How did your cats come to adopt you

[newkittylove]

I never had any kittens or cats growing up either. Toby is my first... though I used to have an Old English Sheepdog who had a best friend named Clyde down the street. Clyde was an all-grey cat, and he had attitude! But the two of them were best buds.

Anyway, Toby was named Lucy at the rescue, and at age 14 weeks she came to a pet store nearby. I went to check out the kittens but the people from the organization said they only adopt out in pairs. I left a bit disheartened, and then emailed the woman saying sorry I left so suddenly but I wasn't ready to adopt two. My dad ONLY allowed me to get one, and honestly I have a Cocker Spaniel and I don't think we could really handle two kittens on top of that.

So, I emailed the woman and she emailed me the next day saying that as the day ended, there was one lonely kitten left! It was Lucy! The woman just happened to live nearby so I stopped by to see her and just fell in love immediately. She was this gawky, awkward looking thing compared to the other fuzzy kittens there, with her long legs and tail, skinny body, tiny face and big ol' ears! I loved her instantly, and she took to me right away the minute I walked in. She came right up and started purring incessantly! I took her home about 45 minutes later... she's been with us ever since! That was exactly 4 weeks ago to the day... so not long, but she is already part of the family :-D

I just think that the name Toby suits her better, for some reason.

 

[sparkie]

Props to the person who named their cats after computer terms!! I'm a web designer so I think that's really cool in a nerdy sort of way

We got Pandora and Thor at a local shelter. Someone found Pandora and brought her in. The shelter named her Whimsy because she had such a funny looking face (all black with white whiskers). I think it's an angelic face

Thor was found by a kitty foster mom who took Thor's mom in right before she had kittens. I have a soft spot for black fuzzy cats, so when I saw him and he flopped down on my lap, I knew that I had his pawprint of approval.

 

[laureen227]

Originally Posted by Sparkie

Props to the person who named their cats after computer terms!! I'm a web designer so I think that's really cool in a nerdy sort of way

.

i'm assuming you're referring to me - so, thanks!

 

[ondine]

All ours were foundlings/strays/ferals.

Halsey and Molly (both black and silky) were three weeks old when some construction workers found their nest in the basement of an old house across from where I work. We hid them under my desk until it was time to go home. They are almost four now.

Gracie (grey Korat mix - she does not shed!) and Josephine (white with grey patches) were "adopted" by my former neighbors and left to their own devices once they weren't cute kittens anymore. We got them at four months and nine months respectively. Gracie is three and Josephine is two now. I'm really glad those neighbors moved or I would probably have more cats!

Chester (black) and Teresa (tortie) are also three. They were left on my patio by their mother, a really, really feral girl who then disappeared. When I tricked the kittens into a crate for their trip to the vet, Chester hung upside down all the way there. Poor thing - I had no idea what I was doing and probably traumatized him. He still isn't very friendsly, although he will allow a chin scritch once in awhile. I love it when he blinks at me though.

 

[nil4664]

One day I went to our basement and found four 6wk old kittens playing. This basement has a dirt floor, not livable space, but the mama (abandoned) had dug under the door and had her kittens in the drawer of an old chest we kept tools in down there. She managed to keep them hidden and quiet until then I guess. I was able to give away the kittens, but kept the mama (Kitty) for 16 more years.

The next cat (Pumpkin) showed up at my mother's barn. We kept her there for 2 years and then I decided to make her a house cat because she was too people oriented to be a barn cat and there are too many predators out there. I decided she would be good company for my new (at the time) 12 week old kitten.

The kitten (Peanut) was hiding in an outbuilding of the boys who rented the house next door. They had been trying to catch her for some time and came over to ask if she was mine. They moved out a couple weeks later and I assumed they caught her. Then I noticed her one evening. I started feeding her and 3 weeks later was able to catch her. That was back in September.

Both the barn cat and the kitten get along great and have adapted to being indoor cats really well.

There has been a orange male TNR cat (left ear clipped) hanging around my house since July.

I finally started to feed him and gave him a worm pill, because he looked so thin. So I guess this will be my next cat, but he is staying outdoors.

 

[layitdown]

Ricky Bobby decided to adopt me one day at the local shelter when he grew tired of being stuck in that small cage.

Well I had been wanting a cat since DH and I got married Oct. 07. Money was really tight and we just couldn't afford a pet. Then in November 08 DH said "are you ready for a cat?" I was SO INCREDIBLY HAPPY!

I swear I was on cloud nine. That Friday we went to the shelter after work, like 5 minutes before their closing time. I was so happy and I felt so bad for those poor babies being all alone there, I would've taken them all if I could. Since they were closing we quickly took a look around and we both loved RB when we saw him! He was so full of energy meowing and jumping on the cage and biting the tail of his "roommate"

. He was putting on quite a show for us. Then we went over to a cage that had a litter of 3 kittens. AWW, they were so cute! Who could resist kittens? We went home to sleep on it. We talked it over and we just kept going back to the "young grey tabby". So we went the next morning and took a look at the kittens, I held them, I wanted a kitten so badly, but they were too young for me. Maybe about 7-8 weeks old. Then there was Ricky Bobby again, putting on another amusing show.

I love my baby!

Sorry, I didn't mean to make it so long, it really is a basic story.

 

[russiankitten]

I was in the pet shop thinking of getting a kitten but not really sure about a year a go. I looked at the kittens for sale. Small sleeping little bundles of fur. I came to the end and there was a sparky black and white kitten who was quite large pawing at the window looking at me. I am sure he was saying, "hay human, do me a favour, get me out of here, all they feed you is this dry food and you have to pee on newspaper, come on, i'm lonely!" so I gave in and the kitten became my beautiful big boy Caspian. He is a stunner and I am very pleased to be his human. I would say how the three kittens who followed came to be but (i am still looking for them after a tragedy)

so to avoid my sadness I'll go on to say how Nefertiti adopted me only today! Nefertiti was in the woods living wild with her mother and brother and she was captured today. The lady (my friend) phoned and asked if I'd be interested and I had to go and see her. She was so scared she was hid behind the sofa. When my friend brought her out, the little scared baby quickly nuzzled into my big fur coat. I noticed then she is part of me.
I am going to love reading these over a cup of coco and some cookies ! =)

 

[lovesmycats]

Wow, I need to catch up on these stories.

 

[caitsith]

My first cat,Tigger, was given to me from my mum to help me through a very bad time when i was 2 and a half. I had Leukemia in 1975 (showing my age now!) so the suvival rate wasn't too good.With being in hospital for 18 months,when i was finally ok and allowed to leave after the radiation,blood transfusions,lumbar punctures and bone marrow transplants etc,she bought me a kitten to help me get better and to cheer me up. I swear it did. Ive had a few furbabies since then. The two i have now, were both rescue cats and both sisters. They were the fisrt to come over to us when we went to pick up two kittens.That was the general rule in our family,to take the first that come to you. We have always had cats ever since i can remember.

 

[generic war]

with Mecha in early October 2007 my parents next door neighbouurs cat had kittens.
my sister took one at 6 weeks and at 8 weeks they had 3 black and white ones and a "tiger" striped one left to give away, my partner was Adamant that we were getting a black and white one then walked in and didnt even look at them just took the "tiger" one in his arms and that way the end of our choice lol

With pandora my sisters cat (yes the one born at the same time as mecha) had kittens in october of 2008 and on the first day they were born we picked Pandora as the one we wanted.

a suitable name to because all hell broke loose the first few weeks her and mecha spent together

 

[scottf]

I actually got Mr Jinx as part of a tip. I was delivering pizza and I got a delivery to house about a mile or two behind the shop I was working at at the time. Well I get there and since it was raining, the lady of the house invited me in and as I stepped in I noticed this kitten walking straight to me.

I mentioned that she had alot of cats. She then asked me if would like take one with me. I asked if she was sure, and she told me they were moving and could not take the cats with them. At this point Mr Jinx was rubbing my leg and making friends with me. I told her I would be back for this little guy. She also tipped decently, I think it was like 4 or 5 bucks. Well I came back after my shift was over and got him. The next day, I went and got him all the supplies I needed, big bag of kitten food, some litter, a pan, and some toys.

The first night I brought him home, he wanted to sleep in bed with me, and when I would lay on the couch, he would lay on top of me. Unfortunately he does not do that anymore, I wish he would. Infact, he has kind of taken to sleeping on the back of the big blue chair in my living room as of late. I really want him to get better soon...

 

[katzyn]

Sassy came to me from a friend, whose mom brough her over because he (my friend) was deathly allergic to her (he had to go to the hospital, is was so bad).

Stratus, I was "fostering". Uh...I decided to keep him. <3 And I'm glad I did.

Newbie is my sister's cat who is staying with us. She came from the shelter. We tease her sometimes, because my sister had originally picked out another kitten, so we call Newbie "second choice" a lot. I think we're all glad she picked out this girl, though. <3

Tanzie is my best friend's sister's cat, both of them are living with us. Tanzie was the daughter of their family cat, and she flew over here from Hawaii. She's pure Siamese, and an amazing cat, though naughty at times. =3

Kiara was dumped on us by another sister of mine...She is funny, but REALLY obese. -_- It saddens me.

Abby is another pure Siamese, but a traditional applehead, came from a backyard breeder...My mother wanted her after our two old Siamese passed away earlier that year.

Sophie came from a neighbor's house, where they were allowing their cats outisede to breed repeatedly. Sophie had or has (not sure if he's still alive) a twin out there, somewhere.

 

[lyrajean]

Aya-chan came to live with me 2 months ago. I was taking a taxi home from a karaoke party with coworkers just before midnight. The taxi driver took a shortcut through the back streets to avoid a very busy intersection. These streets are barely more than glorified alleyways. On the last blind corner before rejoining the main street near my apartment, I saw something move in the middle of the street. I had barely enough time to shout 'Koneko!' at the driver, who sucessfully dodged the kitten in the middle of the street, to be repeated seconds later by the other taxi driver coming the other way.

I made up some lie in Japanese about wanting to stop at the store to get some munchies, paid my fare, and got out of the cab. I went back to the corner and scooped up a month old calico kitten who was trying to scale a 4 foot concrete block wall to get out of the street, tucked her in my coat without taking a real good look at her and carried her back to my apartment.

She had a real bad URI. One of her eyes was glued shut by mucus, she was covered in fleas and dried blood. Her eyes were so swollen from the infection / URI that she looked like someone had punched her in the face. # vet visits, a lot of medicine and syringes full of kitten formula later, she got better. She's now almost 3 months old and really genki! Guess she really wanted to live...

Our last two cats Midori and Gracie came from the Chitenden County HS at 4 years of age. Midori licked my fingers through the cage bars and I was smitten.

Gracie, who passed about 3 years ago, I hadn't even noticed as her cage was in the back corner of the old HS building behind another cage. Except that another patron asked me if I'd seen her, saying that she would have taken Gracie, except that Gracie was not good with dogs and she had 3 retrievers (we found out later how not-good-with-canines she was as she tried to attack a retriever to kill on one occasion).

 

[GoldyCat]

If you're expecting a short story you're going to be disappointed. I'm much better at writing novels.

Ever since I can remember I wanted a kitty, but my mother didn't care for cats so I never got to have one. By the time I finished school I was moving around and traveling too much and didn't think it would be fair to a kitty to be left alone most of the time.

About a year and a half ago, after being on my own for 35+ years, I decided to just go ahead and get a (as in ONE) kitten. I didn't have anything specific in mind except that I knew I wanted a grey-and-white kitten. I started looking in the employee classifieds at work and found four ads for free kittens, every one of which had at least one grey-and-white kitten. I chose Shareena because she was in the only litter that wasn't being given away immediately. I didn't think it would be right to get a new kitten and then go on vacation halfway across the country for a week. I did get to visit her when she was 5-1/2 weeks old. I was going to take her no matter what, but when I first saw her I fell in love.

I picked her up on the way home from the airport when she was 7-1/2 weeks old. I had no idea at the time that that was too young to be taken away from her mother.

About six weeks later I was talking to the woman who gave me Shareena and she said there was one kitten left from the litter who was going to have to go to a shelter. The woman had moved into an apartment that didn't allow pets. Of course I said don't take her to a shelter, I would take another kitten. I met her in a parking lot on my way home from work. Miss Patchwillow came right to me, curled up in my arms, and tried to crawl inside my sweater. I put her in the carrier and she yowled all the way home (45 minutes). I never knew a cat could make so many different sounds, and all at top volume!

When I got her home I opened the carrier door and let her come out on her own. I figured the two were littermates and would be fine together. Did I ever figure wrong! Hissing, scratching, biting, I thought they were going to kill each other. Then half way through the second afternoon they suddenly decided they were best friends and have been ever since. Miss Patchwillow kind of surprised me in another way. She came to me so quickly I thought she would be friendly with everybody, but whenever someone else comes into the house she hides under the bed or in the closet.

So I'm doing great with two kitties, no thought of getting another one, right?

Then last June a little orange tabby showed up, sleeping on my patio at night and under the tomatoes during the day. I estimated her age at about 6-7 months old at the time. She was sleeping on my back patio at night and under the tomatoes during the day. She was obviously someone's pet, very friendly and wanting to come in the house all the time. The amazing thing was that my two girls didn't chase her away. They just went up and touched noses with her and then basically ignored her.

She hung around for 10 days and I had been watching the lost-and-found ads in the paper but didn't see any for a lost cat. I decided to put an ad in the paper myself, and then she disappeared. I hoped she had found her way home but was afraid a coyote had gotten her. About 8 or 9 days later she showed up again, looking absolutely starved but still very loving. I put an ad in the paper and brought her into the house then so she'd still be there if anybody called. Of course no one did, but one of my piano students said she would like to have the kitty. I said sure, but I need to take her to the vet first to be checked out. The vet said, "She's healthy--she's pregnant." I think the piano student would have still taken her but piano student's mom said absolutely not. So . . . now I have Goldy as well.

Goldy had three beautiful babies on August 23, Iris, Lion, and Cali. I've been trying to find homes for Goldy and Lion and Cali (I'm keeping Iris because Shareena has bonded with her). It's difficult because so many people want tiny baby kittens instead of juveniles. I think I may have found a home for Lion

A couple is coming to meet him at the end of this month.

If anybody's still out there, thanks for reading my novel.

 

[lovesmycats]

Caitsith, I'm so glad you overcame leukemia. I'm sure it was a long and hard fight. Kitties definitely can help us through anything. I'm glad you had a baby to help you through it.

Scott F, that's great of you to take a kitten. What is wrong with your baby?

Lyrajean, thank you for taking the sick kitty in. I'm so glad she is doing better.

Goldycat, I enjoyed reading your "novel".

I have to say your kitties are beautiful.

I love the picture of Goldy in her "sphinx" pose. I think you should keep her.

But then, I think you need to keep all of them.

Thank you everyone for the stories. Keep 'em coming!

 

[sakura]

Matilda (adopted October 3, 2007) - picture on petfinder. It wasn't the greatest picture in the world, but she was a white persian mix and I had always wanted a fluffy white cat. I went to go see her in person a few days later and took her home the same day.

Chloe (adopted November 10, 2007) - picture on petfinder. I had just adopted Mattie and all of a sudden wanted a second cat (never saw that one coming). I had searched for long haired kittens and her picture stuck out in my mind, plus her foster name was Mattie so I took that as a sign.

Henry (adopted December 13, 2008) - I volunteer at the shelter and recognized him when he came in as a stray (he was previously my SO's sister's cat). She never claimed him so we adopted him.

 

[scottf]

LovesMyCats... he had a UTI, he is feeling MUCH better as of now