How old were you when you got your first cat?

Awwwwww How cute you were Kim

My parents already had cats when I was born. We had a big grey cat named Xerxes who taught me (very gently) how cats like to be handled. Mom has a picture somewhere of him in a crib with me.

I got my very own first cat when I was 7; she was a huge white long-haired cat named Pandora, with coloring like a Van Cat. She started her life as a barn kitten; she was given to me because she had white ears that would sunburn, so she needed to be kept inside. She was a source of joy in my life for the next 16 years.

Kim, I just love the name "Feetie" it's so cute!!! Here's a couple of other interesting names, one of my co-worker's kids named their cat "Climber." Someone else named their cat "Screamer" because the cat was very vocal when it was a kitten.

Originally posted by Lorie D.

Kim, I just love the name "Feetie" it's so cute!!! Here's a couple of other interesting names, one of my co-worker's kids named their cat "Climber." Someone else named their cat "Screamer" because the cat was very vocal when it was a kitten.

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LOL!! Feetie was kitty slang for "Sweetie" -- not to mention he had socks on his little feeties, LOL!! Only TCS folks could understand this lingo!! ROTFL!

OMG Kim I love those photos! I used to have one of those white stuffies like you have on your headboard. I can't remember the name of them, but they were really popular back then! LOL

Cute photos!

my grandmother always had a cat for us, but to own one of my own i was 40, my 2 boys i have now, and that pic. is so cute,love your blonde hair, and a nice lookin kitty also.

brother always getting "his" dogs. I wanted my own cuddly pet so I decided to get a kitten after playing with the neighbor's cat. My dad had always owned dogs, and my mother had both growing up but had closed her heart towards loving any animal after several of hers got killed when she was a young girl and also because she developed allergies. She said after her little dog got run over (she was around 6 I think) she said to herself, "phooey! Loving animals isn't worth it. They all just get killed or die too soon." Little did she know that she would give birth to a animal lover extradinaire (me!).

Back to my first cat. I went to a well-known kill shelter in the northwest suburbs of Chicago. I was looking at all of the cats and kittens. One cage had a litter of kittens in them. All of the kittens were completely ignoring me except one pretty little long haired kitten. She was white with a grey tail and grey patches on her back. She picked me. I took her home and named her Misty.

Originally posted by hissy
OMG Kim I love those photos! I used to have one of those white stuffies like you have on your headboard. I can't remember the name of them, but they were really popular back then! LOL
Cute photos!

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ROTFL!! Maryanne, I remembered last night while I was sleeping...Are you ready for this???????

His name was BIPPY!! It was written vertically on his little tie....

ROTFL!!! Talk about a blast from the past!!

Here's a picture of Pickles, my first polydactyl. She wasn't the first cat I owned, but she was one of the first. It was fun digging through old photos. This photo is circa 1972.

I love the names of these kitties (pickles! Love it) and the photos are really nice...I have to find the one of me with Kinky and get Frej to scan it in for me so I can post it here.

I'm so enjoying reading everyone's response to this.

off so Alix can continue her grooming of me (my hair requires a lot of attention she insists...)

I was about 9 years old when we got our siamese kitten "Kitty"...She lived for a long time, but ended up having to be put down, but I don't remember what for....

Ha. These stories remind me of a bitter-sweet memory of my late husband and my fondness for cats. He was not a cat person, he was a dog person. He used to treat my cats like dogs, until he aggravated Dottie so much she bit him! After that, he understood that cats don't play like dogs. Anyway, we were at the mall shopping one day, and I wandered into the pet shop. There was a very small sealpoint siamese in a cage, all humped over and looking terribly distressed. I asked the store clerk if I could hold him, and she warned me that the kitten was terribly mean, and tried to bite anyone that picked him up. Being one to rise to a challenge, I told the clerk I would take the chance. She shook her head and said it's up to you, but I've warned you. I told her I understood and would not hold the store responsible for what might happen. She opened the cage, and I reached in and picked up the kitten. He immediately started purring, and snuggling into my neck. Then he looked up at me and licked my on the end of my nose. That was it! i had to have this beautiful kitten. The clerk couldn't believe of all the people that have held that animal, I was the only one that got a positive response. So, I paid for the kitten and the clerk put him in a little carry box for me. I walked into the mall hallway, and over to where my husband was waiting for me. And as if he had to ask, said, "What ya got in that box?!" I grinned. He said, "Joyce, we don't need another (insert explicitive here) cat!" Well, too late now, cuz I can't take him back, what shall we call him? Leo quickly replied, "I'd call that cat damned lucky." So, that's what I named him.

I still haven't had my first cat, but I feel just as much love for them as eveyone else here. We never had pets when we were kids. My youngest sister got a cat about the time I moved out about 12 years ago though. I just wasn't used to that and wouldn't let myself pay attention to cats for years. During the last few years I've really come around and I love cats to no end. I even miss the first cat my sister had, which makes me love her second cat even more I guess.

The oldest in my family is my 33 year old sister who finally got a cat for her two boys. She used to be more allergic when she was younger, and didn't really seem to like cats, but now she doesn't know how she ever could have lived without a cat. She loves her kitty soooo much and so do her husband and kids. She brought her kitty when she was visiting last weekend and she was the sweetest thing. I'm really happy for my sister. Someday I will have my own cat, but I want to wait until I have a serious girlfriend or wife to share with right from the start, unless of course she already has a cat.

There have always been cats in my life (my sister was named after one that my parents had recently lost.)but the first I remember, was Fritz (yes my parents had recently seen Fritz the Cat at the drive-in )was a gift to us from a neighbor shortly after my youngest sister was born, actually I believe they were born around the same time. he was with us for 21 years before he had to be put down, he was a great lap sitter, foot warmer, bat killer( this he left on the foot of my brother's bed as a gift )and groundhog fighter ( he lost that one, my dad had to intervene.)He was just a precious member of the family.and the reason we all love cats.

Try new born. Felix was a huge ol' marmalade Tom my parents had when I was born and he and I became best buddies. I'll have to scan in a photo of the two of us some day.

When I was born my family had a cat named Benjamin, we called him Benjer-kitty. I have a pic of me "holding" him (more like strangling him unintentionally...poor, patient Benjer-kitty) when I was about 2 years old.

Awwww... that is such a cute photo. He does look like a patient kitty, but he sure looks like he was loved too.

Hydroaxe you dont have a cat?

Here's me at age 9 with our first cat Sugar. She was a poly