Do you own the cat you always thought you would?

[taylamo]

Thanks for all the replies! I loved hearing your stories and thoughts on the subject!

Honestly I never thought I would have a cat. I was a dog lover. But Comet came into my life at the time I needed someone to love me and someone to love. Now I can't imagine my life without him.

@Laura H, our experiences sound similar! I wasn't allowed pets as a kid (except gerbils) and I was obsessed with dogs. As soon as I was out of the house and married, I had a dog, then two. Oddly enough, I never had a fantasy pup in mind, any dog would do.

I never thought I would have a cat, either, but there was such an emptiness in the house after the dogs passed. We weren't ready for another dog, as their needs are quite different from a cat regarding potty trips outside, and we had been (willing) servants to our dogs schedules for 16 years. We were fortunate that we had family willing to come over to take them outside if we needed to be gone too long. But we resolved not to rely on others for assistance with future pets...they had more than served their time. So I was just lost for a time, with empty arms and no small thing to cuddle. Enter into the scene the neglected cat who stayed in our yard for increasing amounts of time and began to occupy my thoughts with worries about her welfare, and you can guess what happened! Now I am obsessed with all things cat and it's only natural I ended up here!

The user-added photos are one of the best things about this site. New cat lover that I am, I am bowled over by how lovely all cats are, and if we can't own every variety, coat length and color ourselves, then admiring each other's kitties is surely the next best thing!

 

[tallyollyopia]

I think I make one more person that never thought she'd have a cat--never mind six of them. Honestly, if it had been up to me to bring the cats in, I probably still wouldn't. (I don't actually have anything against cats; it's just that early childhood experiences made it difficult for me to trust one. And adolescent experience. And young adult experience.) What actually happened was this; IB was visiting a friend's house when he noticed that this one cat, a pretty little calico, was being picked on by the kids of the family, the adults of the family, and the other cats (the family had twelve). Naturally, when he brought her home I was not happy. It started out with "You won't even know she's here," and five minutes later I was cleaning a mess from the carpet. IB has many good qualities; he's funny, he has a big heart, and he always tries to help those in need. However, he was not very practical so it was soon me cleaning the litterbox, feeding the cat, and making sure the cat was able to come back inside after certain people with more heart than brains let her out.

How did we end up with six cats? Well, the cat (now called Momma cat, but originally called Rose) reached the age where she was about to go into heat, and I started campaigning with my family to get her fixed before that happened. I did research, found facts, got help from the librarian (who has a lot of cats herself and approved of me trying to be a responsible pet owner), and presented my argument only to be shot down by the belief that she needed a litter of kittens "to feel complete." She had five kittens. We were unable to find homes for them. Instead of campaigning my family to get the kittens and their momma fixed, I took matters into my own hands.

Somewhere along the journey I went from being suspicious and wary of the cats to loving them and thinking of them as members of the family. (RB likes to joke that I'm part cat and had to hiss at the newcomers a certain number of times before accepting them.) I never imagined having cats, and now I can't imagine not  having them. Life's funny that way.

 

[marcusmom]

I grew up with cats of all colors, sizes and haircoats, and since most were strays my brother and I wheedled our parents into keeping, I never had preference for a particular kind of cat. Until I met a big orange tabby we named 'Boris' after I married. Since then, my preferred cat is a orange tabby. I've had two since the days of Boris, Widget who came to us as a tiny kitten stray with a broken back leg that healed well, and Marcus, whom I adopted out of the local shelter. Altho a little black cat did tug at my heart briefly while I was choosing Marcus.
I think the right cat comes along at the right time, regardless of what we prefer, to fill whatever need we have. Actually, that is probably true of any companion animal.

 

[sabbi696]

Honestly, I wasn't much of a cat person before I got my kitty (molly) I got her because I lived alone and wanted to help the loneliness and I fell in love with her. She's such an amazing companion. She's cuddly, loveable and a pretty low maintenance cat over all. Even though she tends to poop a lot Haha

 

[hatchytt]

I've had cats pretty much my whole life, but I've always wanted a calico, tortie, or faded tortie of my own. Not that I'd trade any of my cats for one, including the black menace I have now.