"Cleo and Angus came to live with us in January, 2011. We’d gone to the Royal Oak Michigan shelter looking for a 3-6 year old male. An affectionate cat, a lap cat, unlike the two diva girls I already had at home. The shelter worker asked “Would you consider taking two?” and thrust this 6 month old kitten at my husband. “These two are really cuddly. They’re littermates who’ve never been apart so we want to keep them together. The rest of their litter were adopted months ago, they’ve spent their whole lives in the shelter, we’ll give you a discount if you take two…” -- the whole sob story. Just as I said, “Do we really want two? We already HAVE two…” I heard my husband say, “I wouldn’t rule it out.” So I told the shelter worker, “I don’t even want to meet the other one, just box them up, we’ll take them both.”
Angus is a long skinny boy who loves to stretch out fully -- belly down, paws fully outstretched. He turned out to be the lapcat of my dreams. You can pick him up from a sound sleep, pour him into someone else’s lap, and he’ll barely stir.
Cleo is a quirky, roly-poly little pudge. If you give Cleo a choice of toys, she picks the pink one, every time. She’s got the strongest predatory instinct of any cat I’ve ever had, if her behavior looking at the birds & squirrels through the window is anything to go by.
In their first year with us, they’ve destroyed a vase, two food bowls, a handmade sock, several knitting projects in progress, many balls of yarn, a gorgeous piece of art glass, more feather toys than I can count, and a bunch of houseplants. Or so I can recall off the top of my head. There have been moments when I’ve wanted to turn them into cat-shaped stains on the wall, but one look at those dark copper eyes and those innocent faces, and I melt, even as I’m sweeping up their latest round of destruction.
There’s never a dull moment with our gremlins around."
Heather, Chris and Ida - Portland, ME
Rainy (Lorraine) and Freya - Green Bay, WI
"My husband and I lost 2 of our kitties this year and the house seemed so empty (okay, so we still had 2 kitties and a dog, but it was still empty feeling). So around Thanksgiving, I started really feeling the need for a kitty.
I heard our local shelter, the Bay Area Humane Society was doing free adoptions in December for cats 6 months and older. I stopped there at lunch and there were 4 rooms FULL of cats, but none jumped out at me. Two weeks later, I went back and there were 2 senior cats and a 3 month old cat - that’s IT!
On thursday, Dec 22, I had a little time at lunch and it was too cold to knit in the car, so I went to the shelter. And there she was. In a mostly empty room in a shelter that was closing that day for a week, the only kitty who did t have a “hold for pickup on the 22nd” sign, there she was. Six months and 10 days old, just barely over the threshold between free and $150. Cuteness incarnate.
I called my husband the second he got out of work and said “RUN over and meet her”. When I got home from work 4 hours later, there she was. Since it was the Solstice, we named her Freya."
Joy and Tiger & Jeff - Hawaii
"My two ratties are adopted babies from the hoarder situation in San Francisco. They traveled far to get to their (final) forever home." Joy dotes on her two new boys and has knitted a hammock for them since their arrival.
Sarah and Tela - Winter Park, FL
Shared courtesy of Sarah's sister, Becca. "My sister adopted her about 3 months ago and couldn't have gotten a more perfect pup!"
Desiree' and Baby Kitty - Tennessee
"Baby Kitty has been with us since March. Her original name was Jawcat. I forget the story behind it, but we didn't like the name. We couldn’t come up with one but we kept calling her Baby kitty and that’s what stuck!"
Tammy and Little Bee - Connecticut
"This is Little Bee, adopted from The Humane Society this summer. We are not allowed “uncaged” pets and at one time we had 7 birds…we are now down to three. I’d love a kitty but since Baloo, my parrot, would then be caged more, I felt it was unfair to him. He is about 15 now. Little Bee “follows” Beeper (our Rosella) around in the individual cages."
Suzy and Mick & Rita Skeeter - Columbus, OH
Rita Skeeter
"I work in Greyhound Rescue and my house is the senior sanctuary. I only adopt the old ones. Accordingly, I have lost 4 since last December. But when one leaves that makes a space for one who needs a home. New to the old folks home this year are Mick and Rita Skeeter. It can be very emotionally draining when you loose them so fast but they are sooooo loving and happy to be here. "
Robin and Delilah & Diamond - Tampa, FL
(I have to preface this by saying Robin is one of the ladies I have the pleasure of working with at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay -- she is ALWAYS going above and beyond for the animals, and she's been a real inspiration to me. Thank you for all you do, Robin!)
"Delilah (on the left) and Diamond (on the right) were supposed to only be foster babies for 1 month. However, after Diamond had a rough start and opened her spay incision and had to have emergency surgery and then got a secondary infection and almost died, there was no question she was staying with us. We decided that because they relied on each other so much, there was no sense in separating them. They are our foster failures, but we couldn't be happier!"
Wendy, Aaron and Rosie & Moogie - Gainesville, GA
Rosie
"In January we adopted Rosie from a local ad in the paper for free kittens. She was 3 months old at the time. In February, we were in Petsmart looking for a collar, when we saw Moogie. She was for adoption through the GA SPCA at the store. We fell in love instantly. She was about 2 yrs old at the time, and we took her home the next day."
Morgan, Jason and Aries - Chicago, IL
Couldn't be more proud that my nephew and future niece-in-law adopted a gray kitty! "We picked him up in November after I did some videos for that particular animal shelter. After I finished the video I kept showing him how cute Aries was and he finally said we could pick him up. Now he's Kasper's favorite buddy."
"Derek and I adopted Garfield and Bellatrix in March 2011. They are brother and sister and we couldn't bear to see them separated so we adopted them both!"
"I adopted Sassafras from the Washington, DC Humane Society in September, 3 weeks after Sofia had to be put to sleep. I was heartbroken and didn’t want to come home to an empty home anymore.
I went to look at a different cat who wanted nothing to do with me. Sassafras was sitting on top of a perch and leaned out and tapped me on the back as I walked by. So after a lot of agonizing, I decided she was the one. She apparently hated the other cats in the kitty Room and sat on her perch all the time hissing at them. Now she has a one cat home.
She is very, very cuddly and just wants to sit in my arms like a baby or curled up on my shoulder all the time. She’s also a biter but we are working on that. I adore her."
Melissa and Mystery - Arizona
"I added a new kitty to my household this summer. Last spring I was chatting with some coworkers, and the fact that I knit came up. One of them asked if I had a knitting specialty. I thought for a minute, and then said “cat toys” since I’ve certainly made a lot of those. Her response was “do you need another cat?”
It turns out her sister-in-law had been feeding an abandoned cat who had turned out to be pregnant. They took her in just before the kittens were born because they were sure that otherwise the kittens, and quite possibly mama cat, would end up being a coyote snack. My coworker was trying to help find homes for the kittens.
I hadn’t been planning to get another cat at that time (I already had two, plus a dog), but a kitten was really, really tempting. And who doesn’t love a kitten? (Well, my coworker, actually. She’s just not a cat person.) The kittens had just been born, so they weren’t going to be going to new homes for a while. Which meant that the possibility of a kitten continued to be there. I thought, and I thought, and I thought… and then I realized that as tempting as a kitten was, I kept worrying about the mama cat who wouldn’t be able to find a home as easily as a kitten.
So the mama cat is now a part of my household. Her name is Mystery. The kids in the family that was taken care of her had been asking their mom “what’s the cats name?” and “where did she come from?” Their mom told them, “We don’t know. Her past is a mystery.” The kids decided her name must be Mystery, and it stuck.
She wasn’t much more than a kitten herself, just about a year old. She’s spayed now, so there are no more kittens in her future. She’s also an indoor kitty now too, so no more worries about coyotes (which are certainly an issue here in Arizona). She’s a sweet cat with a wonderful purr.
(And, if you were wondering, the kittens all found good homes as well.)"
Ellen and Phoenix & Shadow - Memphis, TN
"We adopted Phoenix (orange) and Shadow (gray) as kittens in September, shortly after moving into our new apartment. Previously we’d been living with my mother-in-law who is unfortunately allergic to cats.
They’re from two different litters but they became great friends in no time at all."
Marie and Simon & Fergus - Ontario, Canada
"My 16 year old kitty, Sammy died on Christmas eve 2010 and I wanted to save a kitty, to honour him. I ended up with 2 very scared, timid kitties with respiratory issues in January.They’ve come a long way since then but still don’t like to be picked up and they’re terrified of cardboard boxes so we still have a lot of issues to work out. Simon(black) and Fergus(white) have helped me heal and bring me joy every day
Here they are celebrating their first christmas with us."
Suzy and Bubbles, Lily & Spike - Wisconsin
"We had a litter born on our enclosed back porch and abandoned minutes later so we’ve been raising them ever since. Lots of lost sleep to bottle feed, kitten proofing an “adult cats” only household and a fortune in cat food later, we have three of the snuggliest kittens you’ve ever met. They spent their first several months doing a lot of travel- we are Civil War reenactors so spend many weekends in the summer camping out. The kittens were too dependent to be left home alone for the weekend so they got piled into the truck with everything else and dragged across three states. Attracted every feral child in camp everywhere they went! So they’re very well socialized in addition to snuggly! As crazy as they are and upside down as they turned our household for a few months, I can’t imagine not having them now!"
Jennifer and Kiko - Boise, ID
"I adopted Kiko in March from the Idaho Humane Society and I just adore her. She is very sweet and affectionate, and so adorable."
Shakti and Crick - Saskatchewan, Canada
"I adopted Crick on March 3rd from the SPCA. We have had our ups and downs with Teenage Cat syndrome and persistent inappropriate urination, but in the last few months she has become pretty near the perfect cat. Crick is smart, bold, and curious, undignified and playful. She’s the lap cat that I’ve always wanted but never had. She sleeps in my bed at night and curls up in a shawl “sling” on my lap when I work at the computer in the morning. Even nail clipping and vacuuming don’t faze her, and she will high five and sit pretty in exchange for food. She doesn’t scratch the furniture (much), she doesn’t try to escape outside, and she’s very good at figuring out how to do things like open cupboard and closet doors and flush toilets."
Heather and Mouse - USA
"I ended up getting a kitten that someone was going to abandon in a dumpster.. Hes been named Mouse and is adored by my girls (and dog). With proper food and care hes gotten BIG. When we got him he fit into the palm of my hand but he's probably almost tripled in size since we got him. We still have issues with him from time to time but I put that to being a kitten, kittens are so curious they sometimes cause trouble :)"
Niki and Rory - Atlanta, GA
"This is Rory. A friend of mine at work found him by a dumpster, wrapped in a towel. Somehow, we just couldn’t say no. We’d always said “two people, two cats”, but it turns out we had just enough room and love for another."
Tia and Sophie - Australia
"This is Sophie. I went to work (I teach primary school) with no intention of getting a kitten. However, this little sweetie was dumped in the school garden and left. So, here we are. She was 7 weeks old (now ten weeks) and we are currently dealing with the ringworm problem (possibly the reason she was dumped). She’s delightful."
Tiffany and Max - Northern Bergen City, NJ
"My little Max was rescued in June from a construction site (we “canvased” the area in the days following to see if there were other cats around or if he was someone’s kitty to no avail).
Little Max was skin and bones when we found him, scared too of course, and only slept & ate for the 1st 3 days. And look at him now, plumper and a crazy little nut…still always sleeping :)."
Carolyn and Aubrey - Ames, IA
"I adopted Aubrey (formerly Pearl) in August from a local Humane Society that is largely (if not entirely) no-kill. The staff was quite sad to see her go, though thrilled that she found a home after 6 months in the shelter! She’s plumped up and adapted to inside-life quite well!"
Marlenia and Senna - Grapevine, TX
"Senna was a little rescue kitty, adopted after her elderly breeder surrendered all of her cats. She had several medical issues that needed to be dealt with, but she is now healthy and happy in her forever home."
Lynne and Bella - Battlecreek, MI
"I adopted this little girl in September. Her name is Bella."
Deborah and Penny & Pedro - Auckland, New Zealand
"This is Penny and Pedro officially adopted in Nov 2011 after I found them abandoned on my doorstep at approx 3 weeks old. This was only 3 days after my old ‘Madamcat’ passed away at the ripe old age of 19 3/4 years and I was not ready for more additions to the family. However I believe that cats find you and so does the Bloke (he was supposed to say ‘no more cats’!). We also lost our mad Abyssinian, Floss 6 weeks after Madam so I guess that’s why there were 2 little black and white bundles of mischief at the door. My friend said they were ‘pennies from heaven’."
Christine and Alladdin - New Brunswick, Canada
"We adopted Alladdin this year. It’s taken him a little while (and he’s still working on it), but he’s getting more comfortable with our family daily. We think he’s around two and a half, and pretty skittish. But he’s gotten more comfortable as time goes by and is wonderful with my 1 year-old son."
Miriam and The Cat-Pocalypse - Hanover, IN
This is a teaser photo. A full story will be posted about "Arma-kitten 2011" at a later date :)
AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST
The Moose and the infamous Amba Cat - Tampa, FL
Amba and I would like to wish you all a wonderful New Year in 2012, and to also thank everyone who contributed to this furry, feathery montage of 2011. You all have saved so many lives, and the world is a better place thanks to you!
Stay furry, my friends!
What a great post! Loved it!
ReplyDeleteLove it. Lovely stories, all of them!
ReplyDelete