How did you get your furrykids

[momofcats]

Since I am still new here, this may have been a conversation before .... so forgive me.
I was just wondering how everyone's furry family grew to be what it is today.
No dramatic rescues or dire circumstances here...maybe saved them from some...but we got all our furrykids as babies.

I got my dog as a package with my husband. I think he got her by answering an ad in the paper. She is now going on six and he had her since she was six weeks old.

We got our two cats as tiny kittens from a nonkill shelter. Each are now in that "terrible two" stage.

[Samantha Puppy]

Sherman (the cat) adopted my family about 7 months after our first dog, Rags, was put down. He lived next door at our neighbor's house and after Raggie died, he kept coming around right when my mom and I needed something cuddly to hug. After our neighbor accidently locked him in a room with his daughter (who he hates) and scared the crap out of her (literally), she came over with Sherman in a basket and said that he was ours. And he has been ever since.

Samantha (the puppy) came to me last August (2002). The same neighbor found her and her sister along the side of a highway and rescued them. They were only six weeks old. From the second I saw her, I knew I had to have her. So after much coaxing and crying and pleading, my parents gave in and said she could live with us until I moved out.

[catlover4ever]

All of mine with the exception of Tigger and her brother Tony were rescues for me. Tigger and Tony I adopted from a friend who works at my local bank.

Smokey from a garbage can, Tucker, Mystic, Abner, all showed up on my doorstep and now rule the house. Tucker is 17 years old, Mystic is 3 and Abner is 2.

Tobias and Cleo were also abandoned. Cleo had to have been abused because she never let anyone near her...let alone touch her, but I always knew that I was OK by her standards as she stayed with me for 2 years.

Maya was rescued from a shelter. We had just lost our darling Sydney, and we wanted another cat asap. As soon as Maya saw us enter, she didn't stop meowing at us, untill we took her out of the cage and adopted her!! Sydney must have whispered something nice about us in her ears

Inka was found by my sister-in-law about one year ago. As she (sis) was about to go away on a long trip, she asked me if I wanted a little kitten. Can you understand that I didn't need much time to decide?

Sydney, our first cat, now at the RB, was born in a normal litter . His mom is a good friend of us!

[emily_the_spoiled]

Emily was my first cat and I picked her up from someone I knew who did animal rescue. I got Tanner as a kitten from someone I worked with at the time. Bigodinho and Gay are temporary (or not so temporary) fosters from a military pet foster program. The latest addition to my furry family arrived yesterday and hasn't received a name yet, but he is definitely a "love bug". I got him from someone who does animal rescue.

[Vermontcat]

I got Samantha 15 years ago as a pre-engagement present from my then boyfriend now husband.
My father is allergic to cats so I never had one of my own as a kid but I always used to pet sit for neighbors and my favorite cat was a black and white male named Sam.
As soon as I had my own place after college I decided I had to get a Sam cat of my own.
We actually found Samantha from an ad in the paper for free black and white kittens.
Soon after we got Samantha, we got engaged, then married then had 3 kids and also had several goldfish over the years and more recently added our parakeet T-bird.
Samantha is a very special part of our family.
I just posted some new photos of her here in Cat General if anyone would like to take a look at her.

[MUSICMAKER1235]

well my sylvester and whiskers i got when my sister moved and left them behind,so i had to adopt them,i couldn't leave them like that. and my buttermilk was given to me when i asked a friend if she had a female cat that had been altered that she needed to find a home for,and i ended up with her. they told me she had been shot and had a steel pin in her leg,and had no knee,and if they didn't find a home for her before winter,they were going to put her down. again i wasn't going to let that happen. i can't believe a person who suppose to love cats would put one down because of that. just because she is old(12) and alittle lame,she can still take care of herself. if i find another that needs adopting,and i can help,i will. musicmaker

[Logan]

Mimi (14 years young) came to me as a six week old kitten. She was my salvation after losing my Shrimp Boat in a tragic way. A girl who worked with me had an "illegitimate" litter from a brother/sister match, which did not matter in the least to me. Mimi was "fixed" as quickly as possible, and she has been my lifeline, ever since.

Butter showed up at our house in the dead of winter, one of the coldest I can remember. He was sleeping under the exhaust from our gas furnace. That was almost 3 years ago. He is a naughty boy, but has settled down over the years, and is probably 5-6 years old now. We have moved, but he came with us, and he has settled in and is quite a fixture in our household.

We're so happy to have both of them, even if they can't stand each other.

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

Ally mysteriously appeared in our garden at around 5 weeks. My husband allowed her to stay "until I found a home for her" - I didn't look very hard of course, and now she rules the house!

[sweet_stormy]

My family got:
1. Snowball for a Christmas present from my moms friend in 1997.
2. Smokey from my brother's friend because I just LOVE cats in 1999.
3. Stormy was also from my brother's friend because I just HAD to have that cute kitty.
4. Mittens from my "best" friend because her kitty Emily had 6 little kitties on Sept. 16th, 2003.

That is how I got my furr-sister, furr-daughters, and my furr-nephew. my furr-nephew is my furr-daughter's (Stormy's) brother. but Smokey is Nick's (my brother's) son.
No one knows who the father to my baby is. I don't know either. anyone wanna take a guess?

[neko1]

Neko was a gift to me from my fiance (now husband) on our 1 year anniversary. We picked him from a shelter.
Cookie was a stray that hung around Brian's office, so he caught her and brought her home with us.
Pumpkin we got from another shelter because I wanted an orangie.
Tama was given to me by a client of the vet's that I used to work at. She couldn't keep him for allergy reasons and she knew that I loved abyssinian's so she gave him to me!

[Uabassoon]

I got Corkscrew when he was around 8 months old or so. I got him from an aquantiance who didn't want him anymore, she never took care of him at all. She kept trying to give him away but he kept getting returned to her, so she was going to take him to the humaine socitety. So I told her that I would take him, and that was that

After my cat Zasper died Corkscrew and I got lonely so I adopted Tibby from a shelter.

[slick]

In Dec 1996 I bought my first condo and I made sure it was a pet-friendly building because I wanted to get a cat. I kept putting it off until one Saturday in April, 1997 I wandered into a pet supply store to get some treats for my friend's two cats. There on the bulletin board was posted a very small business card with writing on it about 2 cats free to good home. I copied down the number, bought my treats and was out the door. I thought alot about it on Sunday but just wasn't sure if I should make the call. I finally called on Sunday night and was told that they were moving and could not take the kitties with them. I told them I would think about it and call them back. I called back on the Monday night and believe it or not they said they were actually moving on Wednesday and still did not have homes for them because no one wanted adults cats. I had to make a very snap decision and said "Yes" sight-unseen.

Tuesday after work I drove out to Delta to see my two new additions. The condo was completely empty save the litterboxes and a mattress on the floor that the couple was using. Speckles came up to me immediately but Max was very aloof. After a hour or so I packed them up and drove them home.

To this day I wonder what would have happened to them if I hadn't been in that shop on that day to see the ad.

[carole]

Most of you know how I aquired my two, Ash was a stray, who we adopted, and lexie came from a no-kill shelter, my RB Sooti, was about to be put back to the SP.C.A, and he and another younger kitten were left outside, although being fed, it was far too cold, so I took them home, and looked after them, kept Sooti and found an excellent home for Sandy now Rusty, who I can go visit anytime, in his new home with 2 other kitties.

[PetLuvr4Ever]

I found Opie when he was just born. He was trapped between our fence and the neighbor behind us' fence so I had my dad break one of the boards to get him out. He was wet from birth and still had his eyes closed and his umbilical cord on. We raised him and now hes a huge and healthy cat!

Our other Cat came to us about 5 or 6 months after our 19 1/2 yr old cat Mamma Kitty passed away. Me, my cousin, and my mom and dad were at Pet Co. They were having a halloween dress up contest and we had Chloe dressed as a clown. Well, Pet Co is right next door to Wal Mart so my mom and dad went to take some shoes back while my cousin and I pushed Chloe around in a basket. About five mins later my mom and dad came back holding and adorable cat. Some kids had four kittens so my mom and dad took one. I was Soo shocked my dad let us get another cat!

Anyway, that's how we got both Opie and KC.