Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Where did you get your current cat(s)?
self | October 2, 2008 | self

Posted on 10/02/2008 3:12:52 PM PDT by franksolich

I'm wondering how others came across the cat (or dog), or cats (or dogs) they currently have. I grew up in the Sandhills of Nebraska with dogs, although once in a great while there was a cat around.

Then I went away from home after graduating from high school, and no more pets until many many many years later, when I moved back to the Sandhills (but not the same part where I had grown up), and involuntarily began acquiring cats.

I wish I had pictures of all the current cats to post here, but I'm still learning this "scanning" thing, and while I have photographs in real life, I don't yet have them all scanned, imaged, and photobucketed.

The first cat who came here was Abbie, in January 2002. Abbie, the senior cat, is mostly grey, with a little bit of white and a little bit of black, and probably about 8 years old.

One dark night, while looking out the window, I saw a van drive down the gravel road nearby, and a cat tossed out of it.

Now, I'm not a cat person, but this irked me, especially since a domesticated cat would have problems surviving in the wilderness. It's an all-too-common practice for people, when tired of a cat or a dog, to take them out into the country and simply dump them.

The next day, I borrowed an animal trap and baited it, setting it out for this cat. Two days later, during a heavy winter rainstorm, the cat took the bait. And so Abbie, who was immediately shot and neutralized, and has always been comfortable here.

About a week later, when glancing out the window, I saw another cat--the exact same cat I had seen dumped.

Ooops, I had caught the wrong cat.

So I borrowed the animal trap again, and some days later, during one really bitter-cold night, the cat took the bait. Snow is grey-and-white, about half and half. She was too young yet to be neutralized, but got her shots.

Then a few days before she was scheduled to be neutralized and shot, she got out of the house and came back enciente, and so one had to put a "hold" on that.

In September 2002, she bore Junior, Apricot, and Floyd, all of them spitting images of herself, although Apricot was more black-and-white, than grey-and-white. They were great kittens, great cats.

Alas in May 2003, Apricot was crushed by a motor vehicle when crossing the road, and has since been missed very much, as she was quite a saucy personality.

And then in November 2004, Junior abruptly took off, never to be seen since.

I have already told the story of Floyd here, last week.

Noticing my discouragement at the loss of Apricot, a neighboring farmer presented me (without my asking) Gordon and Harold, two long-haired kittens.

Photobucket

Harold as a kitten; no picture available yet of his brother Gordon, who was pure black

Harold is still here, and now the senior male cat. Gordon like Junior before him, mysteriously evaporated in May 2008.

George came here in summer 2003; actually I stole him, from a primitive, a DUmmie, who had neglected him. Horror of horrors, she had named him "Sunshine."

Photobucket

George in the summer of 2008

Unwilling to tolerate animal abuse, I simply took him, and the primitive, the DUmmie, never even knew it, and probably does not know to this day. George has always had ample opportunity to return to his old home, but even after more than 5 years here, he shows no inclination to do so.

Ellie came here on Christmas Day 2003; a city councilman driving down the highway had seen her, and as I lived in the house closest from the highway, dropped her off. She was a very tiny all-orange kitten, so small one could hold her inside the palm of a hand without any overlap. She also had a broken tail, weighed less than a pound and a half, and was infested with all sorts of parasites. Ellie has since remained pretty small for a cat, but remains healthy and chipper.

Photobucket

Ellie in summer 2008

Sometime after she had been shot and neutralized, during a late-March snowstorm, Ellie disappeared for some days, coming back with a busted-off back leg. The leg was successfully set, although it was a long spring, as she so wanted to romp and play in the great outdoors, but the cast and splint were about the same size as she was then, and such was not possible. But by early summer, she had healed, and has since remained healthy and vigorous.

Leo came shortly after Ellie, within weeks of January 2004; Leo was obviously a feral kitten (about the same age as Ellie), and refused to come inside. One night, however, when it was -20 degrees F with a 50 mph wind blowing, Leo came inside.

Photobucket

Leo the summer of 2008

I had hoped I was done acquiring cats; even though by this time, the time Leo came here, I had already lost Apricot and Junior, the number of cats here, and those two losses, sapped more out of me than I had thought possible.

But then.....in May 2008, about five years later, Gustav showed up. Gustav is about 10-12 years old, an ancient among cats.

Photobucket

Gustav in July 2008

Gustav came here dangling a busted-off front leg, which was repaired by the veterinary the following morning, in addition to the shots and neutralization. Gustav really really really wanted to be wandering the great outdoors, but was incarcerated here until the splint and cast were removed some weeks later.

Unlike Ellie, who had recovered use of all four legs instantly the splint and cast had been removed, perhaps because of his Great Age, it took Gustav some weeks to re-discover his fourth leg. Once he started romping and racing in the meadow here, I figured Gustav was leaving. Since late August, Gustav has shown up for supper perhaps six times, and I'm hoping as the weather gets colder, Gustav will make it a point to stick around here, inside, more.

While Gustav was still on the mend, when I was in the "big city," someone dumped a cat inside my motor vehicle (fortunately all four windows were down a couple of inches, and fortunately I got back to the car less than an hour after I had parked it).

Photobucket

William, the latest and youngest cat, the summer of 2008

Well, I hope that's all the cats for now, as it gets crowded in the wintertime, when all are indoors. The house is large, with plenty of acreage for each cat, but for some reason they always want the same space all the other cats want.

This place is, really, a paradise for cats.

Photobucket

The river that runs near; I am the only house on this side of the river

Photobucket

The cat terrain to the north

Photobucket

The cat terrain to the west

Photobucket

The cat terrain to the south, getting to the river; there is a grove of walnut trees on the right, outside of this picture

On the east of the house is the famous William Rivers Pitt, circa 740 cubic tons of antique swine excrement dating from 1875 until 1950, looking very much like a miniature Jungfrau; no photograph available yet.


TOPICS: Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: cat; cats; dog; dogs
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-83 next last
To: franksolich
Three years ago we were in CA, where our daughter was due to have a baby. She had gotten two kittens for her children. She was ready to pop and in no shape to take care of the kittens. Her husband had a job with a long commute: leave early, back late. The children were too young to care for any kind of pets. So I took over the care of the kittens: let them out of the barn in the morning, feed and water them, and play with them.

About the time we were due to return home, the husband got a better job offer in New Hampshire, all the way across the country. They couldn't take the kittens with them. We figured we'd have to leave the kittens with another daughter.

The day we were to leave, the kittens were all over me. I had the uncanny feeling, they know!. I couldn't leave them. We ended up loading the kittens in the RV and taking them home with us. They're still with us, and spend a lot of time on my lap.

21 posted on 10/02/2008 3:30:26 PM PDT by JoeFromSidney (My book is out. Read excerpts at http://www.thejusticecooperative.com)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: franksolich
From my local CAT Dealer, of course.

Photobucket

22 posted on 10/02/2008 3:31:29 PM PDT by Roccus (POLITICIAN.....................A four letter word spelled with ten letters.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: franksolich

I found all three of my cats right here on my property - the first in 1989, the second in 1992 and the third in 1999. They are all still alive and well.

Then I found a Pug just last year. Because I am already maxed out per our city code (three animals per household are all that’s allowed), the Pug went to my Mom’s house. He is a handful (very strong, disobedient, etc.) but he’s very affectionate, and we just love him!


23 posted on 10/02/2008 3:31:58 PM PDT by Joann37
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: franksolich

We got Wednesday from someone who sent an email out to the homeschool association. He was moving. She was about 9 years old at the time; we’ve had her about a year and a half. She’s not very friendly, so we adopted Shannon from a cat-rescue group that was at the PetsMart. She was 4 months old when we got her about a year ago. She’s a little more friendly than Wednesday, but not a lot.

Our snake is more sociable than either of the catz. Go figure ... of course, she likes our body temperature.


24 posted on 10/02/2008 3:32:29 PM PDT by Tax-chick ("I always expect the worst from the RATS and they always deliver." ~ rrrod)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: franksolich
The two best dogs we ever had, George and Martha, were abandoned as pups a little way from here. One day I looked up and my cow and goats were all perfectly still looking in one direction. I looked and there were George and Martha, who were happy to move in and looked like little golden retrievers only with black noses, so they looked like dolls. They were terrific at double teaming groundhogs, and every Xmas for a few years I thought I was going to get a deer, because they'd drag the parts to our front yard, and I figured they'd assemble them on Xmas night. (Deer were field dressed by poachers ....)

Alleyxandra Purrdita Po' Tabby Trash Cat literally climbed out of a tree into my arms.

Pollyanna Rivanna Luxapalila Chincoteague Dot Org(andy) was given to us because we needed a mouser, since Alley was more ornamental than useful.

Clint Junior Lightning got himself stuck in a pile of lumber when he was just a weanling form one of the feral cats who hang around here. He needed help recovering from exposure and now he tries to catch the cursor when I type. His motto is certainly "Go ahead, make my day," ever since his bedroom was a Boca Java box and when I reached in to medicate him he would raise a diminutive paw and hiss.

25 posted on 10/02/2008 3:34:47 PM PDT by Mad Dawg (Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: franksolich
I got my cat Noir at the beginning of September 2003 when she wandered into my parents’ garage and decided to play with a spark plug. This moment of inattention on her part allowed me to catch her, she was semi wild, and bring her inside.

I got my cat Mantacore on my birthday the same year. He was just a kitten who apparently had been abused, the whiskers on one side of his face had been cut off, but this didn't stop him from following a coworker nor did it stop him from putting on a full scale charm offensive at any prospective new owner.

I inherited Carrot Face from my grandmother when she died in June 2006. He has a extremely fat brother that I also took in but the two hated one another and would beat each other up constantly. Hard to believe the two had to live together for ten years. The brother now lives with my aunt.

26 posted on 10/02/2008 3:35:39 PM PDT by CzarNicky (The problem with bad ideas is that they seemed like good ideas at the time.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: franksolich
All the current cats were strays or feral. The oldest, Jessie, is 15 and was found at work as a newborn. No mom or siblings in sight! I bottle fed her. I trapped Spot (13) at work, and Phoenix (12) was also found at work choking on a bird bone! Omega(11) spent her early months in a cage with a young racoon at my friend's house. Diamond was found very pregnant and had 4 kittens( Cowboy, Nova, Gumby, and Glory) with the condition entropion( turned in eyelids) Except it was so bad that they really didn't have eyelids! They all had surgery to fix it, but it didn't really work for two who are mostly blind. (Days after their seventh birthday, the one-eyed one unexpectantly died.) The latest, Echo, is only a year old and was found...did you guess?---AT WORK! He was half wild and took awhile to catch.

The moral of this story is that I should stop going to work!!

27 posted on 10/02/2008 3:36:34 PM PDT by Americanchild
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: franksolich

I’ve found that planting a cat will generally produce two more. If the ground ia good even three.


28 posted on 10/02/2008 3:38:19 PM PDT by count-your-change (You don't have be brilliant, not being stupid is enough.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: franksolich
Dutch (Fat Ass) and Jones (Lovey-dovey) I got after the divorce:


Jones is the gray one.

Doom I got from a friend after a bit of begging from her 10-year-old Daughter.


And then there's Binx. My Sister asked me to hold her until she could get her into a place that allows more than one pet.


Yeah. Things get really crazy here at around 1AM.
29 posted on 10/02/2008 3:38:30 PM PDT by RandallFlagg (Satisfaction was my sin)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: webschooner

You are evil!!!


30 posted on 10/02/2008 3:38:50 PM PDT by navymom1 (I support Free Speech. Defeat the Fairness Doctrine.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: All
Phineas came from a barn in northern Vermont and was my youngest son's cat, adopted as a kitten. His landloard found out he had a cat and reminded him that his wife was allergic to cats and it had to go. That November, he came home with Phineas and a reuest: "Dad, can look after Phineas for me for a bit, till I get another place some day?" That was over 10 years ago. Phineas is now MY cat.. my 4th son! You can pry him away from my cold dead hands!! http://www.kodakgallery.com/PhotoView.jsp?UV=865085880910_202705359605&collid=64803347105.359005359605.1222986711016&photoid=259005359605&folderid=0&view=1&page=1&sort_order=&albumsperpage=&navfolderid=2008h
31 posted on 10/02/2008 3:38:58 PM PDT by Spottys Spurs (Proudly served with the 1st H.B. 369th...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: All

Love all the photos. Argyle came from an ad in the newspaper. I always heard that cats chose you and not the other way around. Getting Argie was the luckiest thing that’s ever happened to me. He’s my lap cat and enjoys his cuddle time.


32 posted on 10/02/2008 3:41:02 PM PDT by navymom1 (I support Free Speech. Defeat the Fairness Doctrine.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: tacticalogic
In 2001, I decided to become a "foster mom" for the local no-kill shelter...Fidget was the first they brought me, an orange manx...she is still with me....therefore, I no longer try to be a foster mom. If you can't give them up, you are an "adopter".

Photobucket

33 posted on 10/02/2008 3:41:28 PM PDT by greyfoxx39 ("I fear all we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve. ( DBM)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]

To: franksolich
I have more than a dozen cats - and cats doors to let them in and out. Most are strays from the very town that wants me to get rid of them somehow. I have pointed out that I got my cats fixed, they should be talking to the other people in this small town who let their cats breed. A few of our cats we got from friends who couldn't keep them, again, we got these females fixed. Our youngest is over a year old.

Currently we have some local stray Toms (males) who just drop in. It took two years for us to get one of them to let us pet him. Now he sleeps with me. Another yellow cat comes in occassionally to eat but he won't let us pet him --- yet. We call him TOYC which is "The Other Yellow Cat."

Sneezy just jumped in front of the monitor.jxkkjc I am accepting donations to get more fixed.....

34 posted on 10/02/2008 3:41:40 PM PDT by eccentric (a.k.a. baldwidow)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: franksolich

Gee, I thought your area was only famous for the great filly Sandhills Diamond or all those cranes we love to view along the Platte in the spring.

But now, we’ll be on the high alert for the cats, and of course that heigth-challenged trooper who ticketed me for going 65 near Broken Bow on Highway 2 at 5am on a Sunday morning. And to think he had the nerve to ask if I was a Husker fan-—only when they lose I told him :)

Lew, in Kansas


35 posted on 10/02/2008 3:42:17 PM PDT by laterldf
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: franksolich
I found my cat Elliott "parked" in a parking spot in a strip mall, in front of Bed, Bath & Beyond.


Elliott in 2006

36 posted on 10/02/2008 3:42:26 PM PDT by arasina (So there.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: All

Speaking of pets. Anyone got a dog or cat with unique qualities?

My Golden Retriever, Sam, enjoys a happy hour Corona from his beer bowl. We leave out the lime. Sam’s taste buds aren’t that particular. A Marine friend of mine has a Golden named Coco. She likes her scotch at the end of a hard day.


37 posted on 10/02/2008 3:44:03 PM PDT by navymom1 (I support Free Speech. Defeat the Fairness Doctrine.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: greyfoxx39

You don’t really adopt them, you let them keep you.


38 posted on 10/02/2008 3:44:27 PM PDT by tacticalogic ("Oh bother!" said Pooh, as he chambered his last round.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: franksolich
I don't have cats anymore but I will tell you how I got my last cat. We were staying at a motel in south Texas . On the door step of the office was a tiny kitten. The desk clerk said it had been there for 3 days and belonged to no one. My daughter and it took it to the room, fed and watered it and it curled up on the foot of the bed and began to purr. My husband said the purring was so loud it drowned out the TV. We named her Motorola and she lived to be 16 years old and was a devoted friend to us all.
39 posted on 10/02/2008 3:45:23 PM PDT by Ditter
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: franksolich

First 2 kitties, brother and sister, I got from my boss’ neighbor who was going to kill them if they weren’t adopted. When the sister died of cancer, I got another one from Peto in Santa Monica, CA. I recently adopted my puppies from PetSmart in KC.


40 posted on 10/02/2008 3:45:40 PM PDT by peggybac (Tolerance is the virtue of believing in nothing)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-6061-8081-83 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson