The "accidental cat owner" - what are your experiences?

[catswagbumble]

After 25 glorious years of caring for "our" boys - we thought we were "cat free".

We still thought about them an awful lot and missed them each terribly (still do) then circumstances look us by surprise.

Last boy died in April this year .

Sadly a death in the (human) family meant we were/are now "responsible" for two cats.

So after the grieving process (we never planned to get another cat/pet) we are now "cat parents" once again.

Got to say it has been hard for the past 12 months but now they are becoming so familiar with us/surroundings that I don't know what I'd do without them.

Do they have this built in survival/lovability gene that makes you go with the flow?

I think they must have! Did you ever read the Peppa the kitten thread? A lady found a tiny kitten in the road, I don't think she even liked cats. She was besotted within about two hours!

This is me. I couldn’t stand cats. I was also allergic to them. When we moved to our new house, we went out for a walk ( in the countryside, not a house in sight) and were accosted by a tiny but very determined black kitten. That was it. Our house has been colonised. We now are a three cat household and it turns out the allergy cured itself some time ago.
Couldn’t be without them.

We found a little intruder asleep on the sofa 20 years ago - owners didn’t want him back and he’s still with us

Friends of mine moved to a house which had a cat flap in the back door. I said all they needed was a cat to use the door - they said they had absolutely no intentions of ever having a cat. Three days after they moved in they found a kitten in their garden, wet and looking very sad.

They now have a much loved cat who must have known exactly what he was doing - they just love him to pieces.🐱

Years back we moved into a new home with our cat. Previously we'd been in a 1st floor flat so our cat continues to live upstairs mostly . This meant the ground floor was cat free so the neighbour's cat decided it was a safe haven.

our place was a 2 bedroom semi and the cat was from the other side of the shared wall where there was a young family, 2 parents, 4 boys under 7 and another on the way. Their cat took 1 look at us, a mature couple, and moved in. The young family (who never even said hello if we met at our doors) moved about 6 weeks after we moved in leaving their cat behind as too much trouble.

Took Smudge nearly 6 months to learn that laps were designed to be slept on and he happily snuggled with us for a good 10 years!! Our other cat was fine sharing the house so it all worked out perfectly.

Yes well, Tempcat came on a short term foster basis before emigrating with his family to NZ. That was over a year ago! Looks like I'll need a new Username soon....

Some 'we don't like cats' friends years ago were followed home by a very tiny, emaciated, very ugly, loudly yowling young stray cat. She had a badly healed jaw fracture that meant she couldn't eat properly, kidney problems, patches of missing fur and was covered with fleas. Within a few days she was curled up in a special box in front of a heater with a hot water bottle & woolly blanket under her, special expensive food from the vet in her bowl and lots of treats on offer to get her weight up. Became the most cuddly, affectionate cat with a purr like a tractor engine, who lived the life of luxury for far more years than anyone ever expected.