I found this site and I'm looking forward to spending more time on it!
(and as a side note, please don't think I just give animals away. I don't. When we first started socializing ferals we went into it saying that we would socialize them and then find them homes. My husband and I want to own our own rescue one day, but that will have to wait until he's out of the Navy, so this is the best we can do for now. However, our plans changed a little as we got attached to a few of them. We're at our max now though, so any more rescues will probably have to be rescues that are looking for a good home. We do what we can though and we'd love to keep them all if we had the means to take care of them all!)
