How did you acquire your feline(s)?

Thought this would be fun. You can explain as much/little as you want and just stick to your current cat(s) or go back further in history if you like.

Me first..

Kuan Yin: Found in an oil pitt at my OH's work. She was four weeks old and survived a six foot drop and was apparently seperated from her litter (doesn't surprise me now, she probably wandered off, she's always gotten herself in trouble with her curiosity!)

Hestia: Was thinking about adding another cat to our home and went on Craigslist and spotted an ad that listed an older cat that needed a new home because her humans had children and she wasn't coping.

Solomon: Craigslist again but this time I wasn't looking in the pet section, was searching household items and i saw a cat ad and rolled my eyes and clicked on it and was met with the most handsome face I'd ever seen. Instantly fell in love and before I knew it I was contacting her and tossing and turning, could not get this boy off my mind. Turns out the person was a college age girl and she'd bought him to replace a dog and realized she didn't like cats!

Abby: She came to live with me in October 1998. Her birthday is June 19, 1998. I had just started working 12 hour shifts and felt awful about leaving Chynna all by herself for such a long period. I wanted a companion kitty for her. Suffice it to say that personalities and in ineffective introduction between the 2 didn't result in what I was hoping for.

Spencer and Katie: Born around September 18, 2010. Came to live with me at the end of January 2011. They were sheltered at my vet's office along with their mother. They were all brought in when the kittens were about 8 weeks old. I saw and held the little girl and she melted my heart. I had been thinking about getting another cat as a companion for Abby, but resisted because I didn't want Abby to feel threatened like she did with Chynna. The next thing I know I'm adopting not only the little girl kitty, but also her brother, sight unseen I figured that they were sibblings, and I couldn't stand the thought of taking one and leaving one behind to be alone. And I also considered Abby's age and the fact that a kitten could be very upsetting to Abby if it was always after her to play. So I decided on getting both kittens so that they could enterain themselves if Abby didn't want to play with them.

What a handful 2 kittens are!!!

When I lived in a very rural area, there were all sorts of feral cats that survived in the woods in the area. When we bought that house, we had an indoor / outdoor cat that we fed outside. Some of the feral cats decided that our house was a perfect spot to hang out for an easy meal and shelter.

We caught as many cats as we could and had them fixed, but until we got really good at it, there were kittens born from these cats. All of my cats were born on, or nearby my property.

We found Stumpy (age 16) in our storm cellar with half of his tail newly chopped off. He was about 4-5 weeks old at the time.

Pinky's mom showed up one day with 2 kittens in tow. They were about 4 months old when we found them. I snatched both the kittens up but unfortunately lost his brother Ruby a few years later to FeLV (long story there).

One day our dog Ellie Mae got really excited and started going from window to window watching something. We let her out and followed her to a just born litter of kittens. The mom was still working on the umbilical cords. We built a shelter for the family, but the mom disappeared 3 weeks later. Scarlett joined our lives, and siblings Maggie and Twinkle Toes were adopted out.

A few years later, another very pregnant mom showed up and had her litter right off the front porch. Ten days later she was killed by a neighborhood dog. Muddy and Koko joined our lives, and siblings Jake and Elwood were adopted to friends.

During the time we were bottle feeding Muddy and Koko, we had a tornado cross through the woods behind our home. A few hours before the tornado struck, we witnessed a feral mom carry 3 kittens out of those woods up to the back of our house. We quickly built a shelter around them, finishing it up just as it started to rain. The mom showed up the next morning with another kitten. They were about 3 weeks old. With the tornado damage and another batch of orphaned kittens inside, we didn't get to this litter right away and they became feral. When we got around to trapping them, the mom and 3 of the 4 kittens tested positive to FeLV. Lucky Pierre was the only survivor and he decided to socialize himself when he was about 18 months old.

About a month after all of this happened, I went to feed the feral cats one day and found 3 new kittens outside that were all different ages (5 weeks, 9 weeks and 4 months). We trapped them, adopted out Billie, and kept Spanky and (OTB) Oscar.

There were other cats (now OTB) that we acquired similarly. We found Bob Marley alone in a box in our garage. An extremely feral cat decided to have a litter in the rafters of our garage and into our lives came Tigger and Eightball, with sister Molly (adopted out). Indiana Joan was abandoned by her mom when she was a couple months old.

We never had to seek out cats. They have been finding us for the last 18 years.

I went looking for aparments that would allow cats, once I found one, i searched petfinder and fell in love with Chestnut!

With Gizmo.... well he was a petsmart adoption day... i went in for cat food, fell in love and that was that!

Tonks..... my landlord needed a good home for an abandoned kitten! she was just what we needed to balance out the testosterone in the house!

Some have come to us others we sought out

Lauren I got her at a local mall. She was the last of her litter and I knew she was mine from first sight

Shatner I got him from a friend of my aunts. He was only 4 weeks old (I know, I know too young) but he came right up to me and again it was love at first sight

With Titus we got him as a playmate for Shatner through Craigslist I think?? Anyway they can't stand each other

Ariel was born to a feral cat that use to be around our house and...

Salt's her younger brother. They're a year apart

Callie came to us through a friend of my husbands. His wife didn't want to take her with them when they moved. Apparently she had a cat who died after a traumatic move and didn't want to risk it.

Torrie was born to a stray that was killed when Torrie was only 2 weeks old. She's a brat and mean but I love her anyways

With Oliver I was petting Ariel and Salt's mom (she came around years after they were born and came to love human affection..she passed away recently) and I looked over and saw this beautiful blue-green eyed cat staring at me. I got up to see if he would come to me and he acted like he was gonna run but I called to him and to make a long story shorter he's been around since Sept '10

Captain Jack is a feral cat the has been hanging around our house for about 6-7 years....maybe longer. About 3 months ago after momma cat had passed away he decided to try human attention...I'm pretty sure it was to get food BUT what he didn't expect was he LOVES getting itchies!! He heres the door open and runs to rub up against my legs and he's such a sweetie! I just wish he would have come around sooner. He's strictly an outdoor kitty.

I just waited until kitten season, and then hit the trails donned in full cowboy attire atop my trusty pygmy pony and used my tiny rainbow colored lasso to wrangle me a kitty. Wesley and Buttercup were so close together though, that I lassoed both in one swoop. Yeehaw! Brought em home and waited for stockholm syndrome to work its magic, and voila, we're one happy family. Oh wait, that was just from a weird dream I had; these two found me at Petsmart with CAPS if memory serves me.

Peanut was a barn cat with visible disabilities- the vet said he wouldn't survive outside, so voila- now he's my buddy.

A coworker rescued Patches. She had the neighbors that always had animals they didn't take care of. One of their cats had her kittens outside and lost Patches when she moved her kittens. They tried to get her to take him back but she refused so they just put him outside. Janet already had a full house of animals so she kept him until she was sure he was going to make it and then I took him.

I am ashamed to say it but I bought Alice from a pet store. She isn't a purebred so she was from a litter that someone had brought in. It was October so they didn't have very many kittens and she was in a cage with her look alike brother. Another lady was buying her brother and she was going to be left in the cage alone. I had been looking for a buddy for Patches so I bought her. She was only 7 weeks old. They were so young that one was trying to nurse off the other one.

In the order they came here:


Shadey - He was adopted from the local shelter as a big, beautiful lone kitten. He looked so sad and lonely in the cage with his big yellow eyes.

Elliott - He was adopted from an ad in the newspaper that said "kittens in desperate need of home, mother killed by dog!". He was a barn cat and pretty feral, but with time, love and patience he is now a big love bug.

Imhotep - He was also adopted from the local shelter as a young adult. I went with Mom so she could adopt HER second cat, but I just couldn't resist those beautiful, big blue eyes.

Osiris & Cleo II - Their mom was a pregnant stray who showed up on my back doorstep! She gave birth to 3 beautiful kittens on my bed, right beside me. I kept her and all 3 of the kittens. She, Nefertiti, passed away 4 years ago after a sudden illness, and their brother, Horus, went with my ex when we split. He has also passed, of urinary crystals.

Nova - He was a package deal with my hunny, Dana! Dana took him in after he was found on the streets sick and needy.

Azizi - He was adopted from an ad online when Dana and I were looking to adopt a kitten together. He came from really irresponsible people who let their kids AND pets run rampant.

Teyah - She was a "failed foster". She came here as a pregnant foster and gave birth to 3 kittens, 1 who died the next day and another died at 3 weeks of age. Her remaining kitten found a great home, and then sHE adopted 5 abandoned kittens! I figured after ll she had been through, she deserved a great home of her own, OURS!

Pria - She's another "failed foster". She came here as an older kitten with 4 older male kittens who were going to be PTS by end of day due to overcrowding in the shelter. They all had mild URI's which cleared up in no time. We found all the boys great homes, but I fell MADLY in love with Pria, so she was here to stay.

Lionel Pitre (LP) - Once again, a "failed foster". He and Pria became great friends very quickly, and I didn't have the heart to split them up. Plus, he is SO cute and SO affectionate... I was hooked too.

3 cats that we no longer have came from the SPCA, and a no-kill shelter.

Sneaky Pie came from my inlaws. She took a 12 hour ride in a car with a dog to get here. Mil called us- said she'd found a mama and kittens (they find cats all the time since they live on a 100 acre farm) wanted to know if we wanted one. I really didn't want to do that- but I'm glad I did. She said afterwards that Sneaky's the only one out of that litter that's lived more than a couple of years (she's 10 now). And she's mostly sweet- though she can be quite the grump.

HollyHeart came from a friend. She'd found a cat in her backyard- and it was pregnant. Well- she was having a time finding a home for 2 of the kittens, so I said I'd take one. Again, not a horrible choice- HollyHeart is a lot of fun, and she's one of the most intelligent cats we've had (she'll be 2 in Oct).

Jasper was from the neighbor. They moved a family member here b/c she had problems (medical and mental) and nobody in the family was taking care of her/ cared what her living conditions were like. Sigh. Just how can you do that to a family member?
Anyhow- she had Jasper. And she was going to have an apt to keep him. Well- the only apt they had for her income level were pet-free. And my neighbor couldn't keep him b/c she's allergic. And I wasn't about ready to let the neighbor on the other side take him (he's got a dog that at times he has problems taking care of- he didn't need a "special needs" cat).
He's been a challenge. He's skittish- and I can't tell you how much cat pee I've had to clean up off the walls, floors, clothing etc. It took him a month to come out of his "safe spot" in the garage.
I have to admit- he's one of the most affectionate cats we've had. And he does have this sweet personality.
He was 10 in Feb. So we really can't get rid of him- he'd probably wind up being put down if he went to a shelter since he's older.

Cheryl

Childhood cats:

Sunshine - Stray found at dad's shop.
Muffler - another stray found at dad's shop
Mag, Battery, Tune Up & Sparkplug - Muffler's kittens. Mag & Battery lived with us at home, Tune Up & Sparky lived at the shop with Ulli, our German shepherd.
Chassis - adopted her two weeks after Battery died in 2003 from a vet's office.
Caliper - adopted her from a recycling center nearby that had kittens the day before Mag died in 2004. It was almost like he waited until Chassis had a sibling to help her cope.
[Tailpipe - Mom wanted a 3rd cat and adopted him from a vet's office in NC in 2007.]

Adulthood cats:

Tigger - Rob's cat from when he was a kid. I came into her life in 2005, and she crossed the bridge in 2007 at 15 years old. His dad caught her at a Navy function when she ran into a tree as a kitten.

Monte & Katina - Adopted two weeks after Tigger died in 2007. Went to a local shelter, and they were the only kittens in the size-range we were looking for, but on top of that, they literally chose us by grabbing our sleeves as we walked by them. When they did, they also grabbed our hearts. Monte crossed the bridge in 2008 after being hit by a car. Katina lives with my in-laws now, because it was where she grew up and she didn't want to live with us in our new house behind theirs. She's the queen bee there.

Nero - Adopted 2 months after Monte died. We drove back from Maine, and got back at 10am on a Monday. So we drove straight to the shelters to pick a kitty. We were looking for another 6-8 week old kitten as to not intimidate Katina. The first shelter where we got Katina at had all their cats and kittens on quarantine (I recently found out a couple months ago they all had a type of parasite where they may have all been put down). We tried another shelter and Nero was there. He was 3 months old and doing acrobatic activities in his extra large crate. Apparently he had six other siblings that had all been adopted. There was a "10 great reasons to adopt a black cat" sign above the crate, and Nero is who started our "Black cat adoption" trend. They had him listed as a female named Stone, but he was clearly NOT female Rob wanted to hold him, and he immediately melted in both our arms. We looked at each other & knew he was coming home with us.

Hoshi - Nero being by himself in our house once we moved and Katina decided to stay with my in-laws drove him to be a bit destructive, as he was very playful. A month after we moved in, in March 2009, we decided he needed a big brother to play with. I started searching Petfinder. Every time we go to PetSmart, we look at the cats. There was a big, muscular black cat named "Star" (because of a white splotch on his chest) there. We decided to do a meet & greet with all the cats and see how they reacted. Every cat either ignored Nero or batted at him, except "Star". There was a super sweet, handsome cat named Harry who would not get off Rob's lap, but as much as he tried bonding with Rob, we knew it was Nero and the cat that had to bond. Star and Nero played in the crinkle tunnels together and not one hiss or swat was exchanged. Set up an appointment the next day to adopt him (since Petsmart was closing by the time we left). We changed his name to Hoshi, which is Japanese for "Star" because Star seemed too girly for such a muscular, stout male cat. He also has Siamese in him which is slightly visible in his face.

Neko - I had to do a volunteer orientation class at the large SPCA in Charleston. When class was over, we walked through the adoption floor and I saw this black cat with a white patch on his belly. He looked like he would be a perfect fit for Nero and Hoshi personality and looks-wise. Rob had made the mistake of asking me a few weeks earlier what I'd do if he got me a 3rd cat, joking with me when he asked, but I told him that was a mistake because I found a 3rd! He agreed to let me play with Neko and get acquainted, "test" him to see if he bit or scratched if you touched his belly or tail, etc. He passed his tests and Rob told me it was up to me on what I did. Of course that means I filled out the paperwork seconds after hanging up! When he came home and saw the door closed in the back of the house, he knew I brought him home. His name was originally Jim Bob, ugh, poor kitty. So we decided to name him Neko because it fit him, and is "cat" in Japanese. He was very skittish but he's made leaps and bounds since we adopted him in November 2009.

Ferals:
We have some ferals - Tom Cat was first but he went missing some months ago. Momma Cat is an all black long-haired cat, her kitten Little Tom (looks like Tom Cat, but Tom was fixed by then) is a gray tabby, and her next kitten was Little Scoop, an all black short hair. Momma Cat had 4 kittens this year before she was trapped and fixed, which are in my house getting prepared for adoption. One of them already has been adopted by my in-laws, a Tortie they named Lil' Bit. Little Scoop had 1 all black kitten shortly after I attempted to trap her for a spay and she shredded me and escaped.

Pipsqueak was adopted from a local shelter as a kitten.

Perkins, Perla and Presley were born to a feral barn cat. Worked to socialize the kittens and found homes for five of the eight. I took the last three home as the barn was closing.

Dixie, Wilma, Hokey and BooBoo are outdoor TNRd ferals.

Matilda - My first cat. A feral who bit my dad at a job site. He wanted to have her tested for rabies after she bit him and we kept her after taking her home from the vet. She was an indoor/outdoor cat but never did get tame. She would be petted but not held, ever, and played very rough with lots of biting. (My dad didn't help, as he loves to get cats "wound up" and wild.) 1994 maybe? She died young after eating poinsettia at Christmastime.

Muffin - An old, 17-something cat who came to live with us because her owner had to get rid of her and the owner's bf was going to shoot her. (I live in a rural area.) She was ratty and drooled a lot, lol, but was very loving. She lived with us for about three years. 1997.

Pumpkin - A barn kitten from my aunt's house who came to live with us when he was about a year old. My dearest and sweetest love. 1999.

Caroline - A found kitty who was passed around to different people at my parents' church before finding her way to us. 2003.

Timmy , Princess, and Maggie - Three siblings who were barn kittens at a friend's house. How I convinced my parents to take these three I will never know!!! Timmy was the only boy and had a tail longer than his body. He moved like a cheetah, all grace and elegance, and had one blue eye and one green eye. I think this group had birth defects, as Maggie is the one with a skin condition who my parents recently put down. They were pure white. None of these cats has ever really completely warmed up to us and are a little standoffish, but they could be petted every so often. Timmy got hit by a car in early 2008. They came to live with us in 2005.

Bobo - After Timmy died I wanted another cat (5 was always my magic number for some reason) but my parents said no. I kept asking and asking, and said I wanted a grey kitten that I would name Bobo. One morning in July 2008 my dad said we had a new cat - and sure enough, a grey kitten of about 10 weeks had strolled up to the door! He was sweet from day 1 but has ended up being very standoffish (I can't even get a good picture of him because he won't get close). He has a beautiful, sleek, dark grey coat and pretty green eyes. 2008.

Simon & Garfunkel! - My babies that you all know & love! All the above-mentioned cats live/d at my parents' house. S&G were born in March 2011 and came to live with me May 1.

Originally Posted by Ducman69

I just waited until kitten season, and then hit the trails donned in full cowboy attire atop my trusty pygmy pony and used my tiny rainbow colored lasso to wrangle me a kitty. Wesley and Buttercup were so close together though, that I lassoed both in one swoop. Yeehaw! Brought em home and waited for stockholm syndrome to work its magic, and voila, we're one happy family. Oh wait, that was just from a weird dream I had; these two found me at Petsmart with CAPS if memory serves me.

Click to expand...

LOL - Too many beers the night before the dream?

Originally Posted by Ducman69

I just waited until kitten season, and then hit the trails donned in full cowboy attire atop my trusty pygmy pony and used my tiny rainbow colored lasso to wrangle me a kitty. Wesley and Buttercup were so close together though, that I lassoed both in one swoop. Yeehaw!

Click to expand...

The Texas heat is getting to you, Ducman!

Lucky for me I'd seen your "Kitties on Parole" video

I've always wanted to be a writer but this would take forever. I'll be brief

Hoot - Found her drowning in a mud puddle in Forest Park. She was about 6 weeks old and in a really bad state. Rushed her to the vet and the vet said she was probably thrown out of a car window. Had to nurse her for a week to put weight on her and then she went under the knife for a herniated diaphram (the first of 3 surgeries in her life). Vet did not think she would survive but I had to do something so I went ahead with the surgery anyway figuring nothing ventured, nothing gained. She survived but had no kittenhood as she was always recuperating from something her first year.

Ramsey - Wasn't looking for another cat but stupidly went into the cat adoption area of a Petsmart. Ramsey immediately wrapped his arms around my neck and wouldn't let go. What was I to do

'Bitz - Very long story and I'll get angry all over again if I tell it. Lets just say I saw a pic of her on Petfinder in a high kill shelter in Alabama. I managed to get my hands on her just before she was put down.

Swiffer - I thought she was a Snowshoe like Ramsey and Bitz. She was tiny, maybe 9 weeks old. No one wanted her so I brought her home. She thrived and now we know she is a Maine Coon/Siamese mix and she is a big girl.

Bart - Was a neighbor's cat. Neighbor moved. Neighbor thought Bart had died or run off. Bart is mostly feral and lives in my garage. She will not come within 10 feet of any human but loves my dogs. She has it made for a feral, heated garage, her own corner with bed, litter box etc.

Bootser - came over to the house one night and start crying for food. DS and I fed her a little cat food. And she came every night from then on in. We eventually brought her into the house and she's still here. She'll be 17 in July.

Whisper - is Bootser's sister. Bootser told her about the free food and she decided to come along one night. We brought her into the house, too, only she was pregnant and had five kittens. She'll be 17 in July. She was diagnosed with CRF a few months ago, but seems to be doing well on the KD food.

BooBoo - is one of Whisper's kittens. He was born in a clothes basket in the bedroom. He just turned 15 in February.

Ms. Pepe - is one of Whisper's kittens and is Boo's sister.

Amber Louise - one of my friends in town found a little orange tabby kitten and asked me if we wanted her as she was afraid the little girl wouldn't make it through the winter. She was alone and nobody would take her inside. She will be 9 in November.

And Mollipop! She was a kitten born at our animal hospital. We had taken Boo down for a check-up and the receptionist told me about the kittens. Did I want to see them? No! Yes! And she just turned one back in February.

(If you'd like to read about our cats, just click on their pictures.)

Both from a shelter. We had a cat that adopted us and after she passed we decided if she could adopt us, we should adopt.

Zoey - my boyfriend and I had been talking about getting a cat (I grew up with dogs, him with cats, but we agreed that a cat fit our lifestyle at the time). My mom told me about a shelter that was open on weekends, so I went by myself before lunch with some friends just to check it out. It was a free-roam shelter and pretty much as soon as I walked in the door, Zoey crawled onto my lap. I picked her up and she proceeded to sleep in my arms the whole time I was there. I don't even think I looked at any other cats. I learned from the shelter staff that she wasn't ready to be adopted, but they suggested I take her as a foster and adopt her once she was ready (she had a small eye infection, I think). So, I went for lunch with my friends and picked her up afterward - had to stop at the pet store on the way home to get the basics! My boyfriend wasn't all that pleased when I brought her home - he wanted a boy cat, not a pretty little long-haired princess. However, it didn't take long for her to squirm her way into his heart. Unfortunately, Zoey died a few months after we got her after a month-long battle with an unknown illness (I still don't believe it was FIP). It was devastating for both my boyfriend and I as we had fallen in love with her.


It only took about a week after losing Zoey for me to realize that there was a big fur-lined hole in our lives. We had been so used to taking care of Zoey over the past month that coming home to an empty apartment was so lonely! We decided to get two cats this time, but my boyfriend was very reluctant to go the shelter-route after our experience with Zoey. So, I posted an add on an online classfieds site telling about Zoey and what we were looking for (we wanted to know about the parents of the cat, and we didn't want strays - we wanted to know as much history as we could). A very nice man emailed me back about the two kittens remaining in their litter. They lived on a farm and got strays, drop-offs, etc. The mother cat was an indoor-outdoor cat that they'd had for several years and the father cat was a stray. Wasn't exactly what we were looking for in terms of history, but these people clearly cared about their animals. And - they sent pictures! So, after contemplating it for a while (there were a couple other sets of kittens available) I took the long drive to pick them up!

Francis, our porch cat would like to live with us, but unfortunately, the other two are VERY against this idea. I suppose he has a home next door anyway, but it doesn't stop him from hanging out on our porch and occasionally sneaking his way in the front door. My cats hate him, but he's just about as sweet as a cat can get! Everytime I pull into the driveway, his little tail vibrates in excitement to see us!

One lonely Memorial day, 2 years ago, I walked into a tiny shelter. picked out the only kitten left, refused by many because he was just so darned noisy, and took him home with me without second thought.

best decision of my life to give Monet a home. I was really depressed at the time and craved companionship. He really pulled me out of my funk