What Was Your Earliest Encounter with Cats?

There has been a lot of sadness on the forum for one reason or another, so, to cheer everyone up, I thought it would be good to tell everyone what our earliest encounters with cats were.

I'll start the ball rolling.

I wasn't allowed to keep pets as a child (definitely a deprived child ) but every Sunday we would visit my Aunt in the country.

I must have been about 3 years old but remember Aunt Phyllis's black cat, Smokey. Smokey fascinated me with her pointy ears, bright green eyes and long whiskers. Smokey was always to be found curled up on a stool infront of the fire in winter or curled up among the flowers in summer.

Young as I was, I loved Smokey with all my little heart

One Sunday afternoon we visited - and Smokey wasn't there. I asked my Aunt where she was and was told she'd had kittens. Of course, I asked to see Smokey and her kittens.

My Aunt led me upstairs (it was quite an old house), past the bedrooms and in the corner was a broom cupboard. This is where Smokey had chosen to have her kittens. I was told to be very quiet and not touch Smokey or the kittens.

The door was ajar and carefully and quietly Aunt Phyllis opened it wider so I could see inside. There, in a comfy nest was Smokey and four or five little kittens of varying colours. I remember there was two black like Smokey, a little Tabby and a little Tortoiseshell. Smokey looked so proud and content and I could hear her purring.

I was totally and utterly in awe.

Of course, later came the inevitable question - "Where's the daddy cat?"

Being so young and this being 50 years ago when people weren't so open as they are today about such matters, I got told that Toby had gone out hunting to feed his family and would be back later. That was enough to satisfy a 3 year old's curiosity.

For some time after that, I kept a look out for Toby, hoping I would see him. Of course, that never happened

That was my earliest memory of cats and one that has stayed with me all my life and to this day I absolutely love cats.

Now. What's your story?

When I was born my mother had a manx cat named Cactus and a great dane named Casey. Casey was fed on human steroids and vitamins from the previous owner that retarded him mentally and made him overgrow physically. I've never not had a cat in my life and can't see my life without them. They are just as different as the colors in the rainbow from each other, and yet sometimes there are awesome similarities.

I learned of life and love through animals. All the virtues I have learned most strongly through my animal friends.

Through Cactus I learned silence is sometimes a virtue. To be quieter received more rewards. And to be gentle receives great rewards.

Through Kami Kazi I learned grace and trust.

Through Cricket I learned faith.

Through Linus I learned patience, and with that came all the other virtues.

Through Mandarin I learned love, even when it is not always reciprocated.

Through Majel I have learned to try and be more understanding.

I would not be who I am without them.

Not sure exactley as I know it was sooner then I remember. The first time I do is being 3 years old and just sitting every weekend my dad had me with the kittens(ya they were that bad not one was spayed-not even the adopted one from a "ok" shelter) AND then getting yelled at cause I would be sneezing my head off..not much has changed-I still hold them to im sneezing and coughing

I remember being a very young girl and my Mom taking me to the shelter to adopt my first kitty. I remember her name was Cuddles and she ran away... We then had Cuddles II who had an unfortunate accident with a toilet seat.

I was VERY young for both of those cats though. There are 3 cats in particular that I remember and that hold special places in my heart. The first one is Tabby who we also adopted from the shelter. She was a beautiful girl but not overly friendly. I remember she got out once and disappeared for 3 months and then one day decided to come home! Unfortunately during her time away she got quite ill, and Mom had her put to sleep.

See I think one of the biggest reasons I am a huge spay/neuter advocate and a firm believer that animals are for life is because growing up, Mom was under the belief that animals were disposible. If they did something wrong, you got rid of them.

Minnie was my baby! A black and white DMH who would follow me everywhere... I would come home from school and she would jump into my arms, she would sleep with me everynight and she would get depressed when I would go to camp in the summer. Well Mom couldn't afford to get her fixed, so it got to the point where she was almost constantly in heat and refused to use her litter box. I came home from school one day to learn that Mom had abandoned Minnie at a barn somewhere. I cried for DAYS! I was SO angry with my Mom and it took me a LONG time to forgive her. Thankfully Mom no longer has this mind set and takes very good care of her animals.

When I was a young teen I had Wicked, a beautiful grey and white DLH. He was found as a tiny kitten on the side of the road. He was so, so beautiful, and helped me get through a lot of rough times as a teenager. I would always lay on my stomach on my bed and read and he would get comfy on my back and groom my hair. It was usually in a pony tail, so I would leave my room with my hair sticking up everywhere. Mom had him declawed. He was an indoor cat but one day he got out through a hole in the window screen. I tried so hard to find him...posters, scanning the neighbourhood daily for weeks, but he was never found. I wonder to this day what happened to him.

I have a picture around here somewhere of me on a baby blanket right around the time I was just starting to crawl, next to me is a diluted tortie kitten. I grew up with cats, usually 2-3 cats or more in the home at all times.

Cats were there way before me. Just grew up with them, you might say they were my siblings, along with three human sisters and one human brother and one dog sister.

The first one I distinctly remember was a tabby cat named Suzy. She belonged to my mother, who had had her since she was a kitten on my grandfather's farm. She got her while she was still in high school, and this was some 12 years later! Suzy was never spayed, and had kittens every year. I remember being heartbroken when I learned that one of my favorite kittens was, like all the rest except one or two per year, killed by my grandfather after we left to go back to Denver. I was five at the time.

Suzy would come in from the outdoors, eat some cat food, and then to to one spot in the dining room, next to the bureau. There she would chase her tale, first 17 circles to the right, then 17 circles to the left. She had worn a spot in the carpet there!

Originally Posted by otto

Cats were there way before me.

Just grew up with them, you might say they were my siblings, along with three human sisters and one human brother and one dog sister.

Click to expand...

I too had cat and dog siblings...

Mom had two cats when I came home.... Grandma let me play with the feral( semi to me ) cats as soon as I could sit up

I've always loved animals, cats, dogs, snakes - you name it.

I once hatched tadpoles into frogs in my bedroom. They escaped and Mum hit the roof. She made me round them up and take them to the local park and release them - which, of course, was the right thing to do.

I wept buckets over my lost frogs - not that they noticed as they all hopped away quite happily.

It was a shame my Mum didn't like animals very much (her and me didn't get on that well) as my Dad was a dog lover.

She once said I'd be happy living in a menagerie. She was spot on with that one. With (at the moment) 10 cats (some of who are rescues), 2 dogs (both rescues) and 19 snakes (including 4 rescues - yes, some people ill treat/neglect snakes too), I AM happy living in a menagerie. Very happy

I might never be rich but no amount of money in the world could buy the love and loyalty I get from my fur family. In fact, rephrase that, I am wealthy beyond belief

My youngest German Shepherd who we adopted one year ago yesterday went to the vet for his booster today. We knew Buddy had been a victim of horrendous cruelty - he was the centre of a big Court case.

Buddy's ears are not exactly GSD shaped and one is quite deformed. I found out why his ears are the way they are today - some evil piece of trash had cut them.

When I adopted Buddy, I did ask what had happened to him and was told he had suffered badly but it was best I didn't know. He was only a pup when I adopted him, about 8 months old. Poor dog. How he must have suffered and to see the beautiful, gentle, loving dog that he is, so gentle with the cats so loving towards us, I cannot understand the mentality of his previous "owners". Just absolute sickos.

No-one will harm my beautiful Buddy again - ever.

On the happy, positive side he's loved to bits

Originally Posted by Python

I once hatched tadpoles into frogs in my bedroom. They escaped and Mum hit the roof. She made me round them up and take them to the local park and release them - which, of course, was the right thing to do.

Click to expand...

I kept toad tadpoles when I was little, too. In late May-early June it usually rains a lot here and that creates large pools of water in fields. Then our 100+F weather hits and those pools dry up very quickly. So I would collect as many as I could out of there and put them in various containers outside and keep them until they were all around a week out of water, then release them.
I kept a few of the really weak ones for longer - until they were all about an inch and a half and very fat. I've even kept and nursed a lawn mower cut toad until it was healed up. lol

My mother was never impressed with this, but I could shut her up by pointing out toads ate bugs.

And yes, I had to keep all of this cat proofed in the process.

Originally Posted by otto

Cats were there way before me.

Just grew up with them, you might say they were my siblings, along with three human sisters and one human brother and one dog sister.

Click to expand...

The first thing Mom did after bringing me home from the hospital was to introduce me to the kitten and puppy. They often sat under my crib especially when there was company. Always wondered what they would have done to anyone who tried to hurt me.

I grew up with the family dog. I know friends had cats, but I rarely saw them though loved attention from them when graced with such.

The first cat that really left an impression on me was at my grandfather's farm. They didn't keep cats, but I always helped with farm chores. We were weeding the kitchen garden (1 acre!), and a calico (now I know what that's called LOL) started playing with my shoelaces. I must have been 7 or 8, I guess. Grandpa said she'd be best with her family... but she was back every day to play whenever I was out to pick beans, raspberries or weed or whatever. That's when I learned I was allergic to cats.

Gary's sister had a cat - he hated it.

Booger was the kitty that taught both of us all about the special love, mystery, and independence of cats This was in 2001. http://savesamoa.org/wordpress/?p=287

Unfortunately, my first 2 exposures to cats were not that good. But, I was wonderfully raised to respect and love animals.

First time, I was probably 5-6 years old. We were camping and one of the people that was with us had brought their cat. One day, my dad came back across the road with one of those camp shovels. I asked him what he was doing and he said that he just finished burying the cat after it had got run over in the campground.

Second time, I was walking home at about 8 years old and saw a stray kitty on the sidewalk. Friendly and let me pet him/her. I thought I should take him home and see if I could find the owner. I'm carrying him/her and then he/she decides to freak out and shred my left arm. I'm walking home with blood pouring out of my arm.

It didn't affect my love of animals. I just figured it was scared and wanted to get away.

No pets when I was growing up, unless you count the parakeet that belonged to my sister. One of my earliest memories was of the neighborhood meanie cat - Snowball. She was not that friendly. And one time she was lounging on a stump or a large rock or something and I bent over to pet her - face to face- and she BIT me and ran off. So I go tearing home, screaming my head off, with blood streaming down my face. I had always liked cats but was much more wary of them after that and for a long time. My larger family was much more dog oriented so I grew up with my aunt's collie named Lassie (of course) and another relative's sheltie named Duffy.

The cat who really turned me around was my boyfriend's elderly gentleman cat- Cato. I just loved him !!! I used to tease Doug that the only reason I went out with him was to keep seeing the cat! His kidneys were failing and finally we had to put him to sleep. Nearly 21 years old. He had a good, long, happy life with Doug.

The first time I ever saw a cat was my aunt's cat Jumbo. I was about 3.5-4 years old. I think Jumbo was an outdoor cat. Perhaps I had seen cats before then, but he's the first I remember.

I've always lived with cats.

First we had Muffy...



Then we had Bootsie...


Bootsie lived to be almost 22 years old!



Then I had my soul-mate Spooky...


And now I have my three girls.