Only You

Do cats really chose their owners? I have always been a dog lover until last year when I found a stray in my garden. Since then she has moved in with me and two of her pals come by for food and warmth each day now too.
Getting used to moggy ways hasn't been easy, but I wouldn't be without them. I know cats are very independent, but my tabby sits by the garden door waiting for me to return like she misses her 'mum'.
I wish I knew how to post a picture otherwise I would of her.

Is this yours #1?

>2 guido47:
He is one of her friends who belongs to a neighbour, his name is Bob and he pops in every day. Mine is a tabby and so I called her Tabitha.

Just posted a pic of her in my profile gallery. I need to put her on a diet.

No more Mouse Mince Pie for her!

Haha - she is a complete minx. She lays like this in front of the fire too - toasts her belly ...

Oh she is a sweetie! A ham, too!

What a happy cat! Looks like she might want her tummy rubbed. I think if she picked you, she made a good choice.

Cats get a bad reputation for being independant or uncaring, but a good cat is as affectionate as any dog, just in a different way. Their independance makes their affection harder to win. Sadly, you hear of dogs that still love the person who beats or abuses them, but I've never heard of a cat that would.

True, I think many cats would rather be alone than have a bad owner, while dogs are fiercely loyal, even to those who don't deserve it. That said, two of my cats came from a Minolta warehouse where they had been semi-abused (not super cruel but, the workers were POSes and the cats were there just to be rid of mice and they'd be mean to them, I don't really know the specifics) and one of them was the sweetest most loving cat in the world, all that he ever wanted was for everyone who came in the vicinity to give him love and pets! I am almost sure he would have gladly accepted them from the warehouse jerks also.

Well, my MAX definitly chose me! After 3 or so months of looking scared/hungry/pathetic (and after having checked me out thoroughly) he walked into my life with no backlook. I chronicled the 'saga' about 4 years ago. Now I have a (mostly) confident Pussy Cat who almost always obeys curfews :-)
and, I suspect, has almost forgotten his original 'owners'. Well he hardly ever heads in that SW direction he did head for for a few years.

I already had Pie and Ruby when my calico Amber Louise kicked down my apartment door one day and said, "I live here now. That couch is mine, that computer chair is mine, so is that, that, that, move that out of the way, I don't like that rug right there, if I can't have chipmunk only Blue Buffalo cat food will do...oh, and grab a box and a few towels, there are four kittens under the couch."

At least that's how I remember it.

She's been everyone's boss ever since.

Err. What happened to the 4 kittens? Or was that figurative?

The four kittens were in a quiet closet until they grew big enough to climb out and disrupt our sleep. Four nocturnal kittens can be very rowdy. We taught them about litter boxes and crunchy food, and when they were old enough they were each spayed and neutered. Two were adopted out to good families. Two still live with us.

So quillmenow, you now have 5 cats. Please put their pictures on our 'group gallery'.

Guido. Who wants our group to have the most gallery pictures of any group!

>8 NorthernStar:
I have to admit that any preconceived ideas of what it's like to own a cat, went straight into the bin once she moved in! She is very loving, fiesty, and when I eat dinner she sits herself down (just like my old dog used to) in the hope of a titbit.
Which she always gets!

Out of my own one and the two who visit me, I would say the little white one (in the group pic) is the sweetest and most quietest one of all. Much as I love dearly the other two, there is something almost serene about her, and her eyes always seem to be saying something. I truly love her. Beautiful little creature.

>14 guido47:
Yes! Show all the others how much we love our cats!

HolmesGirl221b, I imagine you're clicking "reply" below each post, which doesn't actually do anything in regards to indicating what you're replying to. That's why you'll normally see some version of ">15 HolmesGirl221b:" in threads, so people know what you're replying to. You can reply to multiple posts in one response, just indicating the numbers of who you're replying to, to keep things clear :)

>18 .Monkey.:
Thank you for pointing that out, much appreciated!

:)

My Taj & Tilly are from a breeder, but Taji definitely chose me. I'd actually picked Tilly & a different boy from the litter, but as I was about to leave the house on the day I made the choice (there were 6 kittens in the litter & I visited weekly from when they were about 2 weeks old, but didn't choose who was coming home with me til a bit later), Taji climbed up my leg onto my shoulders & started nosing around in my hair & giving my ear a bit of a lick... I didn't say anything to the breeder at the time, but I called her as soon as I got home & said "I think that lil boy that climbed me as I was leaving was telling me to pick him" :)

& I'm sure his brother Hookie would have been a great cat too, & I love my Tilly girl to pieces but Taji is my heart cat, he was definitely meant to be in my life :)

I looked back through some older pics.

Here is Max, 2 months after he announced himself (Initially I was sure he was a she!) Still checking me out and another month before he decided to walk into my home :-)

My sweet Siamese "Moocher" died in 2001, and I wanted another cat but waited until the spring of 2002 to start looking for a successor. I looked in the newspapers for "free kittens" advertisements, but didn't find a one. I called several veterinary clinics in the area, as I know they have lists of kittens needing homes, but every one of them said "No, no kittens". I was mystified.

So that Sunday afternoon my son (18) and I headed for the county animal shelter. We walked up to the front desk and said we were interested in a kitten. "We don't have any" was the response...what??? The lady explained that it was March, and in about a month they'd be overrun with kittens. Then she asked us "Would you like to check out the Cat House?", so we did.

They had a Siamese cat, but it had already been claimed/adopted, bummer. As we walked past one of the cages, a paw was thrust between the bars, a paw with a long leg attached to it, and it was waved at us. Inside the cage was a young black cat. We looked at him, and he looked right back, and started to talk to us. "Mrrow! Mrrow!" (take me, please!).

We were allowed to open up any door to inspect the cat within. When I picked up the black cat, he started buzzing, very loudly, and literally vibrating in my arms. I handed him to my son, who held him for a minute, then said "I like this one". We filled out the paperwork, and later that week, brought home that noisy young cat, who we named Java. He was about 7 months old, and had been rescued after someone had thrown him from a truck! Poor kitty.

Java chose us, and he's still a "love me" type of cat, although not much for lap sitting.

Our old terrier passed away late in 2005, and Java was soooooo looonely, he'd cry all the time.

Again, I was hoping to find another Siamese, a companion for Java. My boss pointed out that a local rescue had a flame point Siamese available, so I hustled over to the local pet store where the rescues were being housed. The Siamese was still available, but he'd been an outdoor cat for several years, a feral/stray, and knowing how gentle Java was, I didn't think he'd be a good match.

However, in the bottom cage underneath the Siamese there was a black cat, lying on his back with all four paws in the air...he opened his eyes, saw me there, and started talking to me "Mrrow! Mrrow!" I knew what he wanted, but I walked away...did I want another black cat?

I didn't stay away long, but went back for a formal introduction. Guess who was also a "buzzer"? Yep, and so I found a companion for Java, who we named "Moonpie". "Moon" as we often refer to him (he's a looney-moonie) is all black except for a crescent shaped white spot on his chest, that sort of looks like a moon, but also makes him look like a snack cake with cream filling, hence the name.

Moon is very strange, and I have tons of pictures of him in almost impossible positions, draped over an ice chest, relaxing on top of the stove (ON the burners!), you get the idea.

But like Java, Moonpie chose ME to take him home. And it turned out that he was only one year younger than Java. So currently Java is 12 and Moonpie is 11 years old.

And they have our Shepherd/Lab dog cowed: last night Moonpie was sitting in the middle of the dog's bed, and Tirzah came to me to enlist my aid. I had to remove the cat from Tirzah's bed before she could lie down, ha!



(Addendum: here is a "Moonpie" for those of you who may be unfamiliar with the snack cake by that name)

My beloved MonsterKitty was a little kitten living under our house. (No basement, just a crawl space.) Every time Lee went out the back door, this little black streak would run out and follow him like a little puppy. She convinced him to start leaving food out on the back step for her, and then to start letting her come in to the back room during the cold nights. Finally one morning, Lee said, "Y'know, it's pretty cold in the daytime too..." So she moved in permanently. Yes, she chose us...actually she chose Lee and I inherited her love when he passed.

The next spring we found the body of what we assume was her momma under the woodpile. She did a good job of taking care of herself, by finding the biggest softie in town.

Hi MM, #25.

Please post some pictures of "MonsterKitty".

Guido.

PS. And please rotate that picture of you, by 90 degrees, on your profile :-)

Recently, we lost our old calico cat. Our large 13 year old Tabbycat, who really didn't get along with her all that well found humself a playmate - a young oriental-cross from across the road and brought her/him home. The other day the owners of this cat were surprised to find their supposedly dead or runaway cat on our front lawn, so we realised that she/he had not been going home. We have bowed to the inevitable and accepted the arrangement, although the little girl from across the road was quite upset.

Has anyone else ever had a cat go out and find themselves a companion in this way - or do we have a very strange animal?

Just curious.

Gael

>27 gael_williams: hahaha, I love that he just brought a new friend home to stay! I have never allowed my animals to roam free outdoors, I don't agree with it, so I don't know whether they'd have done such a thing or not.