The Cat Saga

[Xavieth]

kit Kat

Here is the funniest video I've ever seen involving a cat =P
http://home.satx.rr.com/amber/catinfan.wmv

I laughed for day's.

[Morgrist]

You did the right thing.

Both of the cats that ended up part of my life were strays-kittens that had been abandoned/lost their mothers and ended up first fed,then officially adopted into my parent's house.

My sister got naming rights. Thus,we had Kitty-Kitty (the biggest orange tabby lump of a lap cat you ever met) and Harry (from Cricket in Times Square) take over the place,lord it over the dog (a dumb mutt of a dog,and I mean -stupid-) and all within it.

Helping the weak is natural-it's good karma,after all. And you won't ever,ever regret it.

Mom,if she's still alive is a survivor...in fact,now that she's not feeding for three she's likely far better off. Only wish she could have been adopted and spayed,but you can't have everything.

[Snapdragyn]

This reminded me of my own kitty. We found her when she was only a couple of days old, eyes still closed, in the abandoned lot next to our house (we lived in the woods). My mom said we should leave her for the mother cat to come back to, but when she got home from dropping me at school that day the kitten was still there so she took it in. We found her siblings the next day, very weak from lack of food, but with eyedroppers of formula from the vet all pulled through the first rough bit. Sadly, one of the siblings died of a respiratory infection at about 3 months, & the other got run over, but that first one lived & became my cat, Trouble (so named because we had to get up a couple of times a night to feed them).

We got Trouble when I was in 5th grade, & had her for 13 years. She lived outdoors because my stepfather hated cats & this was the only way she could stay with us. She had 3 litters before we had to have her fixed for her own health (& as an adult I think we should've done it sooner just because there are so many kittens that don't find good homes); every litter she would have in a secret spot, & then proceed to lead me to them the very first day they were born, lol. We always moved them to a box in our carport, & she would nurse them & purr while I petted her.

When I was 13 we moved, & the new house was in the suburbs -- neighbors all around (except a farm behind us) & the ones next door had a BIG doberman that would bounce against the fence & bark whenever he saw her. She ran away after just a few days, & I was so sad thinking she was gone for good. Well, almost a full year later I was going around one evening selling candy with some schoolmates to raise money for the band, & this cat came up to me at one house & started rubbing against me & purring. It was dark, so I didn't notice right away, but as I was petting it & looked closer, I realized... this was my cat!

The group I was with insisted we move along, but the very next day I was back knocking on every door in that block with a picture of Trouble; I found a woman who'd been putting food out for 'the stray' & mentioned that there was a barn in the lot behind her house. After getting permission from the owners, I went out to the barn & called for her like I always used to, 'Kiiii-ki-ki-ki-KI-KI-KI-KI-KI!' (sort of like 'soo-eeee pig', & the 'ki' is from 'kitty' said so fast it blurred to one syllable). THERE she came running into the barn, purring up a storm! I was SO happy (& misty-eyed now remembering, hehe).

The neighbors with the loud dog had moved, but by then we had a dog of our own (poodle-mutt who's owner had left it tied outside in snow -- one of the rare times my stepdad did something really good, because he just told the people he was taking the dog & brought it home). Trouble wasn't too sure about him, but once she'd made it clear SHE was boss, it was OK for us to keep the funny-looking fur-person too.

We moved once more before I left for college (she did fine on that move, back to wooded area then), & was with my family until I had moved away to California. My parents moved then, & after a few days in the new area (with lots of noisy subdivision construction going on around them) she ran away again. At that point she was 13 years old, was is getting on a bit for an outdoor cat... so I resigned myself to the sad reality that she was gone for real this time.

A month or so later, I was walking through the Castro with a friend, & we saw the SPCA setting up their 'kitty display' (cats that they have for adoption who do well enough around different settings that they would take them out in carrying cages & set up). There was a cat that looked SO much like my Trouble that for just a minute I wondered... 'could she have found her way to me from Texas?'... but no, it was just colored much the same. We walked along, my friend kept talking & after a minute realized I was very quiet... turned & saw me tearing up. *sigh*

Ah! Sad ending, sorry. Anyway, I'm glad you were able to help the kittens, & I'll hope that the momma had another 'luck of the stray' blessing just like she did when she found you.

Oh, even though we kept our cat outdoors when I was young, I'd never recommend it to anyone who has a choice in the matter -- not only is the cat at risk from dogs, cars, & diseased strays but they can be very hard on local wildlife; Trouble would catch shrews all the time & even baby rabbits on occasion. Here in San Francisco there are almost no quail left in Golden Gate Park because of feral cats (not meaning to incite argument on how this should best be dealt with, just noting that no one is happy with good cats being stuck in bad situations).

[fortunbas]

Cats

Thanks for this lovely story

I work too hard sometimes and when I dont I delve into EQ- which my wife says is a form of addiction and escapism /shrug

I dont spend enough time checking out my fellow human beings to appreciate that there are still some pretty darn nice people out there!

My wife and I adore cats. About six years ago we had to make a heart rendering decision to move from South Africa to the UK, which meant leaving my cat behind with my brother. My cat Queenie was my companion and teacher for over twenty human years.

Leaving her behind in SA was a painful decison that had to be made because of the strict quarantine laws that the UK had which has subsequently been lifted with introduction of a pet passport scheme. My cat was just too frail to make the journey and I could not do that to her.

This has had the effect of making me think long and hard about taking on the enormous responcibility of nurtchering two new kittens for the next twenty years. I never want to make that sort of decision ever again.

My last cat died about two years ago and I was there briefly to wish her well on her new journey, but it hurt as does all things that mean so much in loss. My brother was there to say the final goodbye when the vet said it was time to prevent unneccessary further pain and suffering- weighed against the quality of life for her.

In any case, those that feel the affinity to protect, care and share life for/with animals- past the adorable puppy or kitten stage, are high on my list of people that are special! Im probably presumptuous in saying that those who dont like cats have no souls but its a saying I heard from my mother and I like it

Thanks again for sharing that story and take comfort in the knowledge that if you choose to believe- and definitely in my humble opinion, you have set another stone in your house in heaven, which leads me to a quote I read from an anonymous person in a lovely little book on cats

"Heaven will not ever a heaven be, unless my cats are there to welcome me." ~ Anonymous Circa AC

There was a point to writing this story when I started but now I cant seem to remember

Anyway, keep safe and be happy

Fortunbas

PS Thanks for such an awesome site!

[Nala]

Pondering human nature

Yesterday I saw on the news the story of the Texas woman who, driving drunk, was capable of hitting a man hard enough that he lodged in her windshield, driving the rest of the way home, parking the car in her garage, and leaving the man to die there, still wedged in her windshield. Later, she burned the car seat upon which he'd bled as he died.

I listened to her pleading for clemency ... blaming the alcohol she'd voluntarily gotten drunk on ... blaming drugs. She said all the right words, how sorry she was, etc., but in the end, it wasn't really *her* fault... it was the intoxicants. Uh huh.

I ponder the complete absence of empathy in such a person, the way in which she put her own fear of punishment above the value of another human's life, and then went to far as to even try to cover up her crime after the drunken stupor wore off. I find myself wondering what that means for our society. (Thankfully, one judge and jury did the right thing, she's locked up for 60 years).

After seeing evidence that there are such people out there, it is heartening to read so many stories of the very opposite kind of people here. People who cannot help but reach out to a fellow creature that's suffering, people who care enough to try to do something - maybe not always the right thing - but at least moved to act.

Thank you, all of you. Not just for rescuing the kitties in your life, not just for loving them, but for teaching those same values to your children, to your friends, to your family, ... for setting an example of how to truly be humane. We need so many more like you.

Nalaureth Darkbane
64th Warder of Tunare, AB
Always Malkuth's pet

[Banumtiniel]

Da Cat's

I Must admit, Im a sucker for Felines. Currently got 2 of them that own my house now.

The First one (A shaded Persian) which we accurately named "Brat Cat" after much debate, was acquired when she was at our back door screen in 29 Palms California, Nearly dead from dehydration she was a pitiful creature. We brought her in and gave her some food and water, of which she finished off several bowls before calming down. Well she was well mannered, but she had been de-clawed, which would have meant her death out in the desert, so we took her in.. She has earned the name Brat that's for sure.

And our 2nd acquisition happened about 6 months later, a small kitten was underneath my car one morning and I couldnt get her to leave. So had to jack up the car and get her out. We aptly named this one "mischief", cuz that's all she is into. Eh, Im a bleeding heart when it comes to cats. But I love em both.

I am glad that there is at least a good side to the story. Keep up the good work.

[Sheevil]

I myself have 2 of the little monsters

There is Xanadu who is the older of the two. She is mostly all white with patches of black and brown, she is the b*tch of the two hehe :roll: She doesnt like attention too much but when she is in the mood, she'll let you pet her but only for a short while.

And the other, Vespertine. She is all white with a patch of gray on the top of her head, has one blue eye and one green eye, she is the sweetest kitty ever and very vocal. She is always running up to me purring wanting to be loved and i cant resist but to pet her and give her kisses~
Vespertine~

I would post a picutre of Xanadu but my hard drive crashed recently, losing all of my pictures of her (and there were A LOT) from kitten to adult.

[Eowenna Celerdain]

Another Kitty story ...

*sniff* Awww, that was so sweet of you Denmum!


My Pounce and Tumble had a rough start also ...

A friend's neighbor saw an extremely thin but still beautiful medium/long hair kitty in her back yard one day. She had a grey and white "tuxedo" tom of her own ... this stray ginger cat with amber eyes still caught her attention.

Ginger kitty wouldn't let her near, but aside from acting skittish she showed no signs of being "wild" ... and the lady noticed the bedraggled collar that the ginger kitty still wore.

There was an extra food and water dish for the family's kitty. Ginger kitty sipped, nibbled, then staggered away.

About 20 minutes later, ginger kitty shows up scratching on the lady's door. When she opened the door, ginger kitty is *very* eager to get inside.

The lady remembers that she said something like "my goodness!" and reached down to pick kitty up, pet her, and gently but firmly put this stray back outside. The house, after all, belonged to the family's "Patrick" kitty.

But when she knelt to pick up the ginger kitty, the kitty did an amazing thing. She turned and placed her burden in the woman's hand: a small ball of fluffy fur almost the same color as the mama.

That tiny furball grew into my Tumble. His eyes weren't quite open yet, when he was first given into human hands.

It took the poor mama kitty 10 hours to stagger back and forth from wherever she'd originally hidden her kittens ... to bring all six to this woman's home, and hide them in the little girl's closet. The runt came last, appearant evidence that the complete litter had survived thus far. Though when that runt arrived, she was cold and unconscious.

Mama kitty, dubbed "Tiffany," had run dry. She had reached a point of deterioration where she could no longer give milk to her babies ... our best guess is that was what drove her to seek human aid. The babies were undernourished, probably from the eroding milk supply.

That woman, though good-hearted, had no clue what to do. She realized that feeding the mama wouldn't cover the need, but had never had any experience with caring for such young kittens. So she called my friend, her neighbor, who is known as a cat-lover, to help her.

Trips to the vet, eyedroppers of formula, towels, worm medicine ... from that day forward, the kittens were handled and tended. Tiffany slowly recovered, and eventually was able to produce milk for them again.

All of the kittens survived. Three kittens were a paler shade of their mama's ginger coat, two were mottled grey, the last was black and orange.

Having a soft spot for kitties, I *had* to visit sometimes. Well ... it was a joy to see their progress. Little by little, I found that the two striped kittens with the "tuxedo" markings (white paws, chest, and tummy ... these also had a white blaze on their faces) caught my eye more than the others.

Oh, I liked them all, but somehow those two were just that wee bit more appealing. Although at that time, I had no plans regarding them.

I was trying to help find homes for most of them, along with my friend and her neighbor. The lady Tiffany had adopted decided that she wanted to keep the faithful little mama kitty, and maybe one or two of the kittens besides ... but she realized she couldn't keep them all.

The vet had recommended keeping the kittens with their mother longer than usual, to make sure they'd recovered from their severe malnutrition.

A few pictures were distributed, some casual "maybe" responses came from friends and acquaintences ... but when the time came to actually *place* the kitties, people were regretfully unable to take them.

I visited again, about that time. The two kitties who had caught my attention came and had a wrestling match in my lap, and somehow ... I just ... couldn't ... stand by and watch those two go somewhere that I'd never see how they grew up. ops:

I debated long on names, considering and discarding "Carmel" and "Toffee" (which aptly described their fur color ... they're a bit paler than their mom). There came a day when I was watching CATS video and saw "Pouncival" and "Tumblebrutus," the two most acrobatic toms. Since those would shorten so nicely to "Pounce" and "Tumble," my decision was finally made.

The kitten who was most inclined to start the wrestling matches (that all kittens seem to thrive on) became known as "Pounce," the other one who seemed slightly more acrobatic in his play became known as "Tumble."

Almost three years later, Pounce remains the instigator of almost all their wrestling matches. Tumble grew into a "gentle giant" who doesn't always appreciate his moderately smaller brother's mischief. For the most part, they get along reasonably well.

Both are very affectionate ... Pounce shamelessly so, Tumble -- mostly when Pounce is asleep or out of sight. They take turns sleeping with me, or sometimes both snuggle up with me. They often sprawl on the floor by my feet or on top of the amoire (sp?) when I'm computing or playing EQ.

Apartment complex rules are "indoor cats only" ... which seems to suit them fine, as they've never really been outside since their very earliest days.

They are big kitties now. I'm nearly 6 feet tall, and either one can curl up on me and stretch from my shoulder to my hip easily, just from nose to root of tail. When both of them pile onto me, I'm fairly effectively held down!


(In case you wondered: Patrick kitty didn't appreciate the new arrivals, and was eventually given to a home where he had no competition.)

[Chenier]

OKay, DenMom, could you please edit your first post and note that kleenex is required? =)

/wipes her eyes

Great thread folks...so touching and sad and happy all at the same time. =)

/big hugs DenMom

Cassandra
Head Staffmistress to "The Boys", Nicky and Cato
(who were strays I got from a friend of a friend)

[Beldhyr]

Cats

I've only owned three cats, my father was never a fan of them, but all three were homeless.

Tom (ok, so me and my sister were like 3 when we named him) just wandered up one day, a beautiful black male. He never left.

George and Chester (Both females) we happened to hear mewing and investigated. I'm really, really glad we did. We were walking down the driveway from school...this was at the end of the driveway, in a fairly deep ditch (we lived on a farm, and the driveway was pretty long). It was Decemberish. It was snowing. They could not have been more than a month or so old. Some cretin had apparently dumped them out in the snowstorm to let them die. It's the kind of "sack full of kittens" story you hear but never *quite* believe.

L'enfer, c'est les autres.

[Sheevil]

Off of the subject...
Eowenna, where did you get your avatar pic?

[Eowenna Celerdain]

Kitties and pictures ...

/continuing derail

I made my avatar at EQ Pixel Army

(And yes, they have Vah Shir too!)

/derail off

Sighhhhh ... kitties!

Pounce is laying on his back dozing, with all 4 paws going different directions. Tumble is quietly munching an ... uhm ... early morning snack. Now he sees me looking his direction and comes for petting.
:: she melts as he starts purring ::

I think it was Mark Twain who said something like "a house without a cat may be a home, but how can it prove its title?"

[yshva]

drawn out cat story...

I got my first cat when I was just 6yo. Tiffany - the most hateful (and therefore hated) cat in all history. No matter how nice you treated her, she hated you. That cat lived to be about 20 years old.

When she finally collapsed, my parents vowed to never get another cat ever again.... well that didn't last very long There was a long string of family stress and my parents were on the verge of losing it when one morning they heard some mewling from a bush in the front yard. Turns out one of the feral cats in the neighborhood dumped 2 kittens there and then just took off.

Well, my parents couldn't abide this abandonment, and refused to let the poor, cute, little furballs to starve to death, so they brought them in and made them family pets. Both Skittles and Oreo (my brother named them) are about 20lbs, lazy, and the most lovable cats on the planet.

Skittles likes to play goalie by jumping up on the island in the kitchen and batting down little pieces of paper that you throw past him. Oreo is well... slow. Ok, I really think that if you look deep into his eyes, you can see the back of his head. But that's neither here nor there. They're lovable, adorable little angels that we really believe that God put in those bushes to keep my parents sane during those tough times.

Well, 2 years later, we hear some more mewling coming from under the shed in the back yard... seems that the neighborhood feral cat has been up to her old tricks (no pun intended), and deposited another litter for us to take care of.

We had 2 fat cats in the house plus my cat that I brought home with me, and now there were 4 more in the back yard. We simply couldn't take care of them all. To top it off, 2 of the kittens looked JUST like Skittles and Oreo! I guess there's no chlorine in that gene pool.

The most dangerous predators in the area were the kittens themselves, so we really didn't have to worry about them too much. They were feral themselves, and very skittish around ppl. However, with a spring and summer of feeding them and earning their trust, we were able to all sit on the back porch together.

As spring turns to summer, so must summer turn to fall... we had 6 month old feral kittens that we were sure either wouldn't survive the harsh New England winter, or would further aggravate the feral cat problem in our neighborhood. In any case, we had to do something.

When I moved back home, I bought a giant pet carrier at Costco (as if there would be any other size) that would fit a good sized doberman. I wanted to make sure my cat would have all the comforts of home and still be able to move around his cage during the long drive across the country.

It was a good thing I had this carrier, because it was just big enough to fit 4 feral kittens We left the carrier open on the back deck for a few days for the cats to get used to it - we even put their food dish in the carrier.

Friday, we didn't feed them at all. We wanted them a little hungry on Saturday morning, so their hunger would override their natural skittishness around ppl. My father sat in the chair in the corner while my mother put a double helping of wet and dry food into the far back of the pet carrier. We didn't have to wait long - we got 1, 2, 3 kittens in there immediately with the 4th standing guard.

As everyone here has said, you can't trap only part of a litter - you have to get everyone, or you might as well not get any. So we had to wait and pray this worked...

Finally, about 2 minutes later, when the 4th kitten saw there was no real danger, hunger overrode his natural instincts, and he climbed into the carrier to break fast.

My father crept up to the carrier, and shut the door as quickly as possible - ok, he slammed the door shut.

You would've thought he was riding a bucking bronco by the way that carrier was bouncing all over the place. The look of shock on his face was enough to send me and my mother into peals of laughter to the verge of tears.

When they finally calmed down, the kittens seemed resigned to the fact they were trapped, and continued eating. The carrier stank of wet catfood for HOURS afterwards.

We loaded up the carrier into my father's pickup and drove down to the local animal shelter. There really wasn't room there, but since the 4 cats were content to share one another's space, they said they could find a free space to put all four of them.

We had a wonderful summer with those kittens, and I believe that our love and tenderness made at least 2 of those 4 feral kittens into cats that can be adopted into loving homes.

I also know that when the time comes for Skittles and Oreo to head to the great scratching post in the sky, the next kittens we get will be from that animal shelter.

[Starchilde]

*sniff*

This is my first post here, but I just had to say that I hope someone like you people adopted my babies, Sheba and Shadows. I have to hope for that, because thinking otherwise makes my heart break. See, I took them with me from Sweden when I came to visit here in the States. They were with a so called friend of mine in MN when I went on to OK and later to WA. I happened to stay in WA, got married here. I was off the internet for about six weeks, because we were trying to save up the $$ needed to transport my babies from MN to WA. Unfortunately, my so called friend didn't have the patience to wait and dumped them at the Humane Society. My oldest, Sheba, was six years old at the time, a beautiful tortoise-shell color with amber eyes. I got her when she was seven weeks old. The younger one, Shadows, was two and kind of shy around strangers. She was mottled gray and black. And, like I said, thinking anything other than that they both got adopted by a nice family makes me break down and cry, even now, almost three years later.

[leafey]

cats rule

Because I felt so touched by the awesome stories about all the cats I though some might like to here how I got my cat phoenix. A word of caution some parts of story are sad but imho it is a happy conclusion. One very cold winter morning 2 years ago, my sister and me drove to the local vets office for a check up on her dog. That night it turns out some #$%$#@%@#$%@# decided to leave five kittens in a box with no blankets of any kind. At the vets, best guess they were at most a week old and sick as could be. They were trying to take care of the kittens and run the business but as any one with a baby can tell you, they are a full time job with only one let alone five at once. When we saw them we just had to help all we could we made a deal with the vet they would do any medical care until we got them well (or passed on as seamed likely the case) and when we got them well they would take them back and find homes for them all. Therefore, we took them home in what was about the toughest 3 months of my and my sisters life. We had to hand bottle feed them and clean them up I have never worked so hard. About 2 weeks in the first kitten passed, I got the displeasure of burying her as my sister and her daughter cried for hours. We ended up loosening two more over the next few weeks despite our best efforts to help them. With only two left we thought we had them in the clear my niece took to a solid black one Blackie and I my heart just melted for a calico who was later to be named phoenix. About 2 months down this long road, we awoke one morning to find phoenix barely moving and looked horrible. We took her to the vet who said that it looks as if she had some form of a stroke and gave us no hope to survive the next night. Having watched 3 babies die all ready I was ****ed if I was going to let them pet her down we took her home and I stayed with her all night. At some point, I crashed and woke to my niece LoL phoenix was up and playing as if she had been fine all along. She then got the name Phoenix after the mythical firebird who dies to flames and a baby rises up from the ashes. The phoenix is a very old symbol for rebirth and life I felt it fit her two brushes with death very well. Atm she is sitting on my shoulder watching me type like a parrot so the bird reference is quite appropriate )