How Did Your Cats Come To You?

[Katie M]

Past cats-

Pepper-I picked him out at a shelter.
Sophie-a friend's family was military like ours, and they found out they had to move soon after their cat had kittens, so they had find homes for them within the next month or so. His mom remembered my interest in the kittens, and showed up at our house one day with a kitten. The kitten was right there, I was right there, and Mom wasn't exactly in a position to say no
Lucky-his mother abandoned him in our yard. It was a rainy day, and I looked out the window at one point to see if the rain had stopped, somehow spotting him in the grass. I then managed to convince Mom to bring him in.
Peanut-another friend was always bringing animals home-this time it was a mother cat with three kittens. I suspect her dad was reaching the limits of his tolerance for this, because when he heard me say I wished I could bring one home, he immediately told me I could if I got permission. I did, and I brought home the orange boy.
Belle and Beau-they were a Christmas surprise. My parents had befriended another couple, whose cat had just had a litter by who knows how many fathers. Mom and Dad specifically picked out two kittens because they looked alike apart from fur length (the mother was a Persian).

Current cats-

Charlie-my mom's coworker found him all alone, with no signs of a litter or any other cats in the area. It's possible he was abandoned, or maybe something happened to his siblings. She wasn't able to keep him, so she asked Mom if she knew anyone who would like a kitten. Beau, my last surviving childhood cat, had died about seven months earlier, and I was more than ready for a cat again, so she texted me and I said yes.
Selene-I picked her out at my local shelter. I guess it'd be more accurate to say we picked each other, because she promptly made herself comfortable in my lap. When I held her, she laid her head on my shoulder and started purring.

Since we moved around a lot, I can actually separate the cats by where I was when I got them.

Virginia-Pepper
Italy-Sophie, Lucky, Peanut
Belgium-Belle and Beau
West Virginia-Charlie, Selene

 

[klunick]

I will just stick with the ones I've had since I've been an adult and were just mine, not my parents'.

Kody and Gizmo.... co-worker couldn't take care of her ferrets and knew I had always wanted ferret so she gave them to me.

Dakota and Mikaila... also ferrets that I got from a pet store after Gizmo died. I had to give Mikaila to a ferret rescue because she was a biter. (FYI... ferrets normally aren't biters)

Blaze.... Dalmatian that we got because my SIL was a drunk and couldn't take care of him.

Kira... dumped cat that showed up while husband was having our house built. We took her in but she was an indoor/outdoor cat (her choice)

Torrie and Comrade... husband's coworker rescued a litter of kittens and we picked out 2 of them.

Boone and Gracie... lady on a community forum alerted me about them when I had posted about recently losing both cats within months of each other.

 

[NY cat man]

Angel cats
Spooky: a short-haired tuxedo, was a dumped cat adopted by Michele's parents. After they both had passed, we inherited him.
Velcro: another tux, he showed up one day, hung around, and after a fruitless search for an owner, we adopted him
Current cats
Burdock, Prancer, Digger, Stretch, and Bashful were all the offspring of one mother. Each year she would bring her kitten(s) around to our door, as if to show them off. Some didn't survive, some wandered off, but we adopted the rest- the latter 3 were litter mates.
Miss Eleanor was a TNR. She likewise showed up one day, hung around, and made it obvious that this was the place for her, so in she came, and stayed.

 

[thanatos0042]

The Ferals/Abandoned cats who are regularly around our backyard:
Anna (she crossed the bridge yesterday) - an abandoned feral who brought her kittens into our fenced area for food, water and shelter.
Callie - another feral looking for food and shelter that we tamed. After what happened to Anna yesterday, we are now making her transition into a more inside cat and she's not happy.
The 3 Brothers & Tip - 4 feral cats that are somewhat tame and all from the same litter. We just call them the brothers, they come for food and shelter. One has gone missing *Tip(, so I keep him in my thoughts, he was the most tame so I am hoping someone took him in.
Shadow, Tux & Slate - Ferals who comes for food and water regularly but are totally not tame.
We've had others come and vanish, not to be seen again: PappaCat, Jake, Wallie, MammaCat, Meanie, Major. Hopefully they have all found good places to be or are somewhere happier, gone but not forgotten.

The Staff (inside only):
Jynx - A black rescue and my oldest cat, MY cat. Rescue from a neighbor, all the other kittens ended up passing on through horrible misfortunes.
Loki - A Main Coon that we got because someone was trying to give away all the main coon kittens their cat had.
Saffron - A cat that a co-worker found but couldn't keep and we took her in and fell in love with her instantly.
Bo & Kenzi - siblings that were rescued by a co-worker of my roommate. Bo has weird health issues I have posted about here before. But since we transitioned them over to a more raw-food diet, his weird issue occurs less. I should update that thread.
Smoke (Anna's Kitten) - we tried to find him a home 2 times, but he refused to eat both times...and after 3 days the families returned him and we've kept him inside since. He's now chubby.
Tigger (Anna's Kitten) - We just waned to keep him because he bounced lol
Elsa - A black rescue cat who is very sweet and has Halloween orange eyes.
Luna - a runt feral rescue who basically ran inside when we opened the door one day.

We take care of many ferals and have accumulated a few through the years.

 

[Tik cat's mum]

All my cat's growing up my dad brought home from various farms he delivered to. And the water plant where he worked. Two rebels one Rusty and a rambo. My cat's as a adult. Tom was a tuxedo who needed a home my brother in law told me about him. Then I waited about 20 years before getting another cat. Patches a friend of a friend was looking for homes and I was going to get two kittens off them, but they said they were keeping the black kitten I had picked with him. Hubby got me Tik. My bridge boy. He was advertised in local shop. And came into the house 2 weeks before Patches. Bandit my house panther came to us because my husband saw him and his litter mates playing in a neighbours yard. He went and knocked on the neighbours door and before I knew it I was choosing a kitten. My husband felt sorry for them because they were outside so tiny.

 

[Krienze]

Samantha was a cat that we had before I was even born. My mother loves to tell people how she would curl up under my crib, or fight people (not my mom or grandma though) away from me! She was the first cat I ever loved and I miss her even now, even though she passed when I was five. My mom found her on the street, dirty, starving and declawed. So she kept her. She found the owners... but they didn't want her. So Samantha became her cat.

Sassy was a stray in the neighborhood who was being bullied by some kids. My grandma and I rescued him and hid him from my mom until my grandmother convinced her to let me keep him. I loved that cat. That was the first cat I had a special bond with. He let me do anything to him, carry him around, use him as a pillow... He passed away when I was twelve, sadly, from a brain tumor. I cried for weeks, nothing made me feel better. That was my boy.

K.C was another stray in our neighborhood, but he was a kitten - only 2 weeks old when I noticed his mother was shunning him. I was like... 11 or so and I knew nothing about cats, but I took him to my mom anyway because I didn't know what else to do. We bottle fed him, got him healthy again. We had him for a few months before we ended up having to put him down because he had cancer and we didn't know it (which was probably why his momma was shunning him.) He fought very hard to stay with us though! My mom loved him and she still misses him to this day.

Oliver was the next cat I had a close bond with. He was my orange boy. I had just seen Oliver and Company and BEGGED my mom for an orange kitty. Despite my 'adopt don't shop' mindset for myself these days, we bought a tiny lil kitten at the local pet store. He. Was. My. Heart. Timid, but wonderful. I loved him so much. We adopted him when I was around 8. He passed away when I was nineteen. I had him through so much and I felt devastated to lose him. I got to hold him as he passed though.

Willow was a feral that we took care of. She wasn't -my- cat but she was special to me. Sadly when we moved, we were unable to find her. I never found out what happened to her and I cried for months because I felt like I abandoned her.

Princess, Eddie and Ebony were feral kittens that we took care of that were from K.C's litter. Eddie, sadly, was hit by a car before we could catch him, but we eventually found homes for Princess and Ebony - though it hurt to give them up, I had grown to love them.

Isabel was a kitten when we adopted her. I finally had talked my mom into letting me have another cat (we had just moved and only had Oliver at the time.) and my Uncle John had just given me birthday money so I was able to pay for the adoption fee. Isabel was the first kitten I saw, sitting in the advertisement crate. We adopted her the very next day and I remember panicking when the tech told me that she had been scheduled to be put down THAT day. We lost her last month, sadly. She was old and sickly. I was blessed with 17, almost 18, years with her though.

CiCi was another kitten we adopted. We adopted her after Oliver passed away with the intention of her becoming a friend for Isabel, who missed Oliver greatly. I fell in love with her when we saw her. The tech was like "...are you sure you want her? She's really skittish." I said YES! We took her home and even though she never truly recovered or stopped being afraid of everything, I believe she knew she was loved.

Sadie - my first Feral since the move. My step dad was getting ready to go to work and started his truck. Next thing I know this BEAUTIFUL calico is RUNNING up the ramp right to me. Never saw her before, but she got so spooked she was happy to snuggle with me. We noticed her stomach was bloated... and we assumed worms... but nope. She was pregnant. Which brings me to............

Sammy, my love. My heart. My baby. I have no idea what I'd do without him. Sadie went into labor while outside one day. She had trouble and came running to my door. She gave birth to two kittens in my bathtub, but sadly only one made it and that kitten is my Sammy. Who is no longer a kitten, but a huge cat with boundary issues haha! (see profile picture! That's my snuggle butt Sammy!) Sammy was, for the record, named after Samantha.

Jasper was a 6mo old kitten we adopted after CiCi passed away. My heart was broken and I thought giving CiCi's spot in our home to a cat in need would help make the grief easier. Boy... he filled the void with his huge personality. But I kept thinking of his sister, the one in the cage next to him. So I called and asked about her, but she'd been adopted. However... his other sister, Mia, had been sick and separated from the others. She wasn't getting much advertisement as a result. Since she was better, we said we'd adopt her. Best choice EVER. Mia's my doll. My other snuggle-bug.

Milo was.. fate, I do believe. My mother fell in love with him but never told me about him. Weeks later I went into the pet store and saw him in the adoption cages, fell in love with him. Something possessed me to take an application for adoption. I snapped a photo of him and showed my mom and she couldn't believe we both fell in love with the SAME cat. Just instant love. He'd been nearly adopted several times, but they all fell through until us. Now he's home, here with us!

Charlie is a Hurricane Ida rescue kitten! He was found in the warehouse where my step dad works. My step dad decided to take him home to cheer my mom up, but also to rescue him since the warehouse can be a dangerous place!

That's all the cats that are in, or have been in my life. I feel blessed to have known all of them.

 

[tarasgirl06]

Almost every one of our furmily, dating back to before I was born, came from "the streets." Tomo and Kinoko were adopted by me after their human, my dear friend, took her own life. She stipulated in her final communication that they be adopted either by their vet or, if vet unable, by me. I went to the local humane society where they had been taken in to adopt them.
Tarifa was adopted by me at 11 months from a friend who did rescue and adoptions.
Sammi was adopted by me at age 14 when my now roomie told me their elderly humans could no longer give him the good care he needed.
Elvis was adopted by me at age 9 from a man who was marrying a severely allergic.
Everyone else was either adopted directly from "the streets" or via neighbors who had found them on "the streets" and it is a long list.

 

[Heart For Cats]

Purrfect thread idea! I have a long heartwarming story about how one of my cats became mine that can only be explained as what most people would call a match made in heaven. Three cats became mine when I was looking for a cat but he had entered my home in a way that I am 100% sure was divine.

 

[Draco]

Both Monet and Cassie came from the shelter. It was really on a whim I decided to adopt Monet (never had a cat before). Then 2 years later I was searching for a deaf cat and Cassie came to me via internet, though she isn't deaf

 

[MonaLyssa33]

Past cats:
Casey - I'm not sure what prompted my parents to decide to get a cat, but I was 6 when we got Casey from my great aunt and uncle's hobby farm.

Milo - We got Milo a couple years later because Casey had disappeared and after a few months of trying to find her, we couldn't and decided to get Milo from the shelter. Casey ended up being under our wood patio and my dad tore it up to get her out. She and Milo got along well after the initial introduction. Casey ended up running away again a few years later and she died in a neighbor's yard maybe a year later.

Mistletoe - Mistletoe was also from my great aunt and uncle's hobby farm and born from the same mother as Casey. I can't remember the reason behind getting her.

Willow "Willie" and Lillias "Lilli" - Willie and Lilli were also from my great aunt and uncle's hobby farm and also from the same mother as Casey and Mistletoe. We got them after Mistletoe was tragically killed from being hanged by her collar when she was barely a year old.

Fiona - My sister and I went the animal shelter just to visit and they had kittens. Somehow we were able to convince my mom to get one of the kittens. Fiona is still alive and lives with my mom. She's 18 years old.

Kirby - Kirby died just last Saturday, but we got him when my aunt took in a pregnant cat and we took one of the kittens, Kirby.

Current cats:

Remy and Maisie - I adopted Remy and Maisie about 6 months after Willie died. I wanted to have time to grieve her because Willie was my soul mate cat, and I also knew I was going to be moving soon, so I decided to wait until after I moved to get a cat. I went in wanting to adopt Maisie, but the shelter wanted her to go with another cat because she is very skittish and not comfortable around people. I ended up choosing Remy to come home with us.

Flora - Flora was an unexpected adoption. I adopted her two months after the pandemic started and two months after I moved into my house. I always said I wasn't going to ever have a third cat or a kitten, but I randomly decided one day that I really wanted a kitten and I kept having dreams about adopting one, so I put in a kitten request with the same rescue I got Remy and Maisie from. I didn't have any requirements for gender, temperament, or color, so I moved up the adoption list really quickly and got Flora within a few weeks of putting in the application. Although she was an unplanned adoption, she is the sweetest cat in the world and I will never regret adopting her.

 

[muffy]

I put out food and they came. Over the years a total of over 60 cats showed up in my yard for food and shelter. The most I ever had at one time was 25 cats. I was only able to tame 8 of them and bring them inside (Muffin, Tiger, Buddy, Baxter, Roger, Muffy, Robbie and Brownie Girl). They were the love of my life. The colony eventually died out after I did TNR and my inside cats passed away over a period of 18 years. I went 2 years without any cats and then someone dropped off 5 cats in my yard. They were all ear tipped which helped because I was not able to do TNR anymore. Two of them died and 2 of them disappeared but only the orange one, Tommy, stayed and made himself at home. That is Tommy in my profile picture. I had to go into assisted living last year and my sister is taking care of Tommy for me.

 

[vince]

Chesterfield and Sir Eats-a-Lot came from shelters. Meep's mama abandoned her under my car in the driveway.

 

[maggie101]

I have too much to write!

 

[UnoMama]

I thought I wasn't a cat person, till 2021. Heheh.

5 Jan 2021: I went on a morning walk, usual route. I Live in a busy suburb of Kuala Lumpur, so the walk is mostly pavements. On the way back, last turn before I come home, I noticed a kitten in the bushes. We locked eyes from afar, and I remember thinking "dammit, now i'll just feel bad if I leave him here". He must've sensed something (and been super hungry) because he came out and rubbed against my legs and started following me. I wondered if there was a mom around but he was alone, on a pavement near a busy road with cars, dog walkers, and so on. He almost got into a fight with an elderly dog (dog just looked bemused) and eventually I just picked him up and carried him into my apartment, and frantically googled vets, cat food, and how to tell kitten ages (hello, kittenlady and Jackson Galaxy). This is Uno - not the most imaginative name but appropriate. Literally the first. (profile pic, white)

Few months later, as Uno was getting feistier and needier, and I was getting a bit tired of being nipped at, and meowed at for playtime at 7 every evening.... I decided I would get another cat if I could be sure of being in Malaysia for another year at least. If not, I'd move countries with Uno only - relocating animals is expensive! But Looks like Bandit was destined to come to us, because I did figure out my visa shortly after thinking about this. Bandit was found by another kind lady who lives near me, and found him with his mom in her apartment's parking lot. She convinced apartment security to not chase them away, and fed them there while they were too skittish to be brought indoors. Bandit's mom became pregnant again, and started shunning Bandit. Kind lady noticed this and carted off Bandit indoors, and advertised for his adoption. I was the first to see her post on the local facebook group, and got him officially on 2 June. (profile pic, tuxedo)

They're both my silly kitties, and usually found running around the house at exhausting speeds.

 

[Meekie]

Aniki was one of 5 kittens I bottle fed for the rescue group I was volunteering for. I knew I was going to keep one of them when I got them, but was unable to decide until 3 of them got sick with FPV. Very sadly, I lost two of the three. The third survived but due to the illness, he developed cerebellar hypoplasia. SInce the kittens were all to be adopted out, I decided to keep this one since he would be disabled, but also because I really liked him. I might have chosen him even if he hadn't gotten sick...he was the easiest to feed, and he was a grey tabby, which is kind of what I wanted anyway. Cats look so good in grey.

Cosey was being fostered by a friend. She was one of 12 fosters. One day I was over there and my friend asked if I could help her round up a few cats for a vet visit. Cosey was shy, so shy she was almost feral. I was tasked with snatching her up. "Just corner her grab her, if you have to" my friend said. I asked if I would get bitten or scratched and she assured me that no, Cosey was gentle as a lamb. She was! I chased her up the basement stairs to the top where the door was closed. She was cornered. As I reached out to pick her up, she let out the most pitiful meow, as if to say "Pleeeeeease don't hurt me!" I fell in love with her in that instant, turned around and said to my friend "I want her!"

Rico was being fostered by the same friend. He was a one-of-a-kind cat. Smart, loving, and loads of fun. About a year after adopting Cosey, my friend called me and said her allergies were becoming acute and and she was going to have to thin the herd. She wanted to know if I could take one. The conversation went like this:

Me: I don't know. I've got two, my roommate has two. That's four cats in this little apartment. I think they're a bit crowded.

Her: Please? I can help a little with food if you need it.

Me: That's not the point. We have three alpha females running around trying to kill each other all day. Things are just starting to calm down. Another cat would cause chaos, even a male.

Her: Can you take Bookie? I know how much you like him. Or Simon. Or Tommy.

Me: i really can't. I'd like to, but money is tight, things are all up in the air and it just wouldn't be a good time. We have too many cats already.

Her: How about Rico?

Me: You'd give up Rico? How soon can you get him here?

That's how great Rico was.

Zach was dropped off on my porch by a stray momma cat I had befriended during her pregnancy. I came home from work one day and there he was, stuck in a bush and screaming his head off. He grew up to be quite a handful. Strong-willed, stubborn and terrible with other cats. But I loved him. I often wonder if the momma chose him to give to me because he was such a bad boy!

The others I got through the usual means, either adopted from rescue or found in the street by a friend.

 

[minish]

We had fostered a kitten in our summer house as an indoor-outdoor. she lived outside but we kept watch for the next summers. Almost blind, she was a magnificent hunter and she made friends with a lot of people. The place becomes almost abandoned in fall and stray animals have to compete for food. She was killed one winter as our neighbors there found out. She was 6 then.
Next summer, minish was found in the neighborhood as an abandoned kitten. During the day kids were cuddling her. In the evening we heard this pitiful meow, found her alone. She was so skinny, so thirsty that she drank half a glass of water at once. We sheltered her. She kept looking for her mom, moving around the garden calling for her.
She stayed for about a month with us. The summer was ending, and we were afraid to leave her. Mom said she can't take the responsibility, I asked a friend how difficult it is to have a cat in the house.
I had never thought of keeping a cat. I was strictly a dog person. With my friend's encouragement, I took minish to my apartment. She lives with me at my place as an indoor cat in winters, she stays with mom in the summer house in summers as an indoor-outdoor.

 

[CindyH66]

We adopted Peanut after we lost our baby, Bella, we had for 13 years . Bella was a big girl , and we were used to having a BIG kitty. .when we got this kitty her name was actually Elin .. which was my husbands late mothers name. ( I didn't particularly get along well with my mother in law before her passing ) so I said " we have to change her name " .. my hubby said " to what ? " I said " I dont care as long as its not Elin !" .. then he said .. well, she is such a cute little peanut ... we looked at each other ..it just clicked .. he said :" that its ! Peanut !" I agreed . it just fit her !!

 

[susanm9006]

I spotted Willow, now age 11, at a county shelter where she was hiding away from people at the far back of her kennel. Her card said she was one years old, had been surrendered, adopted and then returned for being too timid. After a clueless worker reached in and grabbed this clearly terrified cat and stuck her in my arms without asking, I knew I couldn’t leave her there. She is still timid but a total sweetheart.

My second girl, Lola, is 9 and until a couple months ago was my mothers cat. After my my mom passed she came to live with me. At my mom’s she was aggressive towards anyone that came in and would attack and bite without provocation. But since she has been with me she is totally sweet and affectionate.

 

[tarasgirl06]

I spotted Willow, now age 11, at a county shelter where she was hiding away from people at the far back of her kennel. Her card said she was one years old, had been surrendered, adopted and then returned for being too timid. After a clueless worker reached in and grabbed this clearly terrified cat and stuck her in my arms without asking, I knew I couldn’t leave her there. She is still timid but a total sweetheart.

My second girl, Lola, is 9 and until a couple months ago was my mothers cat. After my my mom passed she came to live with me. At my mom’s she was aggressive towards anyone that came in and would attack and bite without provocation. But since she has been with me she is totally sweet and affectionate.

That's the stuff, susanm9006 -- adoption is for LIFE and loving family step in when a cat is in need! Personally, I find it doubly fulfilling from the standpoint that not only am I adopting a cat to love for life and share life with, I'm also bringing into our family a living member of a departed loved one's family. *My heartfelt condolences for your loss.*

 

[game misconduct]

fat sam.. long hair persian ( first cat a birthday gift to my mom from my dad)
meow meow.. short hair persian my baby sister bought for herself( i was her favorite and fat sam's)
max big old stray tabby we took in
milo ragdoll my sister got
graycie.. petsmart adoption who picked me first day gf and i began looking around at shelters. for a cat to adopttotally ironic and funny to me since the entire time gf and i. were talking the idea to bring a cat into our lives she had already decided on a color,sex,type along with the shelters she wanted to adopt/look at first. like what happened to it being a joint descision?long story short we went to petsmart and graycie went right up to me against the glassi told her this is the one! course i had to allow her the chance to visit and see the other cats she had picked on her own that i never heard abouther picks were all sick or unadoptable for some reason or other so it was back to petsmart hoping nobody adopted graycie.our first meeting she growled at me which also told me really fast why she was the only one left behind from her siblings during the 4 or 5 months she was at petsmart.she was meant to be my cathad a good ride home that day laughing at my gf listening to her complain how she felt like she had no say in adopting grayciewhat can i say she had her chance to try to see all the cats she picked on her own that i had no say over