New Member From Uk Saying Hello

Gillykat

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Hi everyone! :wave3: I've been browsing for a few days and finally plucked up the courage to sign up as you all seem such a lovely friendly bunch of cat slaves :biggrin: I used to belong to a UK cat forum but it closed down a couple of years ago due to lack of interest from all but a few older regulars....I think most of the younger members migrated more to Facebook or just grew up, got jobs, married etc and life took over *as it often does*
Anyway, I've been pretty busy myself the past year or so but now that life has calmed down I started browsing on t'internet to see if I could meet fellow cat lovers who would understand my obsession with all things feline ;)

I'm Gill, married to Neil and we live in Northumberland in England (top right-hand corner before you hit Scotland!) and grew up surrounded by animals.....to my mother's horror! I just kept bringing things home :crackup: About the only things I haven't had are a pony, chickens and tropical fish *tho' two of those may be on the cards this year!*
I converted Neil to the joys of pusscats just after we first met in 1997 and now he's an even bigger slave than I am! Since 2009 we did long-term fostering for a local small charity and would take the old, terminally ill and abused cats and give them a spoilt rotten retirement for whatever time they had left....a couple were only with us three weeks and two thirteen months with the average being around nine months. It was heartbreaking when it was time to let them go to Rainbow Bridge but at least we took comfort in knowing that their final weeks or months were in a home surrounded by love, a warm bed and full tummies :hugs: Our last girl was Hattie who passed last June. She had been abandoned when her guardians moved house and just left her behind!!! The neighbour looked after her for the next two years and made her a cosy home in her shed (her son was highly allergic to cats so Hattie couldn't go indoors) and when SHE moved house she got in touch with the charity we fostered through. Hattie then went to another fosterer for a year or so before coming to us. She was around 15 years old at this time and had a mouth full of bad teeth, heart issues, hyperthyroidism and a large tumour on her shoulder. Oh, and she had a tapeworm too!!! To say I was angry at the sheer uselessness of the fosterer was putting it lightly!!!! :fuming: I set about worming her, getting her fed properly, sorting out her medication with my vet and for the nine months she was with us NOTHING was too much trouble or expense as far as Hattie-Pattie Cat was concerned :redheartpump: We zapped the worm and got her thyroid issues under control but sadly I couldn't get her teeth sorted as with her heart problem (it was like a bag of hammers the vet said!) there was a very high risk she wouldn't survive an anaesthetic :( The tumour was measured each month and didn't do anything until May when I had a feeling it had gotten slightly bigger. The vet measured it and it WAS growing again so we took Hattie home and spoilt her rotten even more, knowing that we could lose her at any time with that cancerous tumour :sniffle: She lasted another three weeks until one Thursday she climbed down from the sofa and the tumour burst and there was blood gushing out!!!! I took her straight to the vet as soon as the bleeding stopped and the vet took one look and said it was time to let her go. Hattie wasn't suffering at that point but it was just a matter of days before pain kicked in so as I firmly believe in better a day too soon than a day too late I held her in my arms as she slipped away. We then took her up to a spot we call Rainbow Wood which is where we've always buried our beloved fosters. There's over 14 there now and we'll often walk up that way and talk to 'Our Kids' :sniffle:

Losing Hattie, combined with the lady who ran the charity closing it when she retired, has meant we've been without a cat in our home for over nine months now. Mostly because Neil was absolutely gutted at losing Hattie and was adamant he wanted no more. I thought I'd just give him time as I doubt he could be without a cat for long :alright: I've noticed him getting a bit 'broody' of late when a cat comes on tv though so I don't think it'll be long before we're getting the cat tree, litter trays and other supplies out of the loft ;) I don';t want to push him before he's ready but the second he gives the OK I'll be on the hunt :yess::biggrin::crackup:

So, in the meantime, I'll just have to drool over your gorgeous babies :redheartpump::redheartpump::redheartpump::redheartpump:

 

mightyboosh

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Welcome to the site. You did a wonderful job in adopting those poor kitties and giving them some quality time before they departed. Thank you for that. Others will give you praise also I'm sure.
So, it's down to Neil then. Have you tried bribery of some sort? Or maybe find a way of getting lots of cat related programmes on your box and tell him it's live TV. You could get some cat magazines and 'accidentally' leave them around the place.
Does he like Maine Coons? Show him this. ;)

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rubysmama

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Hello and welcome to The Cat Site. :wave2: I'm glad you found the courage to sign up. This is a great site, and with all your cat experience, you will fit in purr-fectly. :catlove:

You and Neil clearly have hearts of gold, and you gave those sweet kitties comfort and love when they needed it most. :heartshape:
One day soon, I'm sure another in need cat will find its way into your heart and home. :petcat:
 

tabbytom

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Gill and Neil, on behalf of The Catsite community, a warm
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to both of you and also your soon coming kitties.

Glad that you’ve joined us and you are in the right place for all things cat.

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Feel free to ask questions if you have any and start a new thread of your own and post them under the appropriate forum headings and do check out the many informative articles we have here in Articles | The Cat Site

Enjoy your stay and see ya around :wink:
 

Mamanyt1953

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What a pleasure to welcome such a loving, giving soul to our group. It takes a special person to foster geriatric cats, to know that "goodbye" looms on the horizon, and still love unstintingly. You are welcome, and welcome, and so very well come!

Northumberland, huh? I'm almost afraid to admit that I'm Scots by blood, an Elliot...you know, the border reiver clan. We apparently caused no little bit of havoc in your neck of the woods back in the day. My particular branch was actually deported and became Ulster Scots. What a lovely land you dwell in!
 

Kat0121

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Hello and welcome from sunny south Florida! :wave3: It's sad when a forum you like closes down but I think you will love it here. This is by far the best forum on the web. We are looking forward to seeing pictures of your cats!! There is no such thing as too many pictures of cats in our world!
 
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Gillykat

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Awwww thank you SO MUCH for all the lovely welcomes:rock: I've had a busy few weeks since my last post - a combination of working full time at work (often split shifts which left me not knowing what day of the week it was!!!) and looking after a friend's diabetic cat! She recently turned 50 and her husband surprised her with a weekend in Barcelona :thumbsup: Organised the time off with her boss in secret, ordered spending money, got her sister to pack a case ready etc etc.....everything in fact EXCEPT sort out a carer for her cat Olivia!!! He just assumed her sister would pop in every day to feed her and give her the insulin injections she needed every 12 hours :cringe: Unfortunately her sister is hopeless at anything 'medical' so she asked me if I would look after Olivia and ~ of course ~ I said yes......without even asking Neil :lol2: When I did tell him he said ok, as long as it's only for a few days.....but he just completely fell in love with Olivia and didn't want her to go back home at the end of the weekend!

I've noticed he's been a bit 'quiet' since then and two nights ago he turned to me as we were watching tv (Jackson Galaxy moving 50 kittens to Boulder to be rehomed) and said ''Would it BE so bad if we got a couple of moggie kittens'' :eek3: Well....my first thought was :yess: FINALLY!!!! So we talked about it and because we live next to a road which can be busy at times our babies will have to be indoor cats...until we move somewhere away from roads or get somewhere with a garden where Neil can fully enclose it and make it into a safe Feline Playground.
We're busy decluttering and painting the walls of our flat at the moment but once this is done (hopefully by mid-May at the latest if I have owt to do with it!!!) we'll be SERIOUSLY hunting for two bambinos :hyper: Neil is already drawing up ideas of where the huge cat tree can go, where we can put a second one and how he can build some ceiling-height runways & beds for them (tho' I've warned him they're not allowed up THAT high till they're a lot older and more agile!!!! I don't want anyone falling and breaking bones and being stuck on crate rest for months!!!).

And, needless to say, I'll be taking LOTS of photos and videos of them both....especially as I treated myself to a new digital camera last month and the video it took of a queen Bumble Bee on the allotment is fabulous! Much better than my previous camera ever did :D

Eeeek! We're getting kittens!!!!!!!! :hyper::hyper::hyper::banana1::banana1::banana1::woohoo::woohoo::woohoo::bunnydance::bunnydance::bunnydance::dance::dance::dance::jump::jump::jump:

Not that I'm excited or owt, y'understand! ;)
 
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Gillykat

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MightyBoosh.....Neil adores Maine Coons! I took him to The Supreme cat show at the Birmingham NEC in November 2004 and he just went gaga over the sheer beauty and size of the MC's :tongue: Perhaps one day we'll get one...
 

Furballsmom

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:D LOL, when you get to that point and you're done putting up those ceiling height runways, send Neil my way--I have a partner who is completely bonkers over the Big Guy (my avatar photo), but WILL NOT put up runways for him even though this cat is SO incredibly altitude motivated.
I keep "lobbying" about it, but it's a no go. The best we can do is up on the counter, then the top of the frig, and up to the top of the cabinets. Then I get looks and grumblings of the serious kind due to the fact that the ceiling isn't high enough for him to stand tall :tongue: (I'm on the wrong computer otherwise I'd post a photo...)
 

rubysmama

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That's great that you'll soon have kittens in your home. :clap:
Sounds like they'll be two terrifically spoiled felines. :catlove:
 

Etarre

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I saw that episode of Jackson Galaxy. Those little bitty kittens are so cute they could make ANYONE run right out and get a cat.

Seriously, though, my husband and I lost our Gwen around Thanksgiving, and I couldn't really stand having such a quiet apartment. We lasted just over a month before I begged for a cat, and he very generously allowed me to bring Juniper home even though he wasn't really ready. Slowly but surely, she's won him over, and now he says frequently how glad he is that we got her. I hope you have a similarly happy ending with new kitties.
 
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Gillykat

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This is the longest we've ever been without a cat since we started fostering for the charity in September 2009.

I know EXACTLY what you mean about the unbearable silence in an apartment.....even if, as we did, we usually had oldies who spent the vast majority of the day asleep in the sun so not being what you could call noisy - well, there was still that lovely presence in the home...even when they were next door on our bed.

I've been feeling unbearably broody for another cat for MONTHS but didn't want to force Neil into getting another before he was ready.....even though I know he would just turn to mush if I turned up at the door with a basket in one hand ;) For a while I was even thinking about saving the pennies and getting myself a Siamese or Devon Rex but when Neil said what he did about wee moggie babies....well, it just felt right :hugs: I'm not fussed about colour or coat length etc but I would really REALLY love a wee boy :rbheart: All the years we fostered the vast majority were girls but the three boys I did have (Thomas, George & Loki) WERE something special :hearthrob::redheartpump::hearthrob::redheartpump::hearthrob: Especially darling George who had FeLV - he would jump up onto my lap and flop across my chest so his face was level with my chin and he would sleep there for hours! I cried for weeks after we lost him :sniffle: All our darling cats have been wonderful though and I think when we DO start looking for a couple of new babies THEY will find us and choose us :lovecat2:
 

duckpond

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Welcome! Such a lovely thing you have done for the older cats! So often they get overlooked for a home.
Once you get your new babies we definitely want photos :)
 
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