- Joined
- Jul 24, 2012
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Hi Everyone, I've just signed up so thought I'd pop in and introduce myself and my babies.
I'm Tracie and I live in Leeds in the UK. I've always been an animal lover having grown up in a household that always had dogs. Over the years I've also had the expected childhood pets... hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs etc but cats never really featured that much until recently.
I moved into my own place and wanted something to share it with. I considered all the smaller pets but didn't really want anything that would need to be caged, I wanted something that could come to me for snuggles whenever it wanted to. I considered a puppy but decided my work schedule just didn't fit with an animal that couldn't entertain and exercise itself while I was out. So a kitten it was!! Not long after I'd made that decision a friend told me they needed to rehome their kitten as their older cat just wasn't taking to her... Perfect!! I could rehome her and it meant they didn't need to say goodbye totally. This worked well until a couple of weeks later my friend called me devastated and missing her kitten terribly so she returned home... leaving me heartbroken and kitten-less. And so I set out to find my own furbaby.
I was told Marbles was 10 weeks old when I called about her... but on arriving to meet her it was obvious she was no more than 4 or 5 weeks maximum... I was horrified and insisted she stayed with mum for at least another fortnight, if not longer. Her 'breeder' (and I use that term very loosely) said if she wasn't gone that day she was out on the street coz she was costing too much to feed!! I was horrified but decided to take her and give her as good a start as she could get at that age. She was full of fleas and scared of her own shadow but after a visit to the vet and lots of snuggles she started to settle in. There was one problem though... she didn't know how to be a cat... mum hadn't been given time to teach her everything she needed to know So that's where Mischief enters the picture!!
It didn't take me long to realise the best teacher for her was another kitten so after a couple of weeks I started looking and found another litter that, as it happened, had been born on the very same day as Marbles. I took her to meet them and she made firm friends straight away with a scruffy little bundle of black fur... Mischief. She's now taught Marbles all she needs to know about being a cat... including some habits I'd rather she hadn't learned hehe
Marbles is still quite shy and doesn't take too kindly to strangers in her home but she's playful and cheeky when we're home alone, and she loves nothing better than curling up next to me for a nap. Mischief on the other hand is scared of nothing and gets into everything!! She 'hunts' everything from toys to shadows, and of course, my feet but I guess that's what you get for naming a kitten Mischief!! hehe They're now just over 18 months old and are the best things that ever happened to me
They were intended to be house cats as we live on a very busy main road and have lots of dogs in the neighbouring houses but Mischief thought better of that and is starting to get quite good at sneaking past if anyone comes home late at night... so, they've both went to see Mr Vet last week to be microchipped, vaccinated (I'd let them lapse slightly as they never had contact with other cats) and had their flea/worm treatments topped up so if she decides to play houdini again she's all sorted... luckilly they were spayed a few months ago so there won't be any unexpected babies!!
Well, that's just a little about us!! I look forward to reading about everyone's furbabies
I'm Tracie and I live in Leeds in the UK. I've always been an animal lover having grown up in a household that always had dogs. Over the years I've also had the expected childhood pets... hamsters, rabbits, guinea pigs etc but cats never really featured that much until recently.
I moved into my own place and wanted something to share it with. I considered all the smaller pets but didn't really want anything that would need to be caged, I wanted something that could come to me for snuggles whenever it wanted to. I considered a puppy but decided my work schedule just didn't fit with an animal that couldn't entertain and exercise itself while I was out. So a kitten it was!! Not long after I'd made that decision a friend told me they needed to rehome their kitten as their older cat just wasn't taking to her... Perfect!! I could rehome her and it meant they didn't need to say goodbye totally. This worked well until a couple of weeks later my friend called me devastated and missing her kitten terribly so she returned home... leaving me heartbroken and kitten-less. And so I set out to find my own furbaby.
I was told Marbles was 10 weeks old when I called about her... but on arriving to meet her it was obvious she was no more than 4 or 5 weeks maximum... I was horrified and insisted she stayed with mum for at least another fortnight, if not longer. Her 'breeder' (and I use that term very loosely) said if she wasn't gone that day she was out on the street coz she was costing too much to feed!! I was horrified but decided to take her and give her as good a start as she could get at that age. She was full of fleas and scared of her own shadow but after a visit to the vet and lots of snuggles she started to settle in. There was one problem though... she didn't know how to be a cat... mum hadn't been given time to teach her everything she needed to know So that's where Mischief enters the picture!!
It didn't take me long to realise the best teacher for her was another kitten so after a couple of weeks I started looking and found another litter that, as it happened, had been born on the very same day as Marbles. I took her to meet them and she made firm friends straight away with a scruffy little bundle of black fur... Mischief. She's now taught Marbles all she needs to know about being a cat... including some habits I'd rather she hadn't learned hehe
Marbles is still quite shy and doesn't take too kindly to strangers in her home but she's playful and cheeky when we're home alone, and she loves nothing better than curling up next to me for a nap. Mischief on the other hand is scared of nothing and gets into everything!! She 'hunts' everything from toys to shadows, and of course, my feet but I guess that's what you get for naming a kitten Mischief!! hehe They're now just over 18 months old and are the best things that ever happened to me
They were intended to be house cats as we live on a very busy main road and have lots of dogs in the neighbouring houses but Mischief thought better of that and is starting to get quite good at sneaking past if anyone comes home late at night... so, they've both went to see Mr Vet last week to be microchipped, vaccinated (I'd let them lapse slightly as they never had contact with other cats) and had their flea/worm treatments topped up so if she decides to play houdini again she's all sorted... luckilly they were spayed a few months ago so there won't be any unexpected babies!!
Well, that's just a little about us!! I look forward to reading about everyone's furbabies