What’s your cat’s story ?

frazzfox

Mama to Kila the Calico
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Kila's story begins a long time before we met her! We got a lot of this information from her original foster mother.

She and her three sisters were trapped at a shipyard across the river from where we are living now in summer 2016. They were feral kittens. Kila was the last kitten to be trapped, and they quickly discovered that she had ingested antifreeze. She needed intensive care to survive but was luckily and miraculously nursed back to health. The original woman who cared for her named her Kataki, but when she was given over to the cat rescue that fostered her longterm, they changed her name to Kila to go with the other two sisters' names (Kiki and Kiwi). Her third sister, Fiona, found a home before reaching the rescue.

Kila lived with her foster mom and her sister Kiwi for almost 10 months. They were carefully socialized. Kiki was adopted out sometime along the way. During their time in foster care, she and Kiwi became bonded, and had to be adopted together. They were adopted by a family along with a third cat from the rescue, Cricket.

Kila

Here's Kila (front) and Kiwi (just behind her).

Kila lived with that family for 2.5 years. Sometime along the way, Kiwi escaped from the family's house. She somehow made it all the way back to her foster mother's home. But when she got there, she had reverted back to a feral state. She was unable to be re-adopted out and was placed in feral sanctuary, where she still lives now.

Meanwhile, Kila and Cricket were still living with the family that had adopted them. But in the fall of 2019, their foster mother saw a post on Facebook from the family offering both cats up free to a good home. The family had signed an agreement to return the cats to the rescue if they couldn't care for them anymore, so the foster mother took them both back.

At this point, the rescue was working with a cat café in our city, so Kila and Cricket were placed there. A few weeks later my boyfriend and I stopped by. We were planning to get a cat at the start of the new year. I grew up with cats but my boyfriend had never had one -- he hadn't had any pets at all, actually. He grew up extremely allergic, but had been taking allergy shots and was now effectively immune to cat allergens (the shots worked amazingly well!). So we thought, why not stop in and take a look?

Towards the end of our visit, I was sitting on the floor and Kila walked right up to me and plopped down next to me like she'd been doing it every day of her life. She was the only cat at the café who had really come up and approached us proactively. A few minutes later she got up and jumped on the couch, where my boyfriend was sitting, and put her head in his lap.

I was sold from that moment, but we couldn't adopt her just yet. I was leaving on a trip at the beginning of December, and then we were both going to see our families at the end of the month for the holiday. After my first trip, I felt like I needed to see her again. I couldn't stop thinking about her, she was just so sweet and her markings were so beautiful. If she was still there I decided to ask if there was anything we could do to "hold" her until we got back from the holiday. Well, she was still there -- and the café owner said that I could fill out the application then and if I was accepted and paid the fee, they'd hold her until I came back from the holiday!

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So that's what we did. And our sweet Kila became a part of the family on December 31st, 2019. We thought about changing her name but Kila is just so pretty and unique. She's had an exciting life but now she's finally found a truly permanent home. She had some health issues at the beginning of her time with us but as of now we've got that effectively sorted out.

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She's the sweetest and I feel like the stars aligned so that she could be with us. She had so many people ask up about her, but somehow we were the only ones to submit a serious application. Gentlest cat I've ever known -- she's never once scratched, bitten, growled, or hissed the whole time she's been with us. When she doesn't like something she'll take your hand and just gently place it in her mouth without biting down on it to signal she's done with whatever you're doing. She loves to be around us and to sleep as the little spoon at night. She's a big cat, a little chubby as of right now, but we're working to slim her down as we want her to be in good health for many years to come.

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Anyway, that's our Kila! :redheartpump:

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Graceful-Lily

Extraterrestrial Being
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Felix's mother (Fayola) had a litter almost 10 years ago in my next door neighbours backyard. My mom picked Felix out of the bunch as a surprise for me. I had known about Fayola prior to my mom taking Felix in. The day my mom took Felix in, I was still in school. After school, I walked at the back of the house to check on Fayola and I realized she had kittens. I ran inside all excited and asked my mom if we could keep one and she pointed to the couch. Felix was wrapped up in a piece of material. I was 11 years old then and I am almost 22 now. I remember crouching down and petting his little head. I promised him I'd always look after him from that day forward. He was only 4 weeks old.
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This is Fayola almost 10 years ago. I thought she had died because we stopped seeing her around. But last year July, I was doing TNR and she walked into one of my traps. I noticed that she was pregnant so I kept her. 7 weeks after that, she had 4 kittens. One of them died but the rest went to a rescue and grew up to be big cats.

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The kittens as newborns.
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A few weeks later.

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This is Felix almost 10 years ago.

In 2016, a calico cat around Felix's age started showing up around the neighbourhood.
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She came into my backyard one night but my dad chased her away. A few weeks later. She came back with two kittens. I named her Hazel. I rescued her and the kittens. Hazel went to a rescue and the two kittens were adopted by my brother.

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This one ran away from my brother but was taken in by another family that has other cats in the neighbourhood. His name is Hendrik.

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My brother and his family couldn't take care of this one anymore so I took him back. His name is Harvey.

This is Fayola, Felix, and Harvey now.
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I call them the Van Gang.
 

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pearl99

Pearl, my labrador who loved cats. RIP.
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My four:
Waffles was at a shelter near me. I had had dogs for a while (Pearl, Mocha, Snickers) and was yearning for a cat. It was August and there were no kittens- which in retrospect was the best thing because I went home with Waffles.
He was 2 years old, brought in as a stray, and had either been a stray for a long long time or was semi-feral. He had wounds on his back. He was terrified when they moved him from the kennel to the visiting room. He grabbed the door bars of the kennel, hung on for dear life. In the room he hunched in the corner as small as he could. He accepted some pets from me after talking to him for awhile. I told the staff I wanted to adopt him- when they went to put him in the carrier for home he grabbed the carrier frame again, wouldn't let go- the staff said "Are you sure you want him??" I said "Yes I do."
At home he hid everywhere he could in my bedroom and bathroom (including in the box springs) but with time and patience and treats, scratchies with a wand toy- he is the most loving lap cat. He tells me it's time for bed for me, when it's time to feed the crew; purringest of my 4. He seems so grateful for a home :redheartpump::hearthrob:.
That was 4 years ago.

Mooshoo- (there's been a food theme for names for awhile...) 2 years later I decided on a kitten. Back to the shelter, Moo was the last of a litter and looked lonesome and confused in the pavilion all by herself. Met her, it was love at first sight, she was 3 months old. Intro'd her to Waffles and she made friends with him. She is goofy, silly, very mannerly, plays very well with Waffles. She lets Waffles sleep up by my shoulder and she takes my legs.

Gracie- I volunteer at a shelter and there was Gracie. Her owner had died and family couldn't keep her. She was 12 years old. I'd decided no more kittens, I'd only adopt senior cats. I wasn't looking for another- was going to wait and didn't want to upset the balance at home. I resisted for 3 months (she hadn't been adopted) and thought and thought...she was so frightened in the shelter, was on a program for extra play and attention since she had lost weight. Well she was on my list to work with and the more I worked with her...and here we are. Adopted her last November.
I kept her shelter name.
All she wants in life is a lap and a soft bed.
She is shy, she's Siamese and boy does she talk to me. But only on waking up in the morning and at bedtime at night. We have wonderful conversations. She just started giving my hand a good bath when I pet her...so she's given her stamp of approval for her owner/servant (me.)
She and my others are adjusting, and really doing well for having adult cats newly living with each other.

Ziggy- a sad story. She's 13 years old. My neighbors' son owned her, and he died unexpectedly at age 37 at home. They never found a cause, and my neighbors found him. He had Ziggy. My neighbor asked if I knew anyone who would adopt a senior cat, my neighbor has bad lung problems and can not have a cat due to the dander, fur, litter box etc. I couldn't find anyone, she couldn't either, and I couldn't let Ziggy go. Well I could have but I didn't, so she came to join the others, again not looking for another cat!
She loves most of all brushing and pets (and food. She's about 15 pounds.)
Mooshoo is leading the way in the introduction to the others, gradually getting her adjusted.
Ziggy is soooo playful for 13 years old! She purrs while she plays.
 

BellaGooch

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Pants was found living with his siblings and mother in an apartment's parking garage. A woman who lived there got him and his family fixed. Out of all of his siblings, he was the only one who was a stray rather than feral. We adopted him and his sister (who's a complete feral) about 4-5 months ago, and he is the sweetest, funniest cat. We unfortunately haven't seen his sister, Mona, in a couple of months, but I'll still attach a picture of her and Pants on the first day that we owned them :)
(Mona is laying behind Pants)
Willow and Eden kind of fell into our hands. Our good friend's mother was feeding a mom (Eden) and her two kittens (Willow and her brother) in her garage. the cats lived outside and would go into the garage to eat. We intended to adopt solely Willow, but when he came over to bring Willow, he had trapped Eden, too! At that time, she seemed like she was a feral, and we weren't sure if we'd be able to tame her. We fed her from afar for a couple of weeks, and one day she started nuzzling us and wanting pets. Ever since then, she's super tame, sweet, and loves pets. Willow is about 4 months old now, and she's a playful kitten. She loves pets, begging for food, playing, and the dog.
(one of my favorite pictures of Willow and Fisher)










Eden on her cat tower :dancingblackcat:
 

Katie M

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Charlie:

Charlie was a feral two-month-old kitten, wandering around outside by himself. The woman who found him (a coworker of my mother) couldn't find any sign of other cats in the area. She wasn't able to keep him, so she started asking at work if anyone wanted a kitten. I had lost Beau, my last childhood cat, about seven months earlier, and Mom knew I would say yes (she was right-just glad she asked me first!). The first night I had him, I initially kept him in the bathroom, but quickly changed my mind. He immediately climbed onto my bed and joined me for the night :cloud9:

He came to me with a respiratory infection, but he also had behavioral issues. I have no idea how long he'd been separated from his mother and siblings, but it was evidently long enough that he had never learned cat etiquette. Four years later, it's still a problem, although he's mellowed out considerably.

I named him after Charlie Chaplin, my favorite filmmaker. Charlie was essentially a tramp kitten, and he is both a bit strange and quite endearing. He's also "clothed" entirely in black.

Selene:

When Charlie was about a year and a half old, I decided to get a second cat. My local shelter had quite a few, but I was taken with a three-month-old grey tabby who kept crawling into my lap. When I picked her up, she immediately laid her head on my shoulder and started purring away :cloud9:

I had to wait a few weeks to bring her home, as she wasn't spayed and the shelter's vet was backed up. Those weeks felt incredibly long :runaround: In the meantime, I had picked her name. I love Greek mythology, and her coloring made me think of the moon, so I named her Selene after the ancient Greek personification of it.

The day I brought her home, I isolated her in the bathroom. I wasn't sure how Charlie would react to a new cat, and in any case I didn't want anything to happen to her incision. Selene immediately inserted herself in my lap and went to sleep. After a week, I granted her freedom. Not only did Selene act as if this had always been her home, she also managed to befriend Charlie in less than a month. I think he was as glad to have her as I was :lol:

My profile pic was taken several weeks after she came home. They're still buddies to this day.
 
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Kiwikinon

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Charlie:

Charlie was a feral two-month-old kitten, wandering around outside by himself. The woman who found him (a coworker of my mother) couldn't find any sign of other cats in the area. She wasn't able to keep him, so she started asking at work if anyone wanted a kitten. I had lost Beau, my last childhood cat, about seven months earlier, and Mom knew I would say yes (she was right-just glad she asked me first!). The first night I had him, I initially kept him in the bathroom, but quickly changed my mind. He immediately climbed onto my bed and joined me for the night :cloud9:

He came to me with a respiratory infection, but he also had behavioral issues. I have no idea how long he'd been separated from his mother and siblings, but it was evidently long enough that he had never learned cat etiquette. Four years later, it's still a problem, although he's mellowed out considerably.

I named him after Charlie Chaplin, my favorite filmmaker. Charlie was essentially a tramp kitten, and he is both a bit strange and quite endearing. He's also "clothed" entirely in black.

Selene:

When Charlie was about a year and a half old, I decided to get a second cat. My local shelter had quite a few, but I was taken with a three-month-old grey tabby who kept crawling into my lap. When I picked her up, she immediately laid her head on my shoulder and started purring away :cloud9:

I had to wait a few weeks to bring her home, as she wasn't spayed and the shelter's vet was backed up. Those weeks felt incredibly long :runaround: In the meantime, I had picked her name. I love Greek mythology, and her coloring made me think of the moon, so I named her Selene after the ancient Greek personification of it.

The day I brought her home, I isolated her in the bathroom. I wasn't sure how Charlie would react to a new cat, and in any case I didn't want anything to happen to her incision. Selene immediately inserted herself in my lap and went to sleep. After a week, I granted her freedom. Not only did Selene act as if this had always been her home, she also managed to befriend Charlie in less than a month. I think he was as glad to have her as I was :lol:

My profile pic was taken several weeks after she came home. They're still buddies to this day.
Awwww I’m gonna need more pictures of these two :loveeyes:
 

Silver Crazy

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Very condensed version:
Arrived..saw cat running in long grass.
Met owners, cat wouldn't let owners near.
Saw where cat slept and ate, rabbit hutch on porch.
Tried to approach cat, snarl, slash and hiss.
Turned to leave, cat ran between my feet, grabbed my shoelaces, rolled on back and gave me mischievous look.
Ok, I want cat now, drugged his food ( only way to handle him at that stage) and took him home.
Tamed savage beast.
Have best buddy now.
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strider rose

cat toy lady and cat mom to 3
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this is one of the many cats that i have. Her name is stardust and is a rescue cat. Her previous owner was moving and couldnt keep her so i rescued her and have had her for 6 years ...


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this is lily rose . i rescued her from a couple that was giving kittens away. she is now 13 years old .

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here is miss Lucky , the husband rescued here when she was no bigger then his hand. she was all alone with no mom or siblings . she is now 9 years old
 
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