How did you get your furrykids

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.:)

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.

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 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.

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.:)

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

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 :eek: 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. :eek:

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!

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?

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!

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.

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.:(

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.

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.

Butterscotch - was the neighborhood apartment complex stray. His owner left him behind and everyone in a small area of a large complex took care of him. After about 9 months he decided to trust us. :) The neighbor across the way who was feeding him stopped and we started. Over memorial day weekend he came to live with us permantely, that was 4 yrs ago.

Thumper - was given up for adoption to the PetSmart adoption area (allergies in family). The local shelter places allot of the animals through PetSmart. We always go by and "see the kids" whenever we are in the store. Thumper took to us, We to her. Those sad eyes having to be in a cage (she has been there just 3 days). I cried. I wanted to take her home NOW. This was the week of Thanksgiving. The shelter was closed by time we saw her on that Tuesday. Wed they were closed (shelter). The store was closed Thur for Thanksgiving. We visited her at store on Friday, I cried because I wanted to take her home NOW. The shelter was closed Thur/Friday and re-opened Saturday. So that Saturday morning we drove 28 miles north to shelter and was there before they opened up at 8 a.m. There was a gal and her daughter there also, I we said "hope your not going for the Tabby" they said "no" We were all relieved. :) You had to fill out paper work and pay for animal at shelter than go with all paperwork to store to pick up the animal. PetSmart didn't open up until 10 a.m. we went to Sam's Club which was nearby the store. That was the longest 2 hrs. :) Thumper has been with us now 3 yrs. :)

Skinny - was the neighborhood stray. This summer he hung around our house. Followed me everywhere when I was working out in the yard. Helped my husband cook out (he was his sue chef). We weren't looking to ad to our gang but Skinny stole our hearts. He came to live with us over Labor Day weekend this year. I'ts been a month :)

All of ours were ferals either from the park or the neighborhood.

We inherited Dudley from my grandma, when she passed away. I went with her to the humane society when she went "cat hunting" and I picked him out for her! :) Dudley is around 5 years old. The story of how we got Sammy is long. To make it short and simple: mom and I were shopping at the pet store for rat goods, a lady had a small kitten in her arms, and she walked up to us and asked us what to do with it- she found it on the side of the road. We said we'd take it to the humane society for her, we took him home to find all humane societies were closed. As the night went on, we fell in love with him and kept him. We got Sam at 4 weeks old, he is now 6 months old. :D :D

DUDLEY:
http://members.aol.com/OrliBloom177/dudley.jpg

SAMMY:
(Baby)
http://members.aol.com/OrliBloom177/littlebaby.JPG

(Teenager)
http://members.aol.com/OrliBloom177/sammers1.JPG

Okay, I typed this long story up, accidentally hit the back button and lost it all so here's the short version.

I got Ripley from a neighbor of my sister's who was giving her 3 Maine Coon mixed 7 week old kittens away. I wanted a solid white one but my husband insisted on a male and Ripley was the only male. I've had him 11 1/2 years.

I got Jazz from a rescue group in a local petstore. She was very sick and had been picked over several times because she was solid black, timid and pitiful looking. I've had her just over a year.

I got Scout from the same rescue group after looking around at their 50+ cats and kittens for adoption and having the "I want to save a cat" bug bite me. I have had her for 2 1/2 months now.

When my RB Goldie left me (after living with me for over 14 years from kittenhood) in April this year, after a short battle with liver cancer, I was devastated. My house and heart felt so empty and I knew I couldn't wait too long to get another cat. I wanted a red Maine Coon and went looking and found one -- Mishigaas, who had been rescued by Animalsavers from a death sentence at a shelter in Sacramento, California. He was in very bad shape, had a very severe UTI and eye infection and was so badly matted that he needed to be shaved. His first pics on Petfinder were pathetic but I fell in love with the big guy. Animalsavers waited until his UTI had cleared up and then put him under for the shaving and supposedly a neuter. Surprise! He was already neutered. I was warned that he was a very kooky cat.

I hemmed and hawed, wasn't sure I wanted a boy cat - I'd never had a male cat! My friends warned me that because Goldie had been sick all over the apartment, if I got a male cat, I was opening myself up to spraying problems, so initially I decided to go for a female cat. Animalsavers had the cutest tortie calico gal - a little pudgeball they called Sweet Pea. She had been a feral rescue; they thought she was pregnant, but she was just pudgie. I made a snap decision and decided to get "Sweet Pea" instead of Mishigaas.

That Saturday, April 19, the roundest cat I have ever met became mine. Her sweet white mitts with which she constantly gave me kitty high-fives with helped me rename her Mitzi the very first day. After a couple of weeks with Mitzi, she seemed bored and I figured she was probably lonely because I leave her alone when I go to work. I contacted Animalsavers and Mishi was healing well and Diana told me he was waiting for me - so Mishi came home to live with us too.

At first he was the biggest ball of angry cat fur -- Hell hath no fury like a mad Mishi! I was afraid I'd made a huge mistake, but let him be by himself in the bathroom the first day. A little later that evening I entered the bathroom expecting to be attacked, but instead was greeted by the most loving HUGE golden ball of Maine Coon fluff giving me head butts and purrs. He's been a love-bug towards me every since.

It wasn't love at first sight between Mishi and Mitzi, right now Mishi loves Mitzi; but Mitzi isn't too crazy about Mishi probably because he's so much larger than she is. Right now with colder weather coming, they are starting to get a lot closer and much more affectionate with each other and playful with me.

I feel so truly blessed to have these two fur beasts in my house.

P.S. Jazzcat, I did the same thing! Believe it or not, THIS is a shorter version! LOL

I had had outside cats when I was a kid, but they never stayed around long, b/c of our cat- hater dog. My dad isn't too fond of cats either, and I wasn't much of a cat lover either so I didn't think I was missing much.
So fast forward 'ahem' a lot of years.
I had my greyhound Shaianne for about a year and half and my own home for 2 years, I started getting the 'kitty bug'. Shaianne had totally changed my life. I didn't think I could ever be so totally completely head over heels in love with a dog, but I was. I became more compassionate/passionate about animals.
I decided I wanted to add a cat to my home. I was going to get a calico kitten from one of my friends, but another friend was trying to find another home for her DLH kitty that was a year old. B/c (:rolleyes: ) her boyfriend didn't like cats and he hated Kylie b/c of her hair, and he didn't like the way she slept up by their head at nite and threw her across the room. I took her 'temporarly b/c my friend was going to break up with him and we wanted Kylie to not be on the receiving end of the violence if any, well he STAYED! ( My friend KNEW about his run in with the law and domestic violence charges, claims now that he has CHANGED- she married him! :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: I wish her the best she is going to need it, I got the better end of the stick!!!)
So one day her and I went shopping B/c I said that I would take Kylie if she bought the stuff I needed. I didn't think she would but she did! We went shopping, got food, litter, toys, scoop, litter box etc! Then the following Saturday Kylie came home. She was not happy with the dog at first, but Shaianne was just curious about her. But that first nite she jumped up on the bed and curled up beside me just for a couple minutes, I knew it would be ok! She slowly came around to accept Shaianne and me.
I just thank God I had the little white angel when Shaianne crossed to the bridge, b/c I don't know what I would have done without her!! She has been in my home for over 2 years now. Another temporary turned permanent 'failure' :D
So now I am officially a dog AND cat person!!! :):D And I can't imagine my life without a cat in it.

These are all such great heartwarming stories. :) Here are my stories:

STORM:

I was looking for a kitten but it was January and there really weren't any to be found. I went to the Humane Society and told them that I wanted a loving friendly purring cat. I looked at the all of the cats inside but none of them stole my heart. The lady said that there were some stray cats outside in another building so I went to see them. I picked up a large black male cat named Midnight and he seemed to be very friendly but a little too large.
I was going to look at his paper work and as I passed the cages, a gray cat stuck his paw out at me to get my attention. I ended up holding him and he was purring very loudly and very friendly and loving. His name was Storm.

I adopted him that day and they said he was 2 years old but I found out that he was only 1 year old. He's now almost 8 years old. I'm so glad that I found him. He's the one that started my cat family. :)

RB Pepper:
Since Storm was a very social cat and I was working long hours, I decided to adopt another cat. It was May and this time I wanted a kitten. I went to Petco and ended up adopting a 9 week old kitten through a rescue organization called CARE. Pepper and Storm bonded in only an hour.:) I only had Pepper for almost 6 years because he had to be put to sleep due to illness. I still miss him very much. :(

Sunny:
Storm needed another playmate because Pepper had become a very lazy cat and Storm was beginning to pick on him. Since I've always loved orange cats, I wanted a young male orangie. I wanted another kitten but ended up adopting an 8 month old Aby mix from a rescue organization called Unconditional Love. I didn't even know what an Aby was but soon learned all about the breed. I had already named him Sunny before I even adopted him and the name has fit him perfectly. He's my little ray of sunshine and is now 3 years old.

Cirrus:
After Pepper passed away I knew that I would be adopting another young male cat. I wanted another short haired cat and one that had different colors in his coat. I was shopping at Pet Club and found some rescue organizations with cats up for adoption on their bulletin board. I went to one of the websites and fell in love with a cat named Flint. He was 8 months old and a brown spotted and striped tabby.

I filled out the application online and went to see him the next day. He was much larger than I had expected and also very scared and shy. He was born to feral parents and wasn't held or picked up much as a kitten because his former owner became very allergic to him. He may have also been abused. I knew it would be a challenge but I still wanted to adopt him.I renamed him Cirrus to go with my weather theme and Nomilynn of PT suggested his new name for him. He's now 1 year old and has been with me for almost 7 months. He loves his new home and loves to be petted and brushed. He also gets along very well with Sunny and Sky.

Sky:
I was at a cat show with AmberLee and they were having adoptions there through the Humane Society. I looked at them briefly but none of them caught my eye. Later their stories were told and a cat named Herman caught my eye. He was a stray that had been shaved because his fur had been badly matted. He's a Siamese mix with sky blue eyes. They said he was 2 but turned out to be only 1 year old. A man was very interested in him so I thought good he'll get adopted and have a good home.

Later on they announced that another cat had been adopted. I went over to see which one it was. Well Herman was still there. I ended up holding him and playing with him and then falling in love with him. I adopted him that day and immediately changed his name to Sky. He's been with me for exactly 4 months today. :) He loves all 3 of his brothers and they love him too.

I'm so glad to have my 4 cats in my life. They bring a lot of joy to my life. :)

Hmm! 3 came from a breeder , 2 were outdoor strays , one was a barn Cat , 2 from the Humane Society. And 2 came from a broken home!And the others came from friends , or in one case a crummy pet shop! As I only have an hour I wish that I could say more!

I have three kitties: Shadow, Whisper, and Callie. My sister-in-law's cat gave birth to a litter of six-Shadow and Whisper included..and the two of them initially went to my sister-in-law's mother. After a year, her mom had to move and "couldn't" find a pet friendly house (even though they kept the dog) and that is how I ended up with the first two. I've now had them for four years.
Callie was found a month after my dad passed away when my husband saw a man throw something out of a truck. He thought it looked a little suspicious so he pulled over and the "garbage" ended up being a little six week old female orange kitten. Part of me still believes that she was a present sent to me from my dad--so I always refer to her as my "naughty angel." She's very naughty but a gift from heaven :D and we've had for almost four years.

Patty was a stray who kept hanging around. We advertised a found cat, but nobody claimed her - so she's been with us for the past 19 years. Ginger was from the Humane Society - she was the most vocal one in the room. Louis was an impulse buy from the pet store - he had been returned due to 'allergies.' Krissy was another stray, advertised as found, but no response, so has been with us for 8 years.

krazyaboutkatz, I agree...these are just such wonderful stories

We got George originaly, I'm more of a dog person to he honest but we don't have the time to properly care for one.

Anyway we went down the RSPCA and found this gorgeous fat black cat. In true George form he was asleep for the first 15 minutes, it was only later that we met him.

PayItForward was worried that he'd get lonely on his own when she went back to work so we went to get him a friend. We found Millie, again at the RSPCA. Millie was too much for little old George. She wanted to play and he wanted to sleep, so we got her a friend, Milo from the CPL.

When we were choosing Milo we saw Treacle ( nee Sooty ), a sort of skinny young George. Jen kept going on about him and eventualy I relented and we adopted him aswell.

Shortly after that we rescued a mother and her 3 kits from a bramble bush, we kept one ( Bramble ) and sent the others to the CPL. As with Millie Bramble really needed a friend her own age so it was back to the RSPCA to adopt Tigs.

When my first cat Muffins was put to sleep (a few years ago) I was so depressed. Finally my father gave in and we looked for a new cat. One night I was watching (a now extinct) tv channel and saw a tv show on about different breeds of cats. One of them was called an "Egyptian Mau" and I was like Oh goodness they are pretty. Ironically the next day in the paper was an ad (I still have the ad, btw) for a three year old neutered Egyptian Mau. Dad was like "what's that, a snake?" and I was like "no! It's a really pretty cat - they are spotted..." and my dad got interested and said "oh, Carol, why don't you call them and talk to them for a minute?" so Mom called and found out more about Maui (then 'Brickey').

The lady on the phone said he was a major lapcat, loveable, huggable and just plain cutiful. So I begged Dad to let us go see him and we went and saw him.

Turns out she was selling the female too - but the second I saw Maui huddled in the back of his crate, it was then that I fell in love. Mom wanted the Silver Female but I wanted Maui. And that's how we got my best friend! (who never lets me out of his sight - unless I go into the spooooookkkkkkyyy bathroom).

Maui and I are so bonded that when I had my first seizure back in July, he even detected it an hour and a half before! Now I listen to him when he sits on my chest and plays with my buttons - it mean's that I'm going to get sick! LOL.

I got TEX when I moved to Massachusetts, from a wonderful shelter called Neady Cats. He was 7 months old, and had been returned. To this day, neither the shelter worker, whom I am still in touch with, nor I can figure out why he was returned. He is a gem. I moved home and went to school, and I thought Tex needed a friend. He was 4 at the time.

I had just been to the vets, for a check up for Tex, and told the girl I was looking for a tuxie friend for Tex. A week later, she called, and said a little baby tiny girl had just been dropped off, rescued from a field, I named her GEORGIA. She was not even 2 pounds, teeny tiny, and within a week, had a umbilical hernia. She went in to get repaired (and spayed ) at the tender age of 3 months.

Fast forward to my second year of law school. Mom calls from her school, "Johanna, there is a kitten...." Keep in mind this is after w have rescued her Indra from the school, so, we now have 3 cats already. I said, "Mom, no..." she said, "he is a tuxie...." and away I went. This was TENNY. Tenny was pretty sick when we got him. Severely matted, and had two abcess (gross). But, we fixed him up, and he now tops the charts at 18 pounds.

Then, in 2000 (or 01, I can't remember)...my girlfriend calls me, she just found a kitty, that was deaf, and pregnant! So, I said, jokingly, I will take the tuxies...mind you, this is a pure white cat! Well, by c-section, we have ALLIE and DAKKY! Little tuxie brats.

Same friend, this time, "Oh, this kitty at the shelter....three months...needs some attention..."....welcome to MINNIE!

(This same friend is responsible for Binx, too! I told her, no more, or our friendship is OVER!).

Felicia came from a pet store. I got her after my cat Cleo had been put to sleep.

Beau, my burmese came from a breeder. I wanted a purebred because I never had a purebred before. My first choice was a Russian Blue, but there weren't any breeders close by. (I forget where the closest one was). I was advised against having the cat shipped.

There was a breeder of burmese cats that I could take the bus to see. (I don't drive). I went to see them and fell in love with them.

My cats all showed up in the garden one day. Jessica was a feral mother that people in the area had been aware of seeing from time to time. I have heard that she had a litter of 4 kittens and that one was killed on the road early on. By the time she moved into our garden, there were only two kittens. We don't know what happened to the other one.

Samantha and Daisy were probably around 9-10 weeks when we first saw them, which was the beginning of October and the temperature was starting to drop. We started feeding them, but it was nearly Christmas by the time we managed to get them in the house. Mother was much more difficult. Despite having a trap from Cats Protection, we could not catch her.

The following spring a feral tom showed up and suddenly we had another litter on our hands. By this time we were starting to panic, but all was well. When the kittens were about 10 weeks, we caught Mother and all 4 of the new kittens over the course of one day and night. We whisked Jessica off to the vet for the operation and a good check up and the kittens all got their first injections and then went to good homes.

Samantha and Daisy are eight years old now. We're not quite sure about Jessica.