Where Did Your Cats Come From?

[Katie M]

My first cat Pepper came from a shelter in Virginia Beach. We had narrowed it down to him and his sister, and the choice was left to me. Since he had (for me) an unusual color, I picked him.

I got my next three cats in Italy. First was Sophie-I had gone over to a friend's house to see a litter of kittens. The mother was a calico, and I swear the whole litter was as well. My friend's family was military like mine, and when they found out they were moving, they had to find homes for the kittens quickly. His mom remembered my interest, and showed up at our house one day, kitten in hand. With me being right at the door too, I think that made it too difficult for my mother to say no

We lived in an area crawling with what were known as parco cats. One left a kitten in our yard. It had been raining that day, and I looked out the window at one point to see if it had stopped. I spotted a little grey ball in the yard, and managed to convince Mom to go out to investigate. That's how we got Lucky.

Peanut came from another friend. She was the kind of kid who brought home every stray animal she could. At one point, she had a cat and her litter of three-a grey tabby girl, a cream tabby boy, and an orange tabby boy. Her dad overheard me wishing I could take one home, and probably sensed an opportunity to decrease the number of animals in his house by one. He told me to get Mom's permission, and I could have whichever one I wanted. I liked them all, but the orange boy especially.

We were in Belgium when I got Belle and Beau as an early Christmas surprise. Somebody's Persian had kittens by at least one street cat.

Charlie was found here in West Virginia by one of Mom's coworkers. She didn't have any more room in her home, however, so started asking around.

I hope to soon be getting another cat, this one from a shelter

 

[JamesCalifornia]

~ We always had pets - cats , dogs , birds and a fish pond. They were always part of the family. My mom did cat rescue and I took over when she passed away. I think because the yard has always been a safe place the stray hungry cats find their way here . No cat leaves this place hungry .

 

[Crazycatlady1129]

I've gotten cats from everywhere. Cats who were abandoned by my neighbors, strays who just showed up one day and never left, a feral kitten whose mother was hit by a car, a pregnant stray that I rescued from some neighborhood bullies. We even had one cat who jumped into the drive thru window at my mom's work!
I currently have three kittens. One I adopted from Facebook, one my landlord found outside, and one I rescued from a man who was going to drown her. No matter where my kitties come from, I love each and every one of them. <3

 

[chloebelle]

I am currently in the process of adopting the first cat of my own, but growing up I lived back and forth between my grandma who had at max 8 cats, and my parents who had 3. My mom was notorious for being a "cat lady" and would always bring strays home but my dad would always be a stickler about finding them a home, but we did end up with three that I've always considered MY cats.

The first we got when I was 4 years old. We were living in a trailer park, so there was one set of mailboxes in sort of a "back road" of the trailer park by a field. One evening, when it was pouring rain, my mom was checking the mail and noticed a mama cat running towards her with babies. I am not sure if something scared them and they were running away, but one of the kittens clawed his way up my mom's pant leg and hung on for dear life. She wasn't able to catch the mom or other babies, but we've had that one ever since and 4 year old me named him Muffin. I truly believe he's a special soul. He stands up on his hind legs and gives hugs and can open doors. I love him a ton he's very special to me.

The second came when we moved into our first house. A big Gray kitty (a Russian Blue) was always laying on our porch and hopping over the fence. I was in elementary school at this time and was OBSESSED. I would spend hours and hours and hours outside with him just petting and playing he was very sweet and gentle. He would follow me to school each day and be waiting at the end of the street when I got home. Not kidding. The neighbors said he'd been there forever and they just called him Kitty. That was unacceptable to me and he needed a name. Because of his closely following me and his color, I named him Shadow. We created him a nice warm shelter and always fed him but my dad didn't want to spend the money to neuter him and bring him in. When my mom passed away in 2009, he chose to do it as a way to honor her and her cat lady ways. He is now the fattest cat I have ever seen, his walking to school days are far behind him lol.

The third we found after Shadow but before he was brought into the house. I wasn't present for this one, but my mom was in a rougher area of downtown Detroit and says she saw some young men in an alley hurting him and playing around with him while he was clearly in pain and crying. She confronted them which in retrospect was pretty dangerous but that's just who she was, and they basically dropped him and took off running. He was probably 7-8 months old at the time. He turned out to be one of the silliest and most energetic cats I've ever met. When my mom first brought him home my dad kept saying "He can stay one more night" every single night. Forever. It's been years. I named him Piper after my Street at the time and when I was a kid he slept right on my face every single night. My mom took pictures I'll have to find them.

 

[kashmir64]

Most of mine came from a shelter of some sort. Some of them came from individuals. One of them (kept) and her littermates were found in the boat well (while on the lake). Eyes just starting to open.
These two were originally from the shelter, even though I fostered them from 10 days old. They were left in a bowl (with her sister) along the highway. I ended up adopting two of them.

Welcome to TCS chloebelle

 

[amethyst]

My first two cats Garfield and Night came from a farm as kittens, I was little and don't remember much, we moved and gave them away since the place we moved to didn't allow cats. My next cat, Angel, came from the next door neighbors, he was fat and bullied by their other cats so they gave him to us secretly since we rented, and as I said, weren't allowed to have cats . We would just say it was the neighbor's cat visiting whenever the landlord came by, lol. My mom took Angel with her when my parents divorced, I stayed with my dad.

The next cat, Rumpus, I got from a shelter when I moved out on my own and was in collage. He was about 8 when I adopted him, and has since passed away at about 15 years old from kidney failure a few years ago. I couldn't bring him when I moved to Canada, so my mom had him for the last few years of his life. The idea was she would care for him until I could get him back, but life had other ideas.

Since living in Canada, I now have 10 cats, lol. The first one I adopted from the SPCA within days of moving her, her name is Mystic. The second one I got from answering a free Maine coon kittens ad in the paper about a month after getting Mystic, his name is Coon (short for Raccoon).

The next 3 I got were from a feral cat I was feeding, she was hit by a truck and had had 3 kittens under the house. We actually didn't know she had her kittens under the house until we heard them crying a few days after she had been hit. I named the kittens Gremlin, Mittens, and Lucky. My husband had to crawl under the house to retrieve them, he managed to get Gremlin and Mittens out, but Lucky was hiding up on a beam. We dismantled the wood stove base to get her, hence the name Lucky, she was lucky we cared enough to destroy part of our house to save her, lol. She bonded with me instantly, unlike her siblings who where hissy and terrified, she actually leapt into my arms from the beam below the house.
We ended up with 4 more when we were in the process of getting all the cats fixed, we were getting a couple fixed at a time since it's expensive. We had two cats left, Gremlin and Coon, a female and a male. I had made the appointment to get Coon neutered next, and had him locked in a room to prevent unwanted kittens, but Coon had other plans. He unlocked and opened the door while we were out and several weeks later we had Shadow, Rascal, Tiger, and CJ. Sadly Gremlin, the mother, died when she went in to get spayed.

A few years ago we had a kitten dropped off, thinking it was a neighbor's cat I ignored it. However once it started getting cold out and my cats stopped going out as much, he was still hanging around, and getting noticeably thinner. After a couple week of baiting the trap I finally caught him, got him vetted, and named him Tux. He is still pretty skittish, but he is pretty much my dog's cat, and he does like to play, just no humans allowed touching him.

The newest cat was another drop off on my yard, my husband found her raiding the garbage outside a year ago. It was already late October so I set the trap and caught her. She was sick and wormy and crazy literally climbing the walls terrified. She has settled down a lot, I still can't really pet her, but she talks to me (or rather yells at me) and I can play with her. Like Tux, she prefers the company of the dogs and other cats to humans.

 

[catmomma627]

I'll just stick to the 3 I have now to avoid a novel...

Zoey came from a Shelter in the town about 45 minutes away where my mom lives. My mom was donating cat food, and I had no intention of getting a cat. Long story short this shelter is in the remodeled city pool, and on top of one of the shower stalls was a beautiful marbled brown tabby. I've always had a soft spot for brown tabbies and the minute I held her and heard her purr I was smitten. She had been dropped off by a family just before Christmas and was past the shelter's 3 week euthanasia limit for cats. The boy was on a cruise and the guy said he was holding on to her hoping someone would want her because she was already spayed. My mom just so happened to have a cat carrier in the car. I took her home, stopped at walmart for a litterbox, food and and toys on the way and we were an immediate family.

Luna came from a high school friend of my mom's bf, I had tinkered around with getting a second and this lady had a stray give birth at her house and was going to dump the kittens if she couldn't find homes. I loved the little black girl kitten and she came home with me that day.


With Penny, a facebook friend of mine posted a picture of a large litter of yellow kittens. I casually asked if either of the cream ones was female (I had always loved cream cats) and she never responded.

About a month later she messaged me letting me know that my cream kitten was ready whenever I was and that she thought it was female. They had found homes for many and had saved me a cream kitten. I was really back and forth about what to say, but it just felt right, and 3 days later she dropped off 3 month old Penny.

 

[Blakeney Green]

I adopted Zephyr from the local SPCA in St. John's, Newfoundland, where I was living at the time.

A few months later, my coworker found Maisie as a stray and couldn't keep him, so he came to live with me.

I moved back to the US and started volunteering at the county SPCA. I adopted Bentley from that shelter. Unfortunately Bentley passed away unexpectedly a few years later.

The year after I adopted Bentley, I decided to foster Cullen for the shelter to try to help him get used to other people and make him more adoptable. He never really adjusted to being around anyone but me, but I had gotten attached to him anyway so I just foster failed and kept him.

I now work full-time at the shelter, and I recently brought home my newest addition, my kitten Toad.

 

[Miss_Molly1995]

My first cat I got during the summer. I really wanted a cat, I’ve never had my own animal before. Growing up we always had family pets or my mom always had a few dogs of her own. I never had an interest in animals until this summer. I realized I wanted a cat, so I did a bunch of research. I looked at all kinds of cats from local shelters online and I had a plan. I was going to go on the day I got paid, and go get my very own cat. Well it was a hot summer day and my moms dogs needed food, so we went to petsmart. My mom was just like let’s go look at the cats and I said sure, well I came out with my little Owen. He was my first cat and he’s the greatest. It was love at first site. He was 7 months and is now almost a year in September. I have to be honest I named him after Owen Hunt from Greys Anatomy.

My next cat was not planned at all. I was telling my mom that I eventually wanted to get another cat then she says well someone from my Facebook is trying to find a home for a kitten. She thought that because of how cute she was someone would have snatched her up already. Well no one did and I messaged the family friend and I went and picked her up. She was sooo little. They said she looked 6 weeks but really she was about 3 or 4 weeks. They just moved into a new house and they found her under the house. My little Sofia was a trooper. She is super demanding, loves to eat, and bosses her brother around who is so much bigger then her. I first named her Tatiana, but realized she was a princess so her name is Princess Sofia.

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

.
All of mine simply found their way to me in one fashion or another - feral, stray, lost, hungry or injured, with one exception. One cold, foggy moonless night, an old-fashioned corbillard drawn by a pair of jet black horses stopped squarely at the front of the driveway - the horses blowing steam, and the rubber tires smoking. The carriage rocked back and forth a bit, and then again, much more violently, and in a moment, the door was thrown open, and a small, frail figure was tossed out onto the road. A few moments later, a Snowshoe cat jumped lightly down through the open door, stepped over the Devil, and sauntered up the drive, and straight in through the back door.


.

 

[Graceful-Lily]

My mom is the one that grabbed Felix for me. I was 11 years old and I noticed a mother cat hanging around in my neighbor's backyard. I thought she might have had kittens but I wasn't sure. I walked a different way from school just so that I could pass and see if I would spot her. September 23rd, 2010, I walked by and I saw the mother cat with kittens. I was so excited. I ran home filled with excitement. I told my mom that I saw the cat with kittens and I asked her if we could keep one. She pointed to the couch and there he was. Little Felix with dirty eyes wrapped in an old piece of fabric. He was about 4 weeks old at the time. We took him and other people took his siblings because it was dangerous for them to be exposed like that in our neighborhood. The children wouldn't leave them alone and some were sick (Felix was one of the sick ones). Felix is very fortunate because all his siblings ended up abandoned or in shelters after the "cute kitten" phase was over. 7 years and counting. I'll be 19 years old in 2 weeks and Felix... to this day is still my closest companion. He's been with me through all the tough times during my teenage years. Whenever I feel sad or hopeless, I pick him up and hug him. I immediately feel better. He's always been here for me. We have a bond like no other animal I've ever had.

I took that picture after he settled. Not sure when but he aged a bit. Probably at a few months old since those clothes were small. Please don't stone me. I NEVER forced him into those clothes or the stroller. He was just very patient with me and basically allowed me to do whatever.

 

[Lavi]

My story is pretty simple. I wanted Scottish Folds.
Well not especially a Scottish Fold, but a fluffy cat. Like a British Long Hair, a Maine Coon or a Ragdoll.
So I searched among classified ads and found an old lady in Madrid who was selling a grey Scottish Fold kitten. And I bought Dexter.
And I'm about to get his younger sister from the same lady.
Yeah my story has nothing special, no cat rescuing.
Although I did rescue a cat in the past. I found Voyou that had been left behind in the middle of nowhere in the countryside. So I took him home. He was really afraid but so desperately hungry. After a few weeks He got used to our presence and he adopted us as well. Now he has turned into what my mum calls in French 'un chat-chien' ('dog cat') . A cat that acts like a dog.

 

[fiorya]

Daisy was a feral who lived at my parents' place. She used to growl, hiss, etc whenever we came within 10 feet of her. But now she's a happy indoor kitty. I've lived with her for over a year now, and I can't believe how different she is.

I found Iris in a parking lot at 4 weeks old. She's now almost 6 months old, and I'm so glad I found her. She and Daisy get along as though they've been together for years.

 

[muffy]

I adopted 8 cats that came from my feral colony. They were all related to each other and the sweetest cats in the world. They have all passed away now but I still have 4 or 5 feral cats that I care for.

Muffy

 

[dustydiamond1]

.
All of mine simply found their way to me in one fashion or another - feral, stray, lost, hungry or injured, with one exception. One cold, foggy moonless night, an old-fashioned corbillard drawn by a pair of jet black horses stopped squarely at the front of the driveway - the horses blowing steam, and the rubber tires smoking. The carriage rocked back and forth a bit, and then again, much more violently, and in a moment, the door was thrown open, and a small, frail figure was tossed out onto the road. A few moments later, a Snowshoe cat jumped lightly down through the open door, stepped over the Devil, and sauntered up the drive, and straight in through the back door.


.

 

[dustydiamond1]

We first saw a little grey and white stray cat in the spring of 2016 jumping out of the apartment buildings dumpster and running away. I would talk to her (although at the time we didn't know she was a she) & eventually she would stop at a distance and look back before running away. Mid summer we spotted her looking terrible, mangy & sick, then she disappeared for a few months. Early Oct she reappeared looking well. We live on the second story in a quiet neighborhood with huge old trees & houses. Our back door faces an alley and we feed the squirrels & birds there. She was eating their bread one day so we started throwing down hot dogs (all beef) & cooked chicken to her, finally buying a bag of cat food and feeding her on the stairs. We had food and water on our porch at the top of the stairs where, over time, she would let us sit & pet her. She acted like she wanted to come inside so we put some food and water just inside the door, leaving it open so she wouldn't panic, until one day as I was going out, Mr possum was out side the door at the empty food bowl ready to come in too! We shut the door but let her out when she wanted to go. I got a litter pan and she took to it immediately. I gave her an anti-flea treatment. and took her to the vet to get a check up, vet said she was 1 or 2 yrs old. APL had at some point trapped, spayed, clipped her ear & turned her loose again.The weather was turning colder and she started staying inside more, sleeping overnight in a bed we got her and dropping in during the day. We don't have loose dogs or mean folks in the area so we were still letting her out in the morning or whenever she wanted. She would come when we whistled and called, until one day in January 2017 when she came in limping on her right back paw. She hasn't been out solo since that day. When the weather warmed up she really wanted to go out so we got a Kitty Holster cat jacket for her and go out with her. Photos of our excursions are in one of my albums. She is so sweet and smart and beautiful. She lets us pet her everywhere, from her nose to her toes to her tail. She doesn't bite (except for love bites that don't break skin) or scratch or jump on counters or bother the house plants. Love her lots. She has us wrapped around her little paw.

 

[Lavi]

Such a lovely story dustydiamond1

 

[lalagimp]

I didn't grow up a cat person, so I didn't come into my first cats until 2008. We were looking at cats for adoption at Petco, because we always went up and talked to the cats, but not really looking to getting a cat. This lady walks up to us with a box of kittens and says their mom abandoned them. They were only a few weeks old and we took two pointed cats. They ended up being a long hair and a short hair, which we found out through the next few months, and when they were killing our allergies, we gave them to my ex boyfriend. Samus and her brother Ashley are now 9 years old and still living with my ex.

We tried again a year later, and I found Yue while walking my dog. One of my neighbors says she was crying outside a vacant unit, so we think she was dumped. She hasn't bothered my allergies near as much, and was only about 3 months old. She turned into a medium hair, and had a habit of smacking my dog upside the head on a fly-by.

I found Tom up for adoption from county, where he had been taken in as a stray. He was at Petco when I stopped in before I was headed to work for 2 hours of OT. I told them I could come back when they were closing adoptions for the day, if they could just give me ten more minutes. I got off my calls, drove over, and got there within my ten minutes. He was 2-3 months old and such a character. He ended up balancing Yue out pretty well and she stopped popping the goggy upside the head.

Amalie was a stray that different neighbors would take in for the evening, or a few days, and then she'd be outside again. She knew the sound of my car and would come running to greet me after I got home from work and we'd hang out. She's mouthy though and the management said they were going to catch her and turn her in because she was yelling at night when other cats would come near her claimed building. So, I took her in. She's still mouthy and hates Stewart and yells and yells at him. I was going to rehome her but she needed almost $1000 in dental work, so I became invested. She's got FORLs and needs ongoing treatment about every 2 years.

Stewart was a stray and hung around the bus stop for the kids. He was a little feral and almost fully grown. We took him in and put up posters and got him neutered and vaccinated and were going to rehome him, but aside from his behavioral problems, we found out early on that he had asthma. So, not only was he part Hell Beast, but he had a medical condition. He had no chance at adoption. He's been living with us now for 5 years and has come a long way with his manners.

 

[dustydiamond1]

I didn't grow up a cat person, so I didn't come into my first cats until 2008. We were looking at cats for adoption at Petco, because we always went up and talked to the cats, but not really looking to getting a cat. This lady walks up to us with a box of kittens and says their mom abandoned them. They were only a few weeks old and we took two pointed cats. They ended up being a long hair and a short hair, which we found out through the next few months, and when they were killing our allergies, we gave them to my ex boyfriend. Samus and her brother Ashley are now 9 years old and still living with my ex.

We tried again a year later, and I found Yue while walking my dog. One of my neighbors says she was crying outside a vacant unit, so we think she was dumped. She hasn't bothered my allergies near as much, and was only about 3 months old. She turned into a medium hair, and had a habit of smacking my dog upside the head on a fly-by.

I found Tom up for adoption from county, where he had been taken in as a stray. He was at Petco when I stopped in before I was headed to work for 2 hours of OT. I told them I could come back when they were closing adoptions for the day, if they could just give me ten more minutes. I got off my calls, drove over, and got there within my ten minutes. He was 2-3 months old and such a character. He ended up balancing Yue out pretty well and she stopped popping the goggy upside the head.

Amalie was a stray that different neighbors would take in for the evening, or a few days, and then she'd be outside again. She knew the sound of my car and would come running to greet me after I got home from work and we'd hang out. She's mouthy though and the management said they were going to catch her and turn her in because she was yelling at night when other cats would come near her claimed building. So, I took her in. She's still mouthy and hates Stewart and yells and yells at him. I was going to rehome her but she needed almost $1000 in dental work, so I became invested. She's got FORLs and needs ongoing treatment about every 2 years.

Stewart was a stray and hung around the bus stop for the kids. He was a little feral and almost fully grown. We took him in and put up posters and got him neutered and vaccinated and were going to rehome him, but aside from his behavioral problems, we found out early on that he had asthma. So, not only was he part Hell Beast, but he had a medical condition. He had no chance at adoption. He's been living with us now for 5 years and has come a long way with his manners.

 

[dustydiamond1]

Such a lovely story dustydiamond1