One of the best things I ever did in my life was to take home my cat, Tommy, who was a stray cat roaming around an auto salvage yard, where I used to work as a night security guard. Tommy is a tuxedo cat, and he was the dominant male of his territory (the auto yard). He ran all the other male cats off, and was the only one who ever mated with the female cats. LOL. Selfish little rascal he was, but that's the way they do it in the cat world. So, consequently, all the offspring cats were black & white in the typical tuxedo pattern (black, with white feet, & white bib), or some variation thereof. Tommy was a cat that I could tell had been somebody's housecat previously. He wasn't born and raised outside feral. When I first saw him, unlike the feral cats, he walked right over to me, stopped, looked at me, and meowed loudly. I couldn't believe how loud his meow was. I'll bet he scared off a lot of male cats just by meowing at them. LOL. One night when doing my rounds, I heard him bellowing from underneath a car, but it sounded like there was another cat there too. Sure was. It was Squeaky. A female calico cat who, just like Tommy, had to have been somebody's castaway, because of how calm and friendly she was. So, they mated, and about a month later (I guess it was) Squeaky gave birth to 6 kittens (all black and white). They were cuddled up together on the floor of one of the cars, and each one was barely bigger than a golf ball. Well after about a month of feeding Tommy and some of the other cats around the yard, I decided to take Tommy home with me. He didn't have his name then. I was calling him "little white feet". I brought him to a vet to get cleaned up thoroughly, with shots and all. And took him home. At first he was in shock and went under my bed, and stayed there for 3 days. I kept feeding him, and he then got used to his new home pretty quickly. Back at the auto auction yard, after a few weeks, the kittens started eating regular food, and most drifted off. One stayed behind, and staked out a little place for herself in one of the cars. I fed her day by day, and then decided to take her home too. She is now my other cat. I named her Lucky, and she is black and white like her dad, but with more white on her than him. I'm now so used to living with my 2 cats that I wonder how I ever lived all the years I did without having a cat. People who have never had a cat or a dog don't know what they're missing. If you have a living situation that fits it,I recommend getting yourself one or two. I'd say they would be a good fit if there are not pregnant women in the house, or if you can't afford to feed the animals + some veterinary bills occasionally, which can be pretty steep. Most any other situation is probably good. Give it some thought. Lastly, where would you get this dog or cat ? Absolutely do NOT get one from a pet store. I worked in a pet store once, and practically every cat and dog there was in bad physical shape. They come from mills who turn them out like cell phones, and for that matter why pay for an animal when you can get one free ? I think the best idea is to look around at night, where you live. Apartment complexes tend to have lots of stray cats. You can very easily find one like Tommy and Squeaky who will look at you and meow at you, as if to say "Hey how about taking me home with you ?" The thing is, these are cats that were housecats, and some nincompoop idiot just callously put the cat out in the street, and drove away. In case anybody doesn't know, that is a CRIME in every state in America, with a year in jail, if caught. If you ever know of anyone doing that heinous thing, please call the police and turn them in. http://www.straypetadvocacy.org/PDF/AnimalCrueltyLaws.pdf
Good post! Our Maine Coon mix was also a stray, barely weened. I don't know if someone dumped her, or if she was feral and separated from her mom. I almost left her, but a couple of old ladies basically guilt tripped me into taking her home. I'm really glad I did. She's been an endless source of comic relief around the house, and a good pet in general.
Let's see, all but one of my cats were throw aways or strays. The last one showed up at my doorstep, skinny but obviously young and had not been outside long. I would love to have 2 cats but have six because I am a softy.
I've had no luck with taking in stray cats. I done it twice---both kittens that seemed sweet enough when young. But both cats were attackers---clawing and biting---and not in play. That said---my dad picked up a dumpped kitty (he worked near a common dumping spot) and that cat was the sweetest thing and a great companion. Stray dogs has worked out well as pets. We have a sweetie that walk into our yard, emaciated and covered in ticks. She is such a sweet absolutely non-aggressive dog. I grew up with two dogs that were starving when I my dad brought them home. They both seemed to be grateful and extra loving. And I do agree with you that buying pure-breds is a big risk...unless you do lots of research and plan to pay out more then reasonable amounts. My Golden was bought from a novice breeder--and he seemed like an old dog even as a pup. He has never been truely healthy--mainly because his joints seem to give him trouble. I vote for mutts if the choice is there---they do seem healthier.
My sweetest cat is a feral survivor. Took awhile to tame her but she has a very sweet disposition but is very skittish.
Even though my 2 cats are biologically related, they are quite different personality-wise. Tommy the father cat, I'm sure was a housecat before I took him home, and he was probably hand raised by humans from birth. He is very sweet and loving. He walks up on to my bed at night, and the first thing I see waking up in the morning is his big round face, right in front of my face. He is there for his morning pet. During the day, he walks up on me, while I'm sitting on my recliner, and does the same thing. I pet him a lot, and he loves it. Lucky, who was a feral cat for a month or two before I took her home is more aloof. She doesn't come to me like Tommy does. She only lets me pet her when she's sleepy. She's gotten bigger now (she's 4 years old), and has become more tuned in to me, with age, but it is a very slow process. No matter what, I love them both the same.
My wife brought home a flamepoint kitten when she saw it wandering on the side of a freeway one day. I was always seriously allergic to cats and I said "no" at first. It took maybe a day or two before I changed my mind. A few weeks later, we decided he shouldn't be alone, so we adopted a girl kitten from the local animal shelter. Best $60 I ever spent. Best of all, I'm not allergic to them unless we let the cat fur stay around past a critical mass amount, which is usually 3 weeks. It just gives us motivation to clean more often, which isn't a bad thing. These aren't mine, but this is what they look like The girl cat is my favorite. Tortoise shells are said to have very unique personalities, but I really like them.
I have a tortie and she is definitely strange. I got her from a family with kids that were going to take her to the pound. The kids abused her and when I got her she was so stressed that she literally inflated. Never seen anything like it. Now she wants attention but is still afraid of hands and when I pet her, if I don't pay attention to when she is getting aggravated she will nip me. Many cats don't like for you to put your face in theirs but she actually gets calmer if I do.
Same with ours. She doesn't care much for being picked up or petted most of the time. She'll usually endure a couple of obligatory strokes down the back, or scratches behind the ear, but then she starts getting squirmy. When she goes into heat though, you can't hardly get rid of her. You become her furniture, scratching post, wrestling partner, and have to listen to her talk about her day as she loudly talks in cat-o-neese.
"Strage" is a good word for it. 99% of the time, my tortie is the sweetest cat I've ever known. If I'm on the recliner watching TV or surfing the web on my laptop, she will jump up on my lap and literally flop over onto her back, wanting me to pet her stomach and chest. She purrs extremely loud for a small cat. As I'm petting her she'll reach out into the air with her paws one at a time. She sleeps right next to me at night. Sometimes she'll randomly spazz out and run around my apartment for no reason at all. The other 1% - she is very stubborn, doesn't like being pet sometimes (random) or picked up. Trimming her nails will cause her to growl and she tried to swipe one time. The boy cat is a lot more tolerant of this kind of thing, but he isn't nearly as affectionate and needy.
Here's a closeup. She's a few months old here. Sparring with Dad. Derpin' out on the couch. A more recent photo. Please excuse the mess and odd assortment of random objects.
I took my son to Florida about 6 years ago when he was about 9 years old- my brother lives there. He had three cats plus a stray that he'd let in on stormy nights. That cat slept with my son the entire night without moving once- talk about a greatful cat. We took him back home to Pennsylvania and he was an awesome cat. He died two weeks ago from old age after what has to be an incredible cat story for a cat to experience. Obviously was someone's lap cat in youth, then homeless, then semi-homeless then on a plane 1,000 miles north to become a home cat where he lived out his days and dies in my son's bed- just where he wanted to be. I now have one cat and can tell she misses him. I'll probably go to PetSmart in a few months and get another cat but I want a middle-aged lap cat, not a kitten.
If they don't have what you want, just go outside at night (apartment complexes are best) and look around.. Bring some dry cat food and put it in paper plates. Then come back an hour later. You'll likely find a combination of feral cats and ones that are former housecats, which some intellectually challenged fools callously abandoned. Those cats will be timid to you, but if you talk nice to them and don't upset them, they will walk to you, meow a bit, and rub up against you, actually trying to get you to pet them. These cats are incredibly smart. They know they don't belong running around outside. They've lived all their lives in a home with people, and should still be there now, and they're going to follow you home, and attach themselves to you, and try to get you to take them in. Don't miss the opportunity. You'll never regret it. A cat that started life in a human home, became abandoned, and then got taken into a home will be the most loving thing anyone could ever have. They have an amazing sense of appreciation. Cats are a lot smarter than we think. PS - Even if you can't take any cats into your home, you might consider bringing some food out to them. They'll then start hanging around your place and keep the vermin population (mice, rats, bugs, snakes) down. Don't think because you feed them they'll stop hunting. Not a chance. I feed strays on my front patio, and they pig out. 5 minutes later I see them out in a field hunting down rats, large bugs, etc. They're not hungry. Cats are relentless hunters. They do it just for the hell of it. It's what they do.
I'm on my third rescue cat. I found a beautiful pedigree Bengal at our local rescue centre and he came home with me. I've had a few complaints about his slightly over-assertive behaviour in establishing his territory, where neighbour's cats are concerned-but I promised I'd have a word with him about trespassing! I want one of these! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy5MJghdSf8
A friend of mine went to look at cats at the local animal shelter and found the most beautiful silver tipped Persian. Not one of the flat faced ones but called a doll face, more like a regular cat. She was not pure bred and had just a tinge of orange on her face. Everyone always commented on her when she went to the vet.
Thanks to a long story (which I'm not going to bother you with) I wound up with feral cats in my yard. I keep the yard about 1/3 undeveloped, which makes for a nice home for all sorts of animals. Well, the cat had a kitten. Now, I had 2 cats, both feral. I finally caught them and had them fixed & they are still living in my yard. However, before I caught the mother, she got horny and had more kittens, which I caught. Those three now are house cats, one not really people oriented (except at meal times), one friendly, and one totally spoiled. My advice is to contact a feline rescue group. The one I contacted helped with the $$ in getting the cats fixed - ferals as well as my indoor three. The organization does TNR for true ferals. For kittens, they try to find homes for them. They charge a fee for adoption but the fee covers spay/neuter, a medical check, & all the shots & is a lot less than the expense of paying those expenses yourself. The only down side (if you can call it that) is trying to read in bed with a cat insisting that petting her is MUCH more important than that old book. The enjoyment of their company beats any inconvenience. Before our dogs died (of old age) the cats got along fine with them. I think they thought our pug-beagle mix was just a large, grumpy cat as well as a great source of heat on cool evenings. It wasn't unusual to see a dog and three cats in one pet bed.
I have a little torty that looks just like yours! She came up to me in the cold last winter meowing and begging for food. I caved and gave her food and she's been following me around ever since. She's a great cat but quite the trouble maker! She's not allowed outside anymore because she got up on the roof of my apartment and found her way into the bathroom wall of my neighbor's apartments! Maintenance was not very happy when I made them bust down her wall for my cat! Thankfully the lady who was living in the apartment was very sweet and very considerate and willing to do whatever had to be done to save my cat! That was a scary day! I have to keep a VERY close eye on this trouble maker.
. Alright ! The Cat Herders Thread [video=youtube;Pk7yqlTMvp8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pk7yqlTMvp8[/video] ------------------------------- This is Euphrates my Familiar Who is in a large part a male Russian Blue ..................................................................................... A real Meowzer Both BEFORE & AFTER his possession It is GOOD to know that both me & Bros protectionist have some positive heart felt Humanity in common ..... Besides a mutual Hostility & an aggravated Antipathy regarding 'Other Issues'. .
---A little over a year ago my girlfriend was pestering me about getting a cat. I've got an eight year old dog and wasn't too thrilled about introducing some cat to him. He's gentle, but has a strong prey instinct and has killed small animals in the past. I didn't want a cat to get scared of him and cause an attack. ---Well one day she calls me while I am at work and says, "I got a cat.". I'm thinking, she just went and bought a cat? She is an avid runner and apparently she approached what she thought was road kill. When the thing moved, she realized it was a kitten. So, being the woman that housed two stray, undomesticated baby bunnies, she took this kitten home. ---When I got home I went into the closet to get some clothes and I hear this wheezing, and I'm thinking, what the (*)(*)(*)(*) is that? I look up onto the shelf and see the most pathetic looking thing I have ever seen. This kitten was emaciated, flee-ridden, with an eye gelled over with gunk. She had a respiratory infection and it sounded like she might just kill over. Literally the first thing this kitten does when I gaze up at her is sneeze this dryish, stringy snot out of and onto her nose, and proceeds to lick it clean. ---A few hundred bucks and a year later she is an awesome addition to our little family. Cyrus never had an issue with her and her personality is awesome. She runs up the stairs ahead of me and waits at the top to bat at my legs when I reach her, then runs to the room I am heading toward. I used to be the guy that said "cats are for sissies", but I was raised with them and just forget how great they are. Desi, named after a runner from Michigan. My gf really loves running, haha. Desi chillin with her homeboy, Cyrus.
There was once a time in the USA where the mighty Mountain Lion and Cougar roamed freely among the vast plains of the West. They were king and were at the top of the food chain. They lived among humans and were able to escape traps and survive the harshest summers and winters of the desert. Today in the metropolos of the US West we have the might claico and tabby cats roaming the vast suburbs of concrete and steal making there way under fences and climing walls to stalk their prey of pidgions and mice. My how has time changed the evolution of the cat.
Desi looks like a Maine Coon Cat. I have to say that Cyrus looks SO stressed out at sharing a house with Desi!
This is my cat Battery. She rode home in my mom's car (on the Houston freeways!) curled up next to the car battery. When my mom got home all the dogs were barking at the bottom of the car and my mom got my dad to pop the hood and get a flashlight. She bolted out, crossed the street, and crawled into the neighbor's tree. It took her 30 minutes to coax her out of the tree, and my mom took her to the animal shelter where she worked. Unfortunately she got upper respiratory, and my mom couldn't stand to see her euthanized so she brought her home and placed her in my room as a foster. She never left. She is more like a dog than a cat. She needs at least 4 hours of attention a day. She likes to lick to show affection, and she talks constantly. Sometimes I have "conversations" with her for the lulz. My fiance and I left for three days and came home, and when we were halfway up the apartment steps we heard her at the door meowing in distress. She escorts me to the door when I go to work and when I come home she welcomes me. She is the strangest cat I've ever seen.
Battery A Grey - Looks like my friend Euphrates A good bit of the "Russian Blue" gene I expect They do like to TALK - do they not ?- Euphrates is also a Jumper with an unbelievable sense of balance I would bet you Battery likes to Jump - somersaults & such Euphrates has learned to flip light switches _ I've seen him do it Wake Up in the morning & he has turned all the lights on . . . . .
