How did you get your first cat?

Growing up, we only had a couple of dogs and I wasn't that close to them.  The only cat I knew was a gnarly farm cat that my grandmother had.

Yet, somehow, I ended up being a cat person with four cats. My first cat was Skitters.  She showed up on the doorstep and moved right on in.  I think this is how cats domesticated us from the beginning.

When I moved out, I couldn't take her as she was mostly outdoors and my apartment wasn't in a good place for outdoor cats.  She disappeared soon after.  I then went to a shelter and adopted Petunia who solidified my love for cats.

So how did you get your first cat?

We always had cats, everything I ever needed to know about life, I learned from my mother's Siamese

My first cat as an adult was from an oops litter.

Friend was too broke to fix his cat, wanted me to take two of her three kittens, I agreed as long as he would agree to let me get his momma cat spayed (very proud guy I figured this was the way to handle it).

Two matching tuxedo kittens, unfortunately the little female failed to thrive and died at 3 weeks.

I took my boy at 6 weeks,as his roommates were threatening to throw the cats outside.

The other female quickly found a home thank goodness.

A week later we took momma in and got her fixed.

We didn't always have cats but I did grow up with them. I can't even remember how we got our first cat. From what I remember they were basically my dads. 

I hadn't had a cat in years when just felt the urge to get one and adopted the two I have now as kittens from a rescue. 

I was 2 when we got Tinsel.  I'm pretty sure it was from a rescue so that's what I chose.  I only have a few memories of her as a kitten but I do remember Mom telling me that we were going to get her.

You need to add an option to the poll - unless "shelter or rescue" means you rescued a feral cat? I didn't vote because I wasn't sure about that option LOL.

2001. A cat was raiding the garbage cans in the RV park (we weren't allowed to put tops on them, which is ridiculous because of all the wildlife!). Gary went to throw a rock at her (!!!!), and I stopped him. There was a lot of construction in the area, which always displaces mice, so I suggested we feed her to keep her around so we didn't have to deal with any issues with mice. He agreed. It was a multi-months long project getting her to trust us. We didn't want to deal with kittens so took her to be spayed. Turned out she was! Booger lived with us until late 2002, when we worked with Maine Coon Rescue to rehome her. She didn't want to be an indoor-cat, didn't like other cats, and by then the food we'd been putting out for her resulted in more feral cats turning up...

In fact, I found TCS because a mom with kittens showed up the next summer (2002). Because of TCS, we adopted our first-indoor only baby, Lazlo, and 10 days later, Sheldon. We began TNRing, and the rest is history.

LDG said:

You need to add an option to the poll - unless "shelter or rescue" means you rescued a feral cat? I didn't vote because I wasn't sure about that option LOL.
2001. A cat was raiding the garbage cans in the RV park (we weren't allowed to put tops on them, which is ridiculous because of all the wildlife!). Gary went to throw a rock at her (!!!!), and I stopped him. There was a lot of construction in the area, which always displaces mice, so I suggested we feed her to keep her around so we didn't have to deal with any issues with mice. He agreed. It was a multi-months long project getting her to trust us. We didn't want to deal with kittens so took her to be spayed. Turned out she was! Booger lived with us until late 2002, when we worked with Maine Coon Rescue to rehome her. She didn't want to be an indoor-cat, didn't like other cats, and by then the food we'd been putting out for her resulted in more feral cats turning up...
In fact, I found TCS because a mom with kittens showed up the next summer (2002). Because of TCS, we adopted our first-indoor only baby, Lazlo, and 10 days later, Sheldon. We began TNRing, and the rest is history.

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You could do Other.  I should have put befriending a feral knowing all of the special people here who care for our homeless felines.

My family adopted its first cat when I was about 3 years old. We had cats for years until my sister suddenly developed allergies to them to the point that she landed in the ER on a respirator. I lived without them for a couple years until I got my first apartment when I was 18. I waited 1 week until I went out and found the first one of my own, Hippocrates (known as Hipster for short). I actually bought him from a pet store. Back in those days, people who had kittens found homes for them thru pet stores. Hipster was just your plain old gray and white DSH, probably born in someone's basement. These days, kittens like him would land in a shelter or be given away (free to any home) in a parking lot. Hipster was an AWESOME cat - one that I still compare my cats to.

My Great-Aunt Edna, my grandmother's formidable sister, took in a stray moma who then had kittens. I had been begging for a cat for a while, but we lived where they weren't actually allowed, and my mother thought she didn't like cats. (This we found to not be true. She just had no real experience with them.)

Well, Aunt Edna (I always loved her. May she rest in peace.) told my mother she should let me have a kitten, and that was that. I got a gray/brown tabby with a pink nose who I named "Falstaff."

That was in 1960, and I've never been a day since without having at least one cat. Usually they come from shelters.

Robin

P.S. My current avitar is of Constantine, my long term foster. He's the first cat I've had who looks like Falstaff.

For as long as I can remember we've had cats. I was 6 I think when I got our first house cats (my dad always had shop cats). We had them for 10 and 11 years. Then they adopted some more after those two crossed the bridge.

OK, I chose other.

Callie was my first cat.  She wandered onto my back patio one cold, drizzly October day.  I wasn't a cat person, but my roommate started feeding her.  I soon realized that I was in love with her and she'd wheedled her way into my heart.  She was the best 1st cat and taught me so much about being owned by cats.

Dh and I grew up with cats. Our first 3 cats came from a shelter.  And when Mistoflees went over the Rainbow Bridge, I was hoping to get another cat from a shelter since MIL gave us Sneaky Pie. 

But that wasn't meant to be.  Holly came from a friend who found a pregnant momma cat, and the kittens needed homes.  And we took in Jasper from my neighbor who had moved her SIL here to help her (very long story).  They couldn't keep him, his previous owner couldn't keep him b/c her new apartment was no pets allowed.  So he probably would have gotten put down (and just hurt the lady who'd owned him for 10 years) if we hadn't taken him in.

When we lose Sneaky and Jasper- then I'll probably go to a shelter to get a friend for Holly. 

I don't think I want 3 cats again though.  It's kind of crazy here at times, and my kids are already calling me "the crazy cat lady" (even though THEY wanted Jasper too LOL)

Cheryl

  My parents divorced when I was 3-4 but always around animals on both sides. My mom always had an indoor kitty, Smokey was the first I remember. My dad had a 100 acre farm with lots of animals, and always my favorite was the the barn kitties! He wouldn't allow any in the house because of allergies, but I would sneak kittens in all the time . My mom got me my first kitten when I was 5, but I lost her within a couple months, my babysitter ran her over ! I was devastated...... 

I showed up on their doorstep and they adopted me. 

Joji and her RB brother (or mate) were ferals living in the property. 1997 was the year I moved in. Unlike her companion, she wasn't very interested in getting to know me but now in her senior years, she's very attached to me. 

My first cat I got at a tupperware party. The lady hosting it had a gray cat who she locked in a bathroom at night and when she was at work. I added that up. So the cat spent his time in the dark, all alone. I offered to take it since she was so bothered by it.

I was scared to death of it. The only cat I knew was the one who bit me all the time when I was a child.

He became my best friend and my insparation.

BTW the only thing wrong with that cat is he rub on your arm at night before he turned in. That wasn't no bother at all.

Jake

I did have a cat when I was a child. After that cat died, we never adopted another. Aaron and I were in the process of looking for our first house when Molly showed up at my mother's house during a snowstorm. She was pressed up against a basement window behind a snow drift. My mother rescued her. When the snow melted she was going to put her back outside, but I asked her to keep her for Aaron and I. Once we moved, Molly moved in with us.

When I was in first or second grade, my parents gave us two kittens, Fluff and Puff. They were strictly to be outside cats; Mom didn't want them in the house and, of course, one died from wounds from a cat fight and the other was hit by a car. We had cats on and off while we were growing up (indoor-outdoor cats) and they never lived very long; they would die or disappear.

It wasn't until I got married that we had cats in the house that remained indoor cats. Peanut Butter, an orange and white tiger, was our first kitty who lived with us. After he passed away, it was several years til Hydrox came to live with us as a little six-week old kitten. And from then on, there have always been cats in the house.

But if somebody would have told us 20 years ago, that there would someday be seven cats living with us in the house, I would have said, flat-out, that they were crazy.

Ironically, both my brother and sister have had multi-cat households, too. At one time, my brother and SIL shared their home with five cats, all strictly indoor. Sadly, they lost their last kitty to old age several months ago; they had been going to PetSmart to look at kitties, but have now decided to wait and see if another kitten decides to find its way to us again (that's how we got Tabby and then little Lily found her way to us a couple months ago). If another kitten comes here, they will take it....we are at our limit. And my sister and BIL have four cats, including little Liam, who is now a cherished member of their family. So even though, we had strictly outdoor cats when we were living at home, once we all got married, cats became an important part of our families.

I really don't know. My parents were always taking in strays (dogs, cats, injured squirrels, birds, turtles, etc.) or getting pets from shelters. Our home resembled a zoo or shelter. Since most of the cats were strays, I'd guess the first was, too.

I'm loving all of these stories about such wonderful and special cats.

There were always 1 or 2 cats around the house growing up.  I always loved having them around and really valued their companionship.

After finishing school and moving in with my boyfriend and getting a dog... there was still something missing.  I needed a kitty!  So after much begging, convincing, pleading, rationalizing, and tears (!) I got the go ahead to go to the shelter and pick out a kitty of my very own!  That was back in May when I adopted my little Annie girl.  Now one kitty has become two (following a similar process of begging, convincing, pleading, rationalizing, tears, and finally adopting Marcel) and the apartment really feels like home.  Everything's better with kitties!