Cat Lovers, Help!

Sharpschruter22

Today, has been a hard day. I'm finally home, but I'm missing my FI and my baby cat. We are LD until our wedding. Soooo...would you tell me the story of how your baby cat came to you? I would also VERY much appreciate pictures. Thanks, ladies!

Sharpschruter22

Oh, that's adorable, Stage! I'm so glad you chose to keep her. My kitty played me too. She ran into my house, crying because she was being chased by a tomcat, jumped in my lap, began licking my face and cuddled with me for hours. That night she slept in the crook of my arm alllll night long. Now that she has me, she isn't quite as affectionate, but I take what I can get. What is your kitty's name? Did you have to bottle feed her? Did you bring her into your family party?

Peledreamsofrain

When I was growing up, my father was allergic to cats, so we never had one.  I ALWAYS had wanted one, so the moment I graduated college, I immediately ran to Craigslist.  I found an ad by a college girl who found out that for some strange reason, un-fixed female outdoor cats end up pregnant.  Like magic or something.

Anywho, I visited her, and her house was crawling with little grey kittens.  I asked her which two kittins were closest to one another, and took the two she recommended.  I named them Soma and Rashmi, and I love them sooooooo much!  They both like to try to fit on my lap at the same time, and look like clones.  People get weirded out when they realize they aren't the same cat, lol.

Then, there's Maya. *sigh*  I decided 2 years ago that my life was woefully lacking in kittens, and I wanted a purebred.  I was very attracted to the Ragdoll breed, and after doing a lot of research, I located a reputable breeder in San Diego.  Off I went with that year's tax return, and gleefully collected my new kitten:

She supposedly is the daughter of a cat that was featured on the cover of cat fancy magazine, and the grand-daughter of a trpli international grand champion.... but mostly she's just adorably stupid.

 If you sit down, she is aaaall over your lap, but has too much energy to sit still, so she ends up meowing at you in complaint.... for some reason.  Like its your fault she can"t sit stll.  In fact right now I'm holding her half off my computer, and typing one-handed.

I love them all very much

thejucheidea

We don't have any cats, but my parents have five.

Suki showed up on my high school campus when I was a freshman. She followed me around and went to a couple of classes with me, and at the end of the day, I just grabbed her, took her to the car and took her home. She had obviously been abused and was really happy to come home with us.

Quatre started living under our back porch when I was a sophomore in high school. She has damaged vocal chords, so she makes a very odd noise when she meows. Because of this, my dad thought she was a squirrel until he actually saw her. She is my mom's bff.

Digby randomly showed up at our old house after we'd already moved. My mom went back to grab some stuff that was still there and when she got back to her car, there was a cat butt pointed at her -- a little scrawny cat had his entire face in her lunchbox eating her turkey sammich. Digby is now a twenty-something pound fatty with a massive attitude problem. He thinks my dad is awesome.

My little sister claims to have found Bacon when she was at Auburn, but really she adopted him from the Humane Society there. He used to be a naughty, mischievous little thing, but now he's just intensely scared of everything and spends most of his time hiding in my mom's yarn room.

Squeak, also called Kitten, is my dad's best friend. He's a spunky little partial Maine Coon who gets into everything. His hobbies include running out into the yard whenever you open the door, unraveling yarn and stepping on the train of my wedding gown. He is also the most relaxed cat ever.

AmJam04

We got our kitty from a pet rescue center 6 years ago. Kitty ended up being a kitten of a stray mother that needed a home. The shelter named him "Guppy" but the name just didn't fit him... so we named him Moo.

Here he is being a ham:


He is such a sweet cat. The first few years we had him he would always demand to be petted (pet? petted? whatever) with both of your hands at all times. He's also crazy-smart and knows exactly what to do to get your attention (such as, knock glasses off of counters). He never bites or scratches, and he puts up with a lot of my canoodling when I'm feeling needy.

A few weeks after we got him we found out he had developed chronic conjunctivitis, which we later found out would affect everything from his weight to infecting his gums. Poor little guy. I fuss about him all the time because he's my little moo-cow and it makes me sad when I know he's in pain. But he's in a happy and warm home and we do everything we can to keep him comfortable.

Best part of calling him Moo: When we call out his name (either for his attention or as a "stop-that-right-now"), we always sound silly for yelling out "Moo!" haha.



(Food time now?? face.)

jenajjthr

My first cat, may he rest in peace, I got when my mom brought him home.  A coworker had kittens so she got me one.  She picked a white one because that would match our dog.  Sammy was my best friend for 17 years.  A year after he passed I felt I was ready for another cat so went to the local no kill shetler.  A volunteer placed an orange tabby in my arms, but I wasn't "feeling" anything.  Then a black blur ran past me.  I knew that I wanted that cat.  Her name is Isis and she has a white stripe down her tummy and one white toe.  She acts so much like my Sam that I could swear she is his reincarnation. 

Last year I wanted a kitten to add to my family.  Went to a Petsmart since they adopt out cats and found two sisters who are almost identical.  My H was unsure if he wanted to add 2 cats, but once he sat with them for a few minutes he was ready to adopt as well.  Their names are Lovebug and Cuddlebug.  Cuddle is a little on the crazy side.  She rolls over, lays on her back, wants her tummy rubbed.  I think she thinks she's a dog.  LOL. 

warpedredpenguin

H and I have almost never had to go out in search of a pet, they always find us. Also, for some reason, I can't have a cat that's "mine" or something happens to it. Srsly. Kidnapped, ran off, got pneumonia but recovered and ran off because my brother was an asshat to it, run over, disappeared, and the last was killed by my mom's Jack Russell on accident. No more cats for me, but H has two. 

The first was a kitten that was the runt of a litter, and the owner was going to just drown him. H says he was completely feral, and was all eyes, teeth, and fur, so he named him Fizgig. Now he sleeps in the same spot 23 hours a day, meows at 6 am and 6 pm on the dot for his gushy food, and is a complete attention whore. He also weight 18 pounds. 

Dickens appeared on the front porch a few months before I married H. His roomie, a cat hoarder, took him in because he was getting picked on by a neighborhood tom and named him Midnight. They were going to take him to a shelter, but H fell in love with him because he's basically a dog and he's adorably stupid, so we renamed him. He only cares about me when H isn't home. 

Ven&Radio

I've had cats most of my life, except while I was in college.  The day after I moved into an apartment, I went to a local shelter looking for a cat.  The shelter's adoption form wanted my 8 year history with animals (do you remember what pet(s) you had 8 years ago?  I sure don't) and they wouldn't allow a cat under 6 months to be adopted by itself.  I knew I wanted a kitten, so I moved on.  My mom let me know a shelter near her had new kittens, so I made the drive (about an hour).  There was a cage with 3 little black longhair kittens, two with vomit on their heads, and one of them kept meowing at me until I came over and petted her.  I like to say that Shadow claimed me.  She's the friendliest and smartest cat I've ever had.  When she was a baby she would see hands and not know which one she'd want petting her, so she'd wobble between the two.  She's calmed down some as an adult, but she's still a hand whore.  She's a very smart cat and responds to a variety of commands including lay down and jump.  We also like to joke that she has an anti-gravity device in her paws because she can jump onto things a good 5' high from the ground.  When I'm sitting at  my desk, she likes to snuggle into the crook of my arm with her head on my shoulder like she's a baby.

My fiancee's cat is Shadow's polar opposite.  He's dumb as a rock and afraid of everything.  My aunt is involved in a fostering program for orphaned kittens with her local shelter, so she got us Leo.  He likes to snuggle in my fiancee's lap, but only if I'm not nearby (our cats know their people). 

AddieCake

I got Diablo about 12 years ago from one of my students at the time whose cat had just had kittens. He definitely lives up to his name!  My previous cat, Taffy, I had had since I was in the 5th grade and had to put him down the year before I got Diablo. He had been the friendliest, sweetest cat ever, and I could never understand why some people don't like cats. Then I got D. Oh, my!  He is very snobbish and I will let you know when I wish to be amused or loved on by you, human!  THIS is the kind of cat people who don't like cats have had experience with!  Hahaha!  But I love him a lot!  He also plays fetch, which I'm not sure a lot of cats do. 

Here he is "helping" me organize a bunch of mail and paperwork and then one attacking me while I try to play WoW. 

                   

Sharpschruter22

I've enjoyed reading this stories so much! Keep em coming, folks!

Marrin713

Justy:

 

Yes, she's as disagreeable as she looks.  I got her from a shelter after my divorce.  She's strange.  Never was very vocal or outgoing - certainly not cuddly but since the other cat died, she's become all of the above.

Bo:
Pele - here's our dearly departed Ragdoll

 

Bo died last spring from fibrosarcoma.  He was H's family cat from his first marriage.  A complete clown and very loving. H's ex got him from a breeder who had no use for him since he was the runt of the litter. So he was pretty small for a Ragdoll.

random4180

We have two boys- Henry P (the P is for Pussycat, a Mr. Rodger's reference) and Sammy J (the J stands for Jay, a Simpson's reference.) I got Henry off of craigslist first, he was being given away for free and I'm so glad I got him- the guy said he was two months, a girl, and already eating hard food...yeah, none of the above were true. I remember going to get him in the projects on the Lower East Side and thinking, I am going to get murdered because I want a kitten so bad! 

Several months after we got Henry and I was working in a shelter upstate, I came across Sammy. Someone abandoned him and his pregnant (again) mom in a single dirty carrier near our dumpster. I actually walked several shelter dogs past them before I realized there was anything in it (people donated old carriers all the time and that was actually the only time anyone ever left an aniimal in that location; usually they were by the front door.) Sammy was so sooooooo shy and just sad-looking as a kitten- and he had enormous paws for a little kitty. I fell in love with him (only animal I ever took home from the shelter) and soon Henry had a brother. 

I have tons of pics, lol. Here's some baby pics and then more recent ones (Henry turned 3 this month and Sammy turns 3 next month.) 

This is Sammy, having lunch with me @ the shelter.

Henry, the first night I had him (he was six weeks old, not too months!)

And now...Henry is still tiny but he's still the "big brother."

crystaldbl

I got my boy from the shelter a few months ago after my beloved cat of 12 years passed.  He is such a loveable boy. If you let him he will sit on your lap all day. He has thumps as well. You can kind of see it in this pic.

Avion22

My late husband and I got Leo from a shelter about 10 years ago, when he was a kitten.  He's now living with my parents.  They kept him for me during a few military deployments, and now they are taking care of him while I'm assigned overseas.  I think he's going to stay with them, as he's getting old and can't tolerate big life changes like he used to....plus he's REALLY happ there.

(Leo at about a year old)

We got Roxy a week ago today from our local shelter. She's 13 weeks old and a total cuddle bug.  She's cuddling with me right now:-)

(Roxy last week)

vchan4

Love the photos! Everyones kitties are so cute

My two furbabies - Pip and Maddy. Maddy is from the local shelter - I actually didn't see her at first. FI saw her hidden in the bottom cage behind two other cats. She was a sweetie but we didnt take her home that day b/c FI wanted two cats and we couldnt find another one that got along with her.

Next day, FI comes home with Pip. He was a friend of a friends kitten, and she couldnt keep him due to allergies. So the next day, I called the shelter to make sure Maddy was still there and we brought her home the day after.

RamonaFlowers

These are my triplets, from left to right: Brody, Nora and Charlie. There was another picture of them hanging out in my siggy forever, and those are pretty much the only 2 pictures I have of all 3 of them together, lol. They're roughly 3-4 weeks old in this pictures, they're about 8 months old now.

They came to us because my parents were driving on the Garden State Parkway (For people not familiar with NJ, it's a major highway with a speed limit of 65, and most people do about 80 on it) and saw them huddled together on the shoulder of the road. My dad immediately pulled over and they jumped out of the car and scooped them off of the road. Considering how tiny they were at the time (They each barely weighed 1lb), and that it was almost dusk, it's amazing that my parents even saw them. My parents couldn't keep them, but didn't want to send them to a shelter if homes could be found for them.

DH and I didn't have any pets and had been discussing rescuing a cat at the time. When my mom first called us to see if we'd take any of them (She knew we were talking about getting a cat at the time) and/or if we could help put out word to get them homes. We held off for a few days while we discussed the logistics of taking on 3 cats, and eventually we just couldn't bear to split the 3 of them up after all they'd been through. In addition to just being separated from their mom, dumped on the road by some a$$hole, they were malnourished and dehydrated, and who knows what else had happened to them?

So we took them all. And haven't had a single regret. They are the sweetest cats ever, and they've definitely given just as much as we've given them, possibly more.

Sassenach1743

I've got two boys, both rescues, and they are the best and coolest kitties ever! 

This is Ollie, he's the Mama's boy... adopted him first in 2008. He's all muscle, even though he looks like a fattie. He's definitely part Main Coon. He rules the house.

This is Clyde, he's the Lap Cat! Seriously, he's in your lap before you're even sitting. Adopted him in 2010 to keep Ollie company. He's a character. 

she22ybe22y

I was living alone, and going through alot.  I had been tramatized by a kittens death when I was little... and the last thing I wan't was some pesky animal.  But none the less, some black and white tom cat started showing up at my back door.  He was there when I left for work, and there when I came home.  Everyday I would yell at him "Scat! you tom cat!'  But he just looked at me like I was stupid, and kept walking towards me, rubbing up on my legs.  So after two weeks, I told him, "well, if your not going to leave, I guess I'll feed you."  I then started asking my neighbors if they knew who he belonged to, and no one knew where he came from.  He was full grown, when he showed up, so I have no idea how old he is, but he is still playfull.  "Tom Cat" stuck, so that's his name.  I have had him now for two years, moved in with my fi, and he now spends his afternoons naping on our bed!  He uses the doggie door, which is great-no litter box! (Fi has a dog) and although they aren't great pals (the dog and cat) they tolerate each other. 

A few years ago, they were both lying under the Christmas tree.  I wish I had that pic to share, but its on a SIM card that my fi has with him who is deployed.    His white marks are on his underbelly and the very tip of his tail.

pomundson0

Gulliver came to me about three and half years ago. I was staying with some married friends and the wife's office had a big stray cat issue in their area. There was yet another litter of kittens born, and one had a pretty bad eye infection and his mom was trying to abandon him, so he was brought home to be fixed up and the idea of letting him go lasted about ten seconds I had never wanted a boy cat but he has been the sweetest most lovable baby ever and really showed up just when I needed him to that cute little bugger helped me through a lot of bad times  He's about 14 pounds now  biiiig kitty ;D  Not fat, just large and very handsome

Meeko and Dumdum came last year... not too many pictures of Dumdum because all she does is hide. Her name is unfortunate but it kind of stuck, she tended to run into walls and just be strange We got her from a no-kill shelter that was just awful conditions, we couldn't walk away without giving one of them a good home.  She doesn't really get along with the others and is our inside/outside kitty. 

Meeko is a thief and tries to look just SOOOOO sweet and innocent but we know better  Her and Gulliver get along and play all the time, here's an older one of them snoozing ^_^ She was so tiny, they're almost the same size now!!

and of course none of them really care for the dog ;D

GardenMaven

I am a little late to the party, but wanted to join in.

The first cat in my life was brought home when I was one years old, by my 5 yr old sister.  She literally brought a kitten home from a neighbor's house and said, "Can I keep it?"  The neighbor's cat had had kittens a few weeks before.  Being 5, she named the calico female Pretty.  Pretty was an outdoor cat and only lived to age seven.  I still remember my dad telling me about her death.  It hit me pretty hard.  

Next cat was my best friend for 13 years.  At age eight I decided I wanted a black cat, so I saved up my allowance so I could buy new cat stuff and pay the humane society fee.  In early September an all black female cat came home with me.  I named her Midnight.  She hated everyone except me, and never accepted any other animals.  And I loved her to death!  Every night she would lay next to my pillow so I could pet her belly and she would purr.  Then when she was ready, she would move to the end of the bed for the rest of the night.

She did eventually soften up and allow others to touch her, including FI.  She spent a few years alone with my parents due to me being away at college, so that probably helped her open up.  Lol  I am very grateful that she spent her last few years with me and FI in two different apartments.  Midnight would sleep on the bed with us and every night she still did the same thing.  First she'd lie next to my pillow and then go down to my feet.  She also convinced FI that cats were an acceptable pet.  He only had a hamster growing up, unless you count the dog his sister got when he was a senior in high school.  People who knew me as a child were impressed that Midnight was kind to my FI.  I glad she was!

Now FI and I have two pure-breed cats.  Both Egyptian Maus.  Simon is our super lazy, over-weight, mamma's boy.  He is also pretty good at sumo, and will body slam our other cat when they play.  We got him from Ball, Louisiana.  Fitting because his favorite toys are balls.  

Zephyr is one part spaz, one part focused hunter, and 100% lover.  He loved Simon at first sight and tried to approach him immediately.  Simon had other ideas, but over a month or two decided they are bros for life. Zephyr took forever to warm up to us humans, but now it is one none stop cuddle fest.  And he is the vocal one of the two.  We always know what he is doing, because he talks about everything he does.  He came from Florida.

Simon as kitten:

Lazy Simon:

Zephyr:

Not my cats, but my sister now has the 'hairless' variety.  She got two Cornish Rex cats from the same breeder at the same time.  Unfortunately one of them got intestinal cancer by age two and had to be put down.  She wasn't going to get another cat right away, but the one that was left basically had daily freak outs and she gave in and got him a friend.  The freak outs stopped.  Here are the original two, Oliver (bigger one on the left) and Neko.  Oliver is the one who passed away:

Neko's new for a few years now, brother Archie:

Sharpschruter22

Love it! Anyone else care to share?

GardenMaven

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_chit-chat_cat-lovers-help?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:14Discussion:627d280e-a441-41e7-8bb2-61bb5a01384bPost:10e2dd85-c32e-4e6f-8984-06adc6e437c7">Re: Cat Lovers, Help!</a>:
[QUOTE]All my cats have been rescues. My kitty fell down the air shaft in my apartment.  He was only a few weeks old. We fed him through a baby bottle, and he pulled through.  We named him Bast.  He liked to be cradled like a baby, and rubbed on the head. He went to heaven a few months shy of his twentieth birthday. We had to help him on the way, and I held him as he liked best.  His eyes never left mine. I have two cats from one litter, and three cats I rescued from the second  litter because the #!@$ owner wouldn't the feral mom spayed, despite my getting him a humane trap from the cat rescue.  Mama got around.  They obviously have different daddies, despite being from the same mama......one is a whopping 25 pounds - three times any of his siblings.  I think she found herself a Maine Coone beau.....
Posted by RetreadBride[/QUOTE]

<div>Aw that is such a sweet story about Bast!  He was one lucky kitty to end up in your apartment.  Looks like you now have 5 lucky kitties!   It's unfortunate that the momma's owner won't get her spayed.  Especially with a free humane trap.  Some people just don't get it.  Glad to know the 'babies' are in a good home. :-)</div>