Do You Know Your Cats' History?

Sonatine

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I can't help but be curious how my cats lived before they came to the cat cafe where I adopted them.

I don't know a whole lot about Amelia before that. She was an owner surrender and pregnant spay, and that's about all I know. I can't imagine who would give up such a cute kitty (or let her roam and get knocked up), but their loss is my gain.

I've been able to piece together quite a bit more of Mischief's history. I know that she was first brought to the cafe at least 6 months before I adopted her, and was brought back twice after being adopted (she had a bit of a reputation) before she came to be in my home. My first picture of her was actually taken before I adopted her; I took a picture of a cute cat cuddling with a kitten at the cafe last spring, and months later saw it and realized it was now my cat!

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Her mother was also a cat cafe resident. She was apparently a stray who must have been put at the cafe by her rescue group to adopt out after her kittens were weaned and she was spayed. I've seen pictures of her (she's a cute tortie), and based on the months she was at the cafe, I might have actually met her at some point. What a weird coincidence. Both she and Mischief were featured on a local radio station's "pet of the day" to help them get adopted.

Anybody else know anything about their cats' past?
 

Katie M

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Charlie was born feral. My mother's coworker found him all alone when he was two months old. I have no idea if his mother abandoned him, or if something happened to the rest of the litter. She wasn't able to keep him, so I said I would take him.

Selene was four weeks old when she came to my local shelter. I don't know the circumstances. All I know is that, somehow, people were able to resist her until I came along.
 

Maria Bayote

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My heart cat, Bourbon, was picked up from the street. I first saw her with her brother. But after several weeks she kept coming back to my doorstep alone. I just fed her as I assumed she had an owner. Then I observed her after again that she was coughing, and her hair already matted and looked dirty. It was when I decided to bring her to the vet for check up and also to verify for ownership. No microchip. She was around a year old at that time as per the vet. But I always wondered how she managed to survive out there with too many street cats begging for food. I even also searched for her brother thinking I could keep them both, but failed.
 

Antonio65

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I currently do not have any cats.

But my sweet Lola (in my avatar) was abandoned by her mother. It was May 2000. Lola and her brother was found by someone I don't know, and put into a cardboard box under a bush. I saw that box and the tiny kittens inside and brought them home. They were about 10 days old. I bottle-fed them, I weaned them and wanted to adopt them out, but then I was so in love with them that we kept them both.
Romeo was killed by a car a year later.
Lola lived to be 17 yo, and died to an oral squamous cell carcinoma in 2017.

Pallina joined my colony January 2002. I reckoned she fled her own colony which was too close to the site where they fired fireworks on New Year's Day, and ended up to my colony which is in a quiet place. She clearly showed she was looking for a home, I brought her home and started looking for a new family, but I never found anybody and she stayed with us. She was 8 or 9 months old when she arrived to our home. As I had said in another thread, I am glad nobody wanted her, Pallina gave us 17 wonderful years of love. She left us August last year.
I had the chance to know the person who was taking care of the other colony, I know she was well treated when she was a feral.
 

vince

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My two older cats, Sir Eats-A-Lot and Chesterfield, came from shelters as young adults; I don't know anything about their upbringing other than they probably had been household pets. They both came with bad habits they must have picked up in a home.

The little one, Meep, was abandoned by her feral mom under my car. She was quite young, so she took to people easily.
 

Lari

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I've learned more! Lelia was born feral and spent at least part of her first 13 weeks on an enclosed porch. Not too far from a factory in our local news that's emitted a lot of cancer causing chemicals. :cloudy:

She was trapped/spayed around 13 weeks ans spent the next month and a half in a foster home being socialized before I adopted her at about 4.5 months.
 

susanm9006

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I know only part of Willow’s history before I adopted her. I know she was surrendered to the SPCA at about one but I don’t have any info about why or how she was surrendered. She was spayed shortly after that and adopted the next day. She was ten pounds when she went to her new home and weighed eight pounds when she was returned two weeks later. The reason given was that she was too timid and fearful of the other cats and dogs. Clearly she must have hid and barely eaten during that time. Based on how fearful she is of being given food I think they must have used it somehow to trap her for her return. After she went back to the shelter she was there in a tiny cage for more than a month before I found her.
 

tarasgirl06

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I adopted Tarifa as an eleven-months kitten from a friend who did rescue and adoptions in our local Petco. Tarifa is 16.
Baby Su was found wandering under one of our ancient junipers on our land in the Mojave. She was born feral, and is now 15.
Elvis was adopted from his dad, who loves him dearly but had become engaged to a woman whose allergies were apparently too severe for Elvis to remain in his family home. Elvis was 9 when he joined us. He's now 12.
 

kashmir64

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I know a bit.
Onsa and Samai were found in a bowl along a highway at 10 days old and taken to a local shelter. I had them within an hour to foster, and adopted them at 11 weeks, so I know everything from 10 days forward.
Kumal's owner died. He and another cat were left alone in the house by themselves for some time, don't know how long, where they were taken to the shelter. I know his approximate age and this info, but nothing else.
 

tarasgirl06

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I know a bit.
Onsa and Samai were found in a bowl along a highway at 10 days old and taken to a local shelter. I had them within an hour to foster, and adopted them at 11 weeks, so I know everything from 10 days forward.
Kumal's owner died. He and another cat were left alone in the house by themselves for some time, don't know how long, where they were taken to the shelter. I know his approximate age and this info, but nothing else.
*GOOD ON YA!* x 3!!!
 

Lola3791

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My first cat was found living under someone's porch with her sister. I can't remember if the mother was with them (the person who got the cat for me told me).
The cat I have now I know very little about. The shelter I got her from said she was found on the streets.
 

tarasgirl06

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My first cat was found living under someone's porch with her sister. I can't remember if the mother was with them (the person who got the cat for me told me).
The cat I have now I know very little about. The shelter I got her from said she was found on the streets.
Good on you for adopting these cats!
 

Furballsmom

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I still keep in touch with the incredible person who, although she loved Poppycat dearly since he was a kitten, was compelled to make the extremely difficult and unselfish decision that due to allergies that her son had which weren't getting better, and two unhappy cats (swats, stress and a lot of general unrest), she had to re-home him (and eventually the other kitty as well).

She even ensured he stayed in her house rather than the rescue's cage during the wait after she'd posted about him for adoption. She knew him well and couldn't put him through that additional stress. :worship:. :redheartpump:
 

Kieka

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Link - Don't know much and friend of a friend was getting rid of kittens because the Mom had died. I met a big guy with tattoos and bullet (I assume by shape and size) scars on his arms in a pet store parking lot. The guy was hesitant because Link was young and did I know how to care for a young kitten. He followed me into the pet store to make sure I bought kitten food and a carrier to take Link home in (I had asked to meet there for that reason, I think he was just making sure I wasn't lying). I didn't ask many questions. Link was about 5-6 weeks old so not much to know about him before that. He did have a sister and I regret not getting both but I only wanted one kitten. Link was very clean and healthy, we can assume Link was well cared for just rehomed young.

Nightfury - We went to the local animal shelter to donate some food, forgot it was a holiday and they were closed. When we got there we saw a box right outside the doors. Open it up and there are two kitten in the box with no towels or blankets. Just a paper plate that must have had food. At that point the plate edge was chewed on and nothing on the plate. There were two kittens, the grey one was on top of the black one. The black one was cold to the touch and not responsive. We grabbed them up and went right to a store for a dropped and water. Got them warm, got liquid into them and both made it. They were only about 4-5 weeks old (blue eyes and ears barely up). We guess that someone decided they were old enough because they are something at some point and dumped them at the shelter. They were covered with fleas and the water ran a reddish black through three baths to get them clean and flea free. We kept the black one, Nightfury. We can assume he was not well cared for from his dirty condition and way he was left at the shelter.

Rocket - A neighbor fed feral cats. She ended up with a colony in her yard but wouldn't allow anyone to mess with "her" kittens or get them spayed/neutered. Lots of kittens were born, ran around the yard and eventually died. One year there was a litter of pointed kittens. The neighbor made a comment that Link must be the Dad (he's neutered) and one looked just him. When the kittens we're about 3 months old and not cute enough she caught Rocket and left her in a box on my front door. Later telling me she thought I'd like my cats kitten. Rocket stank and immediately got a bath and flea treatment. The neighbor told me if I didn't want her to just let her go back in her yard. The rest of the litter died a week later during a really bad heat wave. Unused to humans or human interaction I kept her in a kennel and socialized her for several months before deciding to keep her. I know she was just another cute kitten in a feral colony for someone who just liked seeing the kittens and didn't care much what happened later. The only reason the neighbor stopped was her landlord inspected the property and was upset by the smell and bodies she found.
 
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tarasgirl06

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Link - Don't know much and friend of a friend was getting rid of kittens because the Mom had died. I met a big guy with tattoos and bullet (I assume by shape and size) scars on his arms in a pet store parking lot. The guy was hesitant because Link was young and did I know how to care for a young kitten. He followed me into the pet store to make sure I bought kitten food and a carrier to take Link home in (I had asked to meet there for that reason, I think he was just making sure I wasn't lying). I didn't ask many questions. Link was about 5-6 weeks old so not much to know about him before that. He did have a sister and I regret not getting both but I only wanted one kitten. Link was very clean and healthy, we can assume Link was well cared for just rehomed young.

Nightfury - We went to the local animal shelter to donate some food, forgot it was a holiday and they were closed. When we got there we saw a box right outside the doors. Open it up and there are two kitten in the box with no towels or blankets. Just a paper plate that must have had food. At that point the plate edge was chewed on and nothing on the plate. There were two kittens, the grey one was on top of the black one. The black one was cold to the touch and not responsive. We grabbed them up and went right to a store for a dropped and water. Got them warm, got liquid into them and both made it. They were only about 4-5 weeks old (blue eyes and ears barely up). We guess that someone decided they were old enough because they are something at some point and dumped them at the shelter. They were covered with fleas and the water ran a reddish black through three baths to get them clean and flea free. We kept the black one, Nightfury. We can assume he was not well cared for from his dirty condition and way he was left at the shelter.

Rocket - A neighbor fed feral cats. She ended up with a colony in her yard but wouldn't allow anyone to mess with "her" kittens or get them spayed/neutered. Lots of kittens were born, ran around the yard and eventually died. One year there was a litter of pointed kittens. The neighbor made a comment that Link must be the Dad (he's neutered) and one looked just him. When the kittens we're about 3 months old and not cute enough she caught Rocket and left her in a box on my front door. Later telling me she thought I'd like my cats kitten. Rocket stank and immediately got a bath and flea treatment. The neighbor told me if I didn't want her to just let her go back in her yard. The rest of the litter died a week later during a really bad heat wave. Unused to humans or human interaction I kept her in a kennel and socialized her for several months before deciding to keep her. I know she was just another cute kitten in a feral colony for someone who just liked seeing the kittens and didn't care much what happened later. The only reason the neighbor stopped was her landlord inspected the property and was upset by the smell and bodies she found.
May you be many times blessed for putting your caring into action for all of these treasures.
 

aliceneko

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Toffee and Fudge were semi-feral and were born in the back garden of an abandoned house that was serving as a cat colony. They were there until they were about 2.5 months old when the shelter rescued them. They had been at the shelter for a long time until we got them, because they were so scared and skittish around people. We adopted them in December 2017 when they were about 4 months (we thought they were 3 months, but double checking their supposed date of birth, it turns out they were around 4 months when we adopted them) and they were still scared when we got them, but they adjusted quickly to life in their forever home - we think the shelter environment was stressing them and possibly made them more afraid (Toffee hates cages - taking him to the vet is always a military operation!). We also reckon that they were around dogs as well before they were rescued, because they're surprisingly sociable around dogs - they never hesitate when they bark (sometimes they have fallen asleep to the sound of the neighbourhood dogs barking in the distance) and when Fudge went to the vet last week, he was getting very friendly with a Doberman puppy who was also having a check up. They must have had enough positive contact with a dog to realise they're friends and not foes.
Now, Toffee and Fudge still don't like strangers but when they're with us, you'd never have guessed their background. Their favourite thing is cuddling with each other on my lap.
 

stacydc83

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Lily- Never spent a day in the shelter. I happened to be at the pound, looking at the kitties (and they actually had NO kittens, I specifically wanted a kitten, since I'd never had my own kitten) when a lady walked in with a box with 2 kittens, Lily was one of them. I remember the lady saying "shoot we should of just met in the parking lot, I would of just given her to you" so she didn't get anything from the pound but since the lady "surrendered" them" I still had to pay for Lily.
Zoe- got her from a different pound. All I know is that she was younger than 6 weeks, no Mama in the shelter with her, just her and several siblings. I was told that the kittens were born in someones yard and dropped off at pound. Why Mama was not brought in with them, who knows. But Zoe was the loudest kitty there and she got my attention.
Callie- (RIP Callie) she came somewhere from deep in our woods. Neighbors said they'd seen her around, and no one wanted her. She took a liking towards us, because my cat Sadie (I'll get to her next) was dying and in her last week or so, insisted on being outside, and Callie was her angel kitty, keeping her warm and keeping her company. After Sadie passed, she disappeared for few days and I truly believed she was just an angel looking out for Sadie. then she came around again and she lived a great, but way too short of a life (4 years old)
Sadie-(RIP Sadie) My Dad "inherited" her from his friend that had passed away from cancer. She was strictly an outdoor cat living with his friend, and her name was formally Puss-Puss. (Quickly changed that to Sadie) not sure how old she was when we got her, but we had for a good 10 years. Never really a social kitty, I guess from her life before, but she adjusted pretty well to living inside most the time. then in 2012, she went from healthy to dying in such a short time it was too late to even try to figure out what was wrong with her. She stopped eating, lost weight, and just sat around outside till she passed. I'm thinking old age, or maybe kidney or liver failure, cancer who knows? It happened so quickly.
 

Elphaba09

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Estella and Astrid (siblings) were about seven months old when their previous owners--if we can call them that--decided they had too many pets and decided to use them for target practice and mentioned the possibility of burying them alive. My daughter knew the people because of my ex-husband, so she begged me to take the cats instead. Both Astrid and Estella had not eaten in a few days by the time I got them. They were going to be my only cats.

Then came Fennimore and Willow. I know that they were born near a barn belonging to a friend of a friend. The mother and two or three other siblings disappeared and it is assumed that they were killed by coyotes based on evidence the friend found. Three kittens were saved: Fennimore, Willow, and Pip. (Pip lives with my friend.) They were feral and almost three months old. They were supposed to be the last addition to our cat family.

Tara and Simon are next. We know very little about them other than the fact that they were strays who were abandoned or lost and had been on their own for an unknown amount of time. We do not know if they knew each other before they started living on the street, but we do know that they are bonded. Simon was 8 or 9. Tara was 5 or 6. Simon was sick and near death, but was saved by Tara who broke out of her rescuer's house and led her to Simon who was collapsed under a bush. We know that Tara had at least one litter of kittens at some point based on what the vet saw. I was supposed to take Simon and Tara was supposed to stay with my friend, but we decided it was best to keep them together. (It did not hurt that Tara liked me more than she did my friend.)

Next came Evangeline (Her Royal Highness Evangeline Evayne Snow, Princess Piggy Piggy, Benevolent Ruler of All). She is another stray that was either abandoned or lost. She lived for about three years behind the restaurant where my son was a sous chef. She had several litters during those three years. The one owner adored her and fed her scraps from the kitchen, although she would not come near enough to let him pet her. He called her "Miss Kitty." The other owner, his wife, did not want her around because she had walked into the restaurant a few times during dinner service. One night, when her last litter was about four months old and gone, Evangeline came up to my son and let him pet her. He caught her and we brought her home. We know that she was seven or eight at the time and had been on her own for at least three years. She is extremely skittish and shy but is the sweetest cat ever to live. Unfortunately, she has a chronic ear infection and is partially deaf. Her ear often makes her eye infected, too. (Three different vets, countless antibiotics, and no relief for her.)

Then there was Freya. My daughter found her in the street across the road from us. She was two months old feral who was somewhat used to people. We think her mother is one of the cats in the local colony. We, along with a small group of others, take care of the colony and try to make sure they are all fixed, but sometimes a new one slips in who is already pregnant. (The possible mother is now fixed.) She is exceptionally small, although she does not have the characteristics of dwarfism.

Finally, Silas. He was four to five weeks old when he was found with his sister in an outside display at a Dollar General. I took him and the woman who actually got them out of the display took his sister. He was in very bad shape. Covered in fleas and ringworm, dehydrated, and malnourished, he was so weak that we had to wake him to feed him. We know that he had some interactions with humans because he had been burned on his left hip with a cigarette lighter (the kind found in older cars). The vet said that it was a deep burn and was about two weeks old. Her guess is that he was part of an unwanted litter or that some unethical breeder had dumped Silas and his sister.
 

KarenKat

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We moved into our last rental house 2.5 years ago. There was a small in-law unit behind the house that was rented separately to a woman, Nicki, who had been there for years. She had two cats (Olive and Oliver) and a big dog Ace. The unit was probably 400 sq ft or something and so the cats were mostly outdoor.



Olive would often come into our yard to nap. We thought she must be an older kitty, because she was super skinny and low energy. (We found out later she was only about 2 years old). She would gratefully let you scratch her chin, but didn’t seem to seek out much affection. Nicki told us that she used to date a woman in the house we were renting a few years ago and they both got kittens together from a shelter and Olive was this other person’s. I guess she peed on the woman’s shoes at some point and *poof* she became an outdoor cat. Then this woman moved away. Nicki would feed Olive but told us she never came into the little house (with a big dog and another cat, I wonder why) and “just wanted to be an outdoor cat”.

Well, the day came when Nicki moved away, and told us the next renter was the maintenance guy who would be feeding Olive. When we asked the guy if he intended on adopting Olive he said “is this how you get a cat?”. We made he executive decision to take her and adopt her.

Well, 2 years later and Olive is the cuddliest cat, loves being indoors and is an absolute delight. She now has boundless energy, a huge appetite and seeks out affection all the time. We found out the poor thing was allergic to fleas, had a BB healed over above one eye and she has no litterbox issues other than mild FIC bouts. Best choice we ever made.

 

Talien

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Callie, no idea. I adopted her from the local animal control place and the only info they had was her name and that whoever surrendered her said she was 8 years old.

Giant Cat I adopted from animal control where I moved to. They had zero info on her, not even a name, only that she was dropped off with 3 other Cats after the owners died and the kids didn't want them. She did not get along with Callie at all and would try to attack her constantly, but my parents really liked her so she lives with them now. My mom renamed her "Pretty Kitty".

Fresca, similar story. I adopted her from a rescue I volunteered at and the only info they had was her name, age (3 at the time) and that she was mean. She wasn't mean at all, just easily overstimulated, and turned into quite the lap Cat after I brought her home.

Alana was a feral mom who had Kittens at around 5 or 6 months and was terrified of people. I fostered her for a while after the Kittens were weaned and socialized her, after that she was still skittish but did a lot better around people. I ended up adopting her together with Patch, but had to return her because she started attacking Fresca and urine marking all over and nothing I tried helped. I wish it had been medical rather than behavioral because at least that could be easily treated.

Patch was one of my own rescues, I had seen her around my yard with 2 Kittens and eventually managed to livetrap them and get shelter placement. I would have kept her but one of my fosters was very unfriendly toward her and I didn't want to risk it, but after Tortzilla went back I adopted Patch. I posted a thread on her here.
 
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