How did you meet your cat(s)?

[CrinolineFrou]

I am rather the new to this part of mn. So may I ask how you met/found your current cat(s)?

Was it love at first sight?

Any bumps in the road?

I've used the same rescue centre 3 times now - first two cats were great.
Last year after waiting 6mths I decided it was time for a new kitty addition. Saw a lovely ragdoll advertised and went to visit her - I wasn't sure my working pattern etc was the right fit for her but they assured me it was fine. They text me within half an hour of leaving and then repeatedly over the next couple of days and I felt really pushed into taking her.

She's been a nightmare from the moment she entered the house. She's vicious, rips the wallpaper, attacks the furniture and carpets daily, bites for attention and has to be locked in a room at night.

I wish I'd listened to my gut feelings about her rather than being swayed by the sob story they laid on.
She can be very sweet but it's a rare occurrence.

Found a half-starved 3 month old feral kitten in a ditch, he was supposed to go to the local rescue but never left the house.

He's now dd2s' shadow!

Our neighbours left their cat living in the communal garden. She hated them and they could never get her back inside so just left her living under a tree, no food, nothing. She eventually decided to adopt us and soon after had a kitten. She bloody loves my son, he can do anything to her, he has basically bullied her into loving him. When she had her kitten she would repeatedly leave it on my son's pillow, so sweet. The kitten stayed with us too. We adore them, they are so eccentric and come for walks to the park.

Ours belonged to the landlady of our flat, she used to go away all the time and leave her shut out of the house for weeks, no food or shelter. We used to feed her and try and get her to stay with us. The local feral cats used to beat her up which resulted in a nasty abscess and infection and was only a kitten. The landlady refused to have it treated so I did. She spent two days in the vets and when I collected her, promised I wouldn't let her go back. She is still with us 16 years later, had many adventures. We and our children adore her, and she is never far from their sides.

Biggie came to us from a shelter. I petted him. He purred. I picked him up. He still purred. That clinched it

Jayda we got from a pet shop but they were housing animals for a local rescue so we actually adopted her from the rescue. We went in purely on a whim and I fell in love with her.

Gatsby we also got on a whim. He was born to a cat owned by friends of ours. Mother rejected him so our friends hand reared him. We adopted him at 2 months old. He promptly decided that I'm his mum

This is the boys loving Daddy. Biggie is smiling - he practically worships Daddy. Gatsby is sleeping on Daddy's lap. The other one is Jayda sitting on the back of Daddy's chair.

Ironically Daddy claims not to like cats and says he only agreed to have them for me and DSD!!!

Neighbour knocked on the door about two weeks after I moved in.

Handed me a small squirming bundle.

Disappeared into his flat

Had to dash to Sainsbury's for food/litter

We got our current three siblings from a rescue place. We’d seen them on their website, along with pair who we also liked. The centre were very keen for us to take the pair but when we went to visit they were extremely timid and wouldn’t let us near them, so although they were very cute kittens, I knew they wouldn’t be right for us.

Meanwhile the group of three were climbing up their pen trying to get to us! The centre didn’t really want us to have them as we live on a main (although rural and fairly quiet) road and they thought they would be too inquisitive and get hurt. But we managed to convince them and took them home there and then. That was a fun ride home, an hour journey on one of the hottest days of last summer with me, two kids and three cats squeezed into a small car

We are so pleased we made that choice, they are wonderful cats and fit in with our family perfectly.

Our previous cats were a brother and sister who we took in from our neighbours who couldn’t care for them. They were pretty feral but quickly became lovely house cats who lived to 14 and 16 years old.

A Facebook friend shared a post from a rescue I'd never heard of. Of a black Persian with enormous green eyes. With a post that said. "Can't believe these two have had no interest, look at those eyes looking for love"
That did it. I adopted her and her sister Maia. Sadly Maia died last year but I have done adopted Cheddar from
The same rescue and various friends and my parents have had cats from them.

Toddlerteaplease

I've seen photos of your girls on other threads. They are so gorgeous and look so sweet!

Bunz belonged to my NDN but hated him. He kept appearing at my door so NDN said I wanted him I could have him. We’ve been together for 8 years!

Lion was a scrawny kitten from a semi-feral cat who a friend of a friend was feeding. The cat turned up heavily pregnant, gave birth in her shed to three kittens and when they were my a couple of weeks old she disappeared leaving friend to hand rear the kitties. Mother cat was never seen again . When we got him he was still only seven weeks old and had not been treated at all for fleas or worms. He was virtually eaten alive, poor thing. Soon stretching out and he lived with us for fifteen years.

Mr Woo was third cat in a household with a toddler and new baby. He was lowest in the pecking order and unhappy. We planned another cat when we moved to the countryside and we were offered him at just the right time and he's still with us 11 years later.

I found Leroy thanks to Cosietoesie on MN 😁.

I was after an indoor cat, but one who needed to be indoors, and after advice on the likelihood of being accepted to adopt. Cosie pointed me at a website called CatChat and the "Overlooked Cats" section.

There he was!

It was timing for us! I decided we wanted a cat or two over Christmas and was keeping an eye out on the local CP and RSPCA sites. We needed an indoor cat and neither had anything suitable. I phoned an independent rescue around 45 mins away and they said to come up and have a look around. Initially when I got there they could only offer us FIV cats but I was reluctant to be honest...then we went into another room and a cat reached out to dd2 through her bars, I asked about her and was told she had only been brought in that morning so the volunteer needed to check her paperwork...turns out she was a 7mo indoor cat so I signed then and there. As I was doing so another family were eyeing her up, it was nice to say ‘she’s mine’

About 6 weeks later I was starting to think I wanted a second one to keep her company and checked the RSPCA again, they had just posted a kitten needing a home with another cat. I went to see her and fell in love with her, as I was filling in the paperwork they had 2 more enquires about her. Had I not been there when I was she wouldn’t be with me now!

They are both bonkers but I’m so glad I got the second one, dcat seems much happier when we leave her at home alone now

My first cat was a rescue from a charity, she had been overlooked for a while and it was love at first sight when she climbed into my arms from her pen! She was 5 years old at the time.

My current four are all "foster failures" i.e. I was fostering them (and their siblings) for a rescue and ended up keeping them! (I should say I have also adopted out lots of fosters but these guys were special...)

The older pair: the girl was love at first sight when she arrived as a foster as she has three legs! And then I decided to adopt her brother as well because he was semi-feral and kept growling at other adoption visitors, and being black he really wasn't getting any interest. I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to really touch him or if he would just do his own thing living in the house but he's turned into a real cuddly boy (who still hides from visitors).

The younger pair: again I fell in love with the girl first, she was so tiny for her age (about 500 grams when we met!), had a terrible eye infection and was just so incredibly sweet. Her brother kind of chose me - he seemed absolutely terrified of other people (adoption visitors, the vet etc.) and was just so comfortable with me (he liked to sit on my shoulder when he was small!). Again being black cats there was no adoption interest and I was ready to add to my cat family anyway so it felt meant to be.

My first ever cat I met through a friend of my now DH... He knew a guy who was desperate to rehome his cat (unwanted gift from his daughter, anxious, depressive lonely man...) He gave us 100 quid and couldn't wait to be rid of her! To be fair, she had trashed his lovely wallpaper and he was terrified of her and could not touch her. We used the 100 quid to get her vaccinated etc, and 15 years on she is still a total delight

First cat (an enormous grey complete Tom) moved in with me into a basement flat I was renting. We didn't feed him but he clearly enjoyed the company.

After a few months he disappeared for a few days - we went looking for him and he came out from a hiding place clearly injured. Took him to the vet who sorted him and told us to keep him in for two weeks. When I said he wasn't our cat, the vet responded 'he is now - you've got the vet's bill'.

Next two (kittens) came from neigbours - they'd booked their girl in to be done but she escaped.
We took two and they kept one.

Fourteen years later - down to one cat again. Chatting to a colleague at work saying I'd love another grey cat - and it turned out her mother's farm cat had just had kittens including a grey. We meant to take two of the kittens but ended up with three :-).

Another 14 years on - down to two cats - asked at Battersea if they had any grey kittens - remarkably they did so we ended up with Basil and Sybil.
When the last of the farm cats (Monty) died aged 20 - we decided to get two more kittens (because of our ages it will probably be the last time we get kittens). Asked Battersea to let us know when they had some in - they 'allocated' us two black kittens. So we are back to four cats - two pairs of siblings one pair aged about 8 and one pair 1.

Sorry for the essay - but you did ask .

my cat rose we went to see a litter of kittens someone was giving away.Now my mother always told me its best to get the one that trys to escape as they are less likely to get hit by a car.So there she was the kitten that got spooked by our appearance and tried to fly out the cat basket.I grabbed her a sweet tortie ,full of personality she would swing on the curtains till two lol

My second came after the death of my cat prowler.Prowler i had since i was a little girl he was 18 when he passed.This was a hard time but eventually we found our next cat.We got a ebony oriental from a breeder who had kittens.I always liked the talkative nature of Siamese and orientals so wanted to get one.His mother hated us hissed as the unwanted baby snatchers ,i felt terrible.But there he was small and sweet.Turns out he was the worst behaved cat i ever owned lol

8 years ago a very small black cat kept eating from my cats bowl. Then started staying overnight, this was for a full year. Never grew bigger, collar never replaced. Always hungry. No idea if boy or girl, ran away too quick.
One awful day, my dad died in the morning, it was house moving day too. I went to work, came back to vacuum the flat and brought a cat carrier with me. I said out loud, "Dad, if I'm meant to have this cat, send it to me." Little cat came in, mewed at me, trotted over and I kidnapped her. She is still only 6lb and named Sooty after the black cat that adopted my family 45 years ago.

Momo & Mimi - Hubby and I moved to a place where we could finally have pets. I looked online and found a family whose Abby had her 1st and only litter. We went chatted with the family, played with the kittens and brought Momo and Mimi home.

Lady - We lost Mimi in a god awful accident at 5 months old and Momo had become withdrawn and almost lifeless, we wanted to find her another sister, went to a family with BSH kittens, and despite all the photos being of pure white kittens, as we sat there this little white fluff ball with a black smudge on her head just came to us and chose us. Evidently she ended up pure white too. Within 2 weeks it was like having our old Momo back.

George - We had nipped into a pet shop to pick up a few bits and there was a crate of kittens. I sat on the floor and peered in and this kitten just looked at me and I had this most bizarre intense feeling that he was looking into my soul, he came over and purred at me I sat there for a little while, playing and talking to him. I got up to leave and he cried. We left the shop, I got to the end of the highstreet and I was sobbing, I couldn't leave him, I basically ran back and got him. He became my best friend, always at my side, brought me gifts if I was ill, would suckle at my clothes, my everything.

Suru - Son of Momo and George, my husband couldn't bare to let him go he had just bonded with him from day 1, and he became just like his Dad and my Son's best friend.

Shinobi - daughter of Lady and George. She was pure black ugly little thing, and I wanted to keep her. She was the odd one out of all the kittens and she just stood out.

Lennon - Son of Lady and George. He was possibly the most beautiful of all our kittens and was just so damn cute! We kept him because he was just so much of a character.

Pixie and Bumble - daughters of Shinobi, she had 5 kittens but lost 3 within 48 hours, Bumble suffered some brain damage at birth, and we just didn't feel right trusting anyone else to have her, also they were a pair and we wouldn't split them up.

Cici and Nala - Daughter of Bumble, due to a freak accident Bumble had kittens, all perfectly healthy normal kittens. Pixie was almost Mummy and babysat the kittens a lot. We had already kept kittens before and this was the last lot, we found her boys homes and then the girls fitted in so well with everyone and Pixie was very attached to them that we couldn't bare to part with them.

Teddy and Tux - At this point we had emigrated and had lost Lady. Teddy and Tux were in desperate need of a home and came as a pair, I took one look at them and knew somehow they would fit in with our lot it was just instinct.

Zelda - Zelda was abandoned at a local dairy farm, the owner of which ran our children's Kindergarten. She is a pure breed Savannah cat, but was probably deemed imperfect and discarded by the breeder. She was and still is the MOST friendly cat I have ever known. We lost George about 6 months before and I saw this look in her eye that I saw in George, that she needed me. We brought her home and every day she is more loving and more grateful.

Remi - I had always wanted a ginger boy, I had heard tales of personalities and shenanigans and wanted to be part of that. At this point we are the cat people, so one more doesn't phase us. I spent months searching for a ginger boy and came across an advert from a lady and we just clicked, she listened to what I was looking for and we met Remi, he is just as cheeky, naughty, loving as I'd hoped for!

DS talked his DF round, so that we could have a cat again.
NDN heard of a pregnant rescue and when she had her litter (the rescue not NDN) we were shown fotos. He was determined he'd take the black one.
After about four weeks or so he went to have a look, when he was there the little red kitten climbed up on his knee and went to sleep.
Now we have a cuddly but very clumsy and slightly dim red ex-tom cat.

Oh, and that's what he looks like now, helping me with my work.

After years of yearning for cats, my lifestyle was finally suitable with no working away from home or very long commutes.

I knew exactly what I wanted. Indoor only cats. A pair, preferably bonded. Cats who would find it harder to be re-homed. Cuddly cats who would spend the evening on my lap. Rescues of course. Colour, sex and age immaterial though a preference for older cats as I know they are harder to re-home. Hardest thing was finding a rescue that had indoor only cats, even the great local one my DSIS had used all had "needs a bit of outdoor space" with all theirs.Then I found a rescue about an hours drive away that had a whole section on having indoor cats, and were comparatively pro to it so I called them, told them what I was looking for and arranged to go down there.

Was shown a plentiful supply of cats of all types, with suggestions on which had been housed together at the rescue and got on with each other and it came down to 2 pairs of cats and a "perm any 2 out of 4" selection. We sat in the office talking over all the options for ages, then my DSIS suddenly said "go and have another look at that pair you dismissed as being a) too young and b) not very sociable. I went back into their pen, reached in to the sleeping area they were hiding in & scritched them gently while I thought things over. Then I felt The Paw being rested on my hand. Floated back 3 feet above the ground & signed the papers then & there.

OK so they HALF fit the bill. A pair, siblings and very bonded. An unfavoured colour (black). Been at the rescue almost a year, so unwanted. On the other hand they were only 2 years old, and ex-feral so terrified of people.

Nearly 3 years down the line now. Girlcat permits me to fuss her when she's in the mood, and likes very much to just sit (just out of reach) and stare at me for hours on end. Boycat HAS to have deep and meaningful cuddles (lying down beside each other on the bed snuggled up) at least 3 times a day preferably more, in addition to sofa time sitting pressed up to my leg while getting stroked. They will now tolerate being picked up for short periods of time, but neither has ever sat on a lap & they hide if anyone else comes into the house.

And they are The Best Thing Ever in the world

My first cat was a kitten I adopted from a colleague of my mum's whose cat had had a litter. All the others have been rescues, from local centres and Cats Protection

We'd lost our dear old girl a couple of months before and were ready to home another. DD and I were at Cats Protection doing our "testing the cats with kids". He was the first on our list and after being in there less than a minute DD asked "can we adopt him?" Saw the other cats on our list but decided he did seem a good fit so went and asked the staff about him, pictures sent to DP and phone call so we reserved him and luckily him and DP liked each other!!

Literally found her on the doorstep. Filthy, covered in fleas and black from flea dust and with v stinky poos. Meant to keep her for a couple of weeks whilst she was waiting for a rescue place but obviously fell in love. She's a sweetheart :)