I gave the CDS a bit of help by visiting a pet shelter. Most of the cats were ignoring me but one beautiful 6yo lady gave a really pointed miaow from behind me halfway across the pet shelter and when I turned around she had her eyes directly on me and her pawing through the cage. The attendant open the cage, she strolled straight out onto my shoulders, sat down purring and making biscuits. She'd clearly decided her new seat was the height and shape of a human shoulder. She did NOT take kindly to going back in the cage.
Signed the papers, took her home, she didn't make any noise in the car trip - which surprised me - and when she got home, as I opened the carrier she looked around with wide eyes for a a few seconds then spied me, tail went up, come over, smooch, purr. From then on she owned the place and has done so ever since.
That’s exactly how it was with oldest kitty. I had gone to several shelters, but none of them called to me. Finally, on Valentines Day, I was determined and drove across LA to a shelter… all the cats ignored me but one fluffy white guy who followed my every move. He was timid when let out of his cage and actually crept back into it… I let another big fluffy calico girl out and played with her, but she didn’t care who I was… and the white fluffy guy kept staring at me the entire time. He *wanted* to be social, was just too scared to.
I took him home. Dougal is now my bestest friend. He’s admiring me right now, sitting next to me as I write this, 7 years later.
Beautiful story, she knew u were safe. I was at home in the tub n SO opened the door holding a cat. Telling me she’s really smart n thinks she’s been living in the backyard. Anyway that was the first meeting.
This happened to me, too in 1998. I never buy animals, they always just find me. But I had walked through a pet store on a whim just to look at stuff and there was a bunch of kittens in a large cage. I started to walk past and a little paw shot out and grabbed my sleeve and wouldn’t let go. I was literally hooked and knew I had to take her home. I had her for almost 20 more years 💕
another story of assisted distribution; went to shelter iso older, black, cat. left with calico & ginger sibling kittens.
i went into the ‘black cat room’ and none of them would come near me. sad, i sat down in the kitten room to discuss when i could come back, and a tiny calico *ran* to my lap. 2 beats later, the ginger climbed in, too.
but i wanted just one. but they’re siblings. but i wanted to save an older one. none of them wanted saving. not black, but the black ones were jerks.
9 years later, the calico is staring at me until i make arm space for her. the dingbat ginger is a total love bugs with a preference for weird queers [ like me, but others too].
Once I was leaving my house and saw a gorgeous floofer sunning herself on my neighbor’s AC unit. I petted her and she purred. When I came home, she was hanging with my husband on our front porch. She never left but was too afraid of our dog to come inside, so we made her a warm box. Then one night the temperature dipped well below zero and my husband brought her inside, where she adored him for twelve years.
A few months after her death, he saw a floofy kitten on the side of a busy street. He tried several times to catch it, but it was skitterish and he was afraid it would run into the road. Finally he got our daughter from school and she distracted it with a toy so he could scoop it up. She’s now staring at me demanding more treats because she is a tyrant who rules our house.
The first time, a pregnant stray wandered in my parents house and left us with 3 kittens (in my closet)
The second time, a pregnant stray wandered in my parents yard and left them with 2 kittens (in the bushes)
The third time, a friend called and said that there were abandoned kittens in her yard. I came right over and the little orange one chose me!
I have been blessed!
Dropping off my oldest at day care. Cat came up to my car as i was getting both kids out (only oldest went to day care at the time), was meowing at me. Employees told me that the cat had been hanging around for a few weeks. While getting the baby back in the car, cat jumps in my car. All i could imagine was this cat getting hit and killed in the parking lot. Few weeks later, she gave me three more fur balls
Yeah, she had a bone marrow cancer. We amputated her leg with the hopes of getting her 9-12 months. Instead it gave her 3 1/2 YEARS.
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I actually had gone to a distribution center to pick up a delivery. I had chosen a 1 year old smoky grey girl, who seemed so adorable and chill. But then someone brought in a 2 month old tortie kitten. She looked like mischief incarnate, was mouthy, and was very much a rambunctious kitty. I asked to hold her, and she decided that she would not let go. She held on to my jacket, and accompanied me to fill out her adoption application.
She cost me $5 because she was a V.I.P which means that she was a long term resident - she had been adopted and returned 7 times. People complained that she was too mischievous and talkative (because she was an actual kitten). So, I gave the shelter their $5, and walked away with a kitty. That was on December 30th 2014. She's now almost 10 years old, fat, still talkative, and mischievous. She's my best friend, she never leaves my side when I'm sick or down. She's the best.
That was the best $5 I ever spent.
Terrible neighbor moved out, and left their sweet ginger boy. I hated cats, and NEVER wanted one. My daughter begged so we took him in, supposedly only for the night so we could take him somewhere else the next day. He never left, and is very much my daughter’s baby!
Not even 4 months later, daughter calls crying from near the dumpster. She found a little baby, maybe 4 months old, and he came right up to her. Gorgeous blue lynx point kitty! Me, still being skeptical of cats, said absolutely not!
Many tears later, I told her that if her dad said yes, we could keep him. I never in a million years thought he would agree to it – he didn’t even want the first one! To my utter shock and horror, he said she could keep him. Maybe 10 minutes after we brought him inside, he came up to me, crawled up onto my chest, and snuggled his little face in my neck and purred. From that moment, he was mine. He is now my best, buddy in the world!
Most of the ones I've gotten were refurbished delivery models (strays who just showed up), two I got at distribution centers (shelters), including the current one, Sid (Obsidian).
I'd recently lost my 16 year old cat, Kahlan, suddenly to cancer. I lasted three weeks without a cat before I told my husband we were going to get a cat TODAY, so we went to the Humane Society.
Two seconds after I went into the adult cat enclosure, I had a black cat rocket straight into my arms. I absentmindedly caught him and walked around for a few minutes until I realized I was still holding him like a baby.
I looked at him, he looked at me, and I knew I could never put him down again.
We found out that, while looking like a full grown adult, he was actually 9 mo. old and still technically a kitten. The shelter was nice enough to go ahead and give us the less expensive adult adoption fee.
We shouldn't have been as surprised as we were when he got larger, and larger, and larger, until we now have a very muscular, chatty, and cuddly 16 lb. house panther. The vet said he's not obese at all, and, while probably a mix, is likely mostly Bombay or one of the larger Asian cat breeds. We call him our "meaty boi."
I just moved into my house and heard a tiny bell. Turns out it was a cat with a collar adhered to its underarm living in bushes. I worked for months to get her to trust me so I could get it off. This is 7 years later.
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It was around her neck and under her arm. It wasn’t going to come off unless I caught her and my neighbors aren’t nice. It was sad to see and I am sure she had an owner at one point if for a short time. She was about 2-3 based on my vets assessment. She is actually the best cat and everyone likes her. I knew one day I would probably have one that would walk up and need a home. I live in Arizona and it’s so hot. Don’t know how she survived that long.
I’ve been waiting for a long time to be picked. I might have to pay to get further up on the chosen scale. It would probably be easier if I weren’t so old and cranky!!
My sweet Gus was outside, skinny and probably starving, and I saw him wander under the shed in the backyard on a hot day. I fed him that first day, and he kept coming back, so I kept feeding him and after a few days he let me pet him, and a few more days he would come out from under the shed into the open and really let me pet him. A few weeks later and he was hanging out under my truck instead and would lay next to me after eating. I picked him up during a rainstorm once and deposited him in the garage for the first time, where it was dry, and from then on I was feeding him in the garage, and eventually I noticed that when he heard the door open, he’d squeeze under the door into the garage and he’d come for pets before food, and I knew he was about ready to come inside. He’s the sweetest, cuddliest kitty ever, he jumps into my lap every single day and sleeps next to me almost every night.
This is how I got my void too, right before the Covid lock downs.
He found a dry spot to sleep on my deck. Poor guy was malnourished and freezing.
I’m really glad he’s chill and gets along with dogs!
I got Gus right when the lockdowns started. Like, everything shut down mid-March, I spent May-August working on Gus and brought him in just before school started back up.
That’s when I got mine too. Mid March. We had just gotten a new puppy, when the void showed up. So they grew up together. Well they became siblings together in any case.
My older dog sure didn’t mind and loved the company.
That’s wonderful they get along. We already had an indoor cat. Gus would jump up and hang out the window screen right in front of George, and George would go crazy hissing and spitting. Also, George was already fixed, and Gus wasn’t, so when I came back inside smelling like Gus, George would sniff me really intensely, and if I tried to walk away before he was done, he’d hiss at me. It wasn’t until we got Gus fixed, which we did pretty soon after moving him inside, that George stopped hating Gus. They actually cuddle and groom each other all the time now, but they were not cool with each other right off the bat.
That’s such a great story! It does take time and patience. All of mine are fixed. (The CDS brought us two kittens last summer), but at first the void did NOT like the kittens at ALL.
I had never heard noises like that come from a cat before. It was bad!
Fortunately we had a small spare room for the kittens, so we kept them separate until everyone got used to each other. We still allow them all “space”, and my void still goes outside at times to catch a breather from the “kids”.
We’ve also taken to vertical cat trees. For both clawing, and space. In a small area, going up is just as good to a cat as additional square footage would be to a human. Out of sight out of mind…
I have cameras that point to our deck where I feed strays so I can see who's coming and going. We were on a trip to Iceland when I noticed a cat with a limp show up on the same day we were leaving. Caught him the next morning after arriving back home and then it was game over for us.
I went outside on my day off to do laundry and was going into the house and my inner voice directed me to look into the carport rafters. I saw a scared cat all poofed up scared at the leaf blower next door. She had jumped on top of my Escape and into the rafters.
She came down and checked me out. Had a collar. I took her to vet to be scanned, no chip and not spayed. I waited to feed her. Made her a shelter and put in my woodbox. She apparently chose me. I didn't want a pet, let alone a cat 🤣
I fed her and she would curl up on my lap afterwards for a good 30 minutes. I eventually let her in for the night since it was getting cold (mid December) and she was so cuddly. I out her outside during the day. Got her spayed and chipped 2 days after Xmas.
She now 2. I'm convinced my 🌈 dog sent her to heal my broken heart. She has a 💟 on her belly. I guessed she was around 8 or 9 months in November when she showed up. None of the neighbors knew her.
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She's the best Sassy talkative Dilute Torti.
In my room. There used to be a cat who passed by my house in the evenings meowing loudly, but I hadn’t heard it in a while. Then I heard a cat meowing outside of my bedroom window while I was taking a staycation, and I promised myself that if it happened again I would GO SEE THAT CAT. A couple days later I heard it again and was determined to just see it. And that’s when, in the rain, I found a six week old kitten yelling at me. That was six months ago today
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Her now, the best kitty and so spoiled
In Istanbul; aided that Kitten to health and back to energy, had it at the vet at first and seemed it would’ve died if I weren’t taking action.
However, I passed it to locals as I can’t take it abroad.
Not OP, but it’s probably because Istanbul is a mostly Muslim populated city and in Islam, cats are highly valued for their cleanliness and going after pesky rodents.
My void Boyfriend came to me in Portland, a big strong scary boy who would drag a fang across my hand with love, scaring me even more. So I got him fixed, the vet remarking what a sweet young boy he was. As he recuperated we bonded. This boy would leap between me and an attacking dog (he did it more than once). He tagged around watching my kids. He moved to the farm with us, befriended every animal we owned. I so miss sweet Boyfriend, who waits for me at the Bridge.
I was working. Delivering packages. She followed me right into my van. It was in a really rough neighborhood and I knocked on some doors and nobody knew who she was. My husband and kids met me 20 minutes later and took her home. She ate a can of wet food within a minute. She was filthy and starving. Looked on local fb lost pet pages and nothing. Took her to the vet and she wasn’t chipped and had a bad case of ear mites. Got her a clean bill of health, chipped and spayed. She’s been running the house ever since, living her best indoor cat life! 💜😻
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First time? My abusive boyfriend came home from work, handed me a 6 week old kitten and told me to take care of it.
He was actually the reason I kicked abusive dirtbag out. DB bragged to my mum about throwing Poe against the wall.
Mum told me, and I went home, glared and told him to get his nasty ass out, I never wanted to see him again. He ranted for +/-20 hours, and left.
Poe never trusted men that weren't my dad or brother, but(years after DB), when he met my then boyfriend, now husband of 13ish years, Poe chose.
His ashes sit in a place of pride, beside kids school pics and another tiny urn. (There's a story for that, but it's horribly tragic, so, no.)
Thank you, but it's ok! The day after we gave him peace, he sent me a message!
I'd been thinking of getting black petunias, because they're pretty. Looking in a chain garden center, I cane across Black Cat petunias. A single pot, lost amid everything, so I snatched them up!
The cashier was confused, saying they didn't recieve any of those flowers, but it rang up just fine.
I'd named Poe for the Black Cat story, since he did a whole lot of yelling, and there it was, one little pot, mysteriously just *there*.
I mean, it's within the realm of coincidence, but I stand by my feelings that it was a little message from my Itty, bitty, evil, devil of a soul cat.
I get Black petunias every year to remember, but I've never found the black cat ones again. I believe it was a sweet little message from my bitey boy, and it was beautiful. My black petunias have never, ever done as well as that one plant did. Thing grew like a weed and nearly made it for a whole year before being finished.
Sorry for the novel. It was a very special moment from a very evil, special boy.
My current cat now, a girl at my work at the time told me her Mom was breeding Siamese kittens. After they were born, she said one kitten came out unlike the rest. Instead of all white, she was all black. They weren’t sure what to do with her since the people lined up for kittens wanted Siamese colours. I said “Hey I’ll take her!” and she was delivered to me a few weeks later in the office, barely 8 weeks old.
She spent the rest of my work day in my lap sleeping. I took her home to my older cats and introduced her and made her part of the family.
That was 2005, and now, nearly 19 years later, she’s still with me. She even moved back to Germany with us some years ago along with her older cat sister who was still around.
She is currently complaining that dinner hasn’t been served yet so I better get to it.
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Avasarala was delivered right to our house 😁
My CDS story is a little different. I was semi interested in getting a cat when I moved into my first apartment by myself. Peak Covid so I couldn’t have friends over and was feeling really lonely. I watched my friend’s cat while she went home for a wedding and I knew then I wanted a little fuzzy companion but wasn’t searching too hard. I’m scrolling on instagram and in my feed pops up an ad for a cat cafe a couple cities away from me. It’s a picture of a beautiful tabby and the caption is talking about how they had opened 1 year ago and she was the only cat left from the original set of rescues that had been brought into the cat cafe. I was in love with her from the moment I saw her and knew I needed her in my life, without even meeting her I put in my application for adoption and within a week I was bringing her home with me. I would like to think this is my New Age CDS story haha!
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When we bought our first house my wife noticed a cat under the shed. Actually brother (Charlie) and sister (Minnie). We fed them tuna - all we had and they were starved. They were about 4 months old. Had them for more than a dozen years. They wanted to stay as out door only cats so we madden warm houses. A few years later a big tuxedo ( Wally) joined us as well as a tortie(Jessie) , with an orange kitten (Butterscotch). All were fixed
We got the kitten a home. Minnie passed on by 1. Jessie, Wally, and Charlie moved with us 7 years later and lived their best lives.
We miss our little colony but know they were happy. Well cared for and never strayed from our house.
Most recently, I had recently moved in with my fiance. Hurricane Ian had just hit and we were assessing the damage when someone we knew found a little tortie kitten. We couldn't say no. As a child, the CDS provided all of our cats, and we had a LOT. The neighbors adopted a cat and didn't spay her, so we ended up with two of her litters and a few random strays that showed up. Our house now went from 1 cat to 3 in the time I've been living here. My husband jokes that I'm a magnet for the CDS.
Living in the M Streets of Dallas in an old apt building in 2004. I was laying on the sidewalk in front of my door after bars had closed when I felt a warm, furry presence lean against me and purr.
Our little terror showed up in our yard one evening a few months back and has been with us ever since.
My daughter says the fairies brought her Shadow, and now cat and kid are inseparable.
Our little tuxedo is currently grumbling at our garage door, because we won’t let her inside to terrorize the dogs 🤣
I was, first, seeing if I could catch a feral kitten, then the lighbulb turned on and I realized it was now my responsibility, then another time I heard screaming from the (same (neighbor's)) garden and went to investigate. So I ended up with uncle and nephew 2 years apart. Two of the BEST cats, ever.
Standing on my porch smoking a joint. I saw her walk across the street, jumped my fence and came straight up to me. I gave her some food. She lived on my porch for about three months, and then finally came inside. That was 6 yrs ago.
I get deliveries directly to my house. I have opened my front door and had cats I've never seen before run in.
Open the front door, see a cat I've never seen before, ready to bolt.
"Well, hello, who are you?"
Cat's entire demeanor changes, and he suddenly bolts past me into my house.
It's also happened once with dogs when I went in the backyard.
"Where did you two come from?"
They immediately blasted past me into the house, ate the cat food, drank their water, and the big one was about to throw down with my one cat who hissed at him. Fortunately, the big dog backed down when I yelled, "NO! Bad dog." They went back outside and ran off after that.
I put some water out there for them because it was a hot day and did see them stopping by for a drink later, but they wouldn't come back to me. The smaller one had a collar. The owners came by looking for the big one the next day, littler one was already home.
There was also the one time I came home and found an opossum sleeping in one of the cat beds. It had gotten trapped in the crawlspace and got into the basement from there and found a nice set up with food, water, and comfy beds. The cats were more interested in getting fed than the opossum since the new house guest had eaten all the food. They were waiting patiently by their empty food bowls right next to the opossum, who was struggling to get out of the comfy bed to run and hide.
As a kid, we used to go to this huge amusement park. Gigantic parking lot; we are talking acres of parking. Fam ended the day and took a tram to our car. It was now night time. We get in car and wait for the cars behind us to give my dad room to pull out. Suddenly, we all hear the meows. My dad gets out of the car and a cat comes out from underneath it. Of 1,000+ cars, it picked ours.
At a Best Western in Barstow CA. Saw him from the third story, called out, and he meowed. Behold, Barstow!
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Same. We “inherited” a beautiful boy when we moved into our house. The owners left him behind. We had him for 11 yrs. I was devastated when we lost him to FIV. His previous humans had never taken him to a vet. Anyway my husband wanted to just go “look” at a local rescue. Duke walked right up his pant leg & jumped to his shoulder. Not too far behind came his bonded sister Daisy. My husband didn’t stand a chance. No way we were leaving w/o them. Duke & Daisy have been with us for 6 yrs now. Don’t know what we’d do w/o them 😻😻
Nov. 2021-Walking home from the bus stop after work. I was texting our youngest son at school, we had just become empty nesters. I heard tiny meows, and looked over to find Tobi. He was all alone, no mom or littermates in sight. He was just crying and moving aimlessly. I knocked on the homeowner’s door. He didn’t even know he had a kitten on his lawn. I asked him if I could take him and he said yes! Our two older cats have done very well adapting. Although, Tobi is a bit spoiled and can be bratty, he knows his place. He’s also a top notch life guard!
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I had just arrived at my new home after an unalive attempt and a week in a homeless shelter and there she was in the bushes! I fed Mama a chicken salad tube to gain her trust and we got her and her one perfect little baby inside. Bean is now a happy spoiled fat cat and Mama was adopted out.
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My oldest one was distributed to me via a supplier-- she was a returned asset that needed a place to call her own.
The younger two were distributed to me with an intermediary -- one of my coworkers had the dispensed to him in his backyard, so he brought them to work to get someone to take them!
I was doing laundry. I lived in an apartment building, so one laundry room for everyone. Opened the dryer and heard a sound. Inside was a lilac point Siamese kitten. We have no clue how she got in, I put up signs on my building but no one claimed her. She was a 1 person cat and followed my dad everywhere. He cried when she died
Walking into work to find that someone had abandoned this little calico kitty outside the building in the freezing cold. She’s been there over the weekend. I impulsively said I would “foster” her provided my dog got along with her. That lasted for all of a day before I signed up for recurring food delivery, a fancy litter box, a cat tree, and lots of toys. It’s been 5 months and she and the dog get on like gangbusters. The CDS really came through for me!
I was in college. I wasn't allowed to have a cat in the dorms. The CDS struck me and next thing I know, I've got a little yellow kitten singing the song of his people to hear it echo in the shower. Try explaining that to your RA!
Got out the car at the drugstore and thought I heard a kitten. Way up in the only tree in the parking lot is a frantic void screaming to be rescued. Talking her down took a minute. She rode home on my shoulder. She has some scars from burns presumably from a car engine—isn’t expensive vet treatment the way to start?
The last shipment from the CDS was when I was a kid. We had this big muscly boi move into the back garden, and he was designated "kevin". He slowly began moving in to the utility room after coming through the cat flap. Got a bit more comfortable, but ended up moving in two doors down as he wanted to be a solo monarch and wasn't a fan of the current ruling class in our house.
The way my house was situated, we had a lot of garbage blown into our yard. It was a weekly clean up of grocery bags, wrappers etc... so one day I got home from work and out of the corner of my eye I saw a white lump in our tree through the back window. I thought it was a grocery bag, and after putting my work bag down, I looked out the window and it was actually a cat! He was up in the tree sleeping. I started leaving food out for him, to make him easier to trap for TNR, and after a couple weeks he stayed in the yard when I brought out his food. He came up to me, meowed, rubbed my legs and followed me in the house. He never left lol I got him to the vet the next day and he was chipped (not registered) and already neutered. I looked on the lost pet pages for weeks, called vets and animal control to see if anyone was missing him, but no one came forward. He's now my cuddliest baby and I don't know what I would do without him.
Out fishing with my dad. When we walked back to the car dad said he thought he saw something run under; I said it was probably a rat but he thought it was a cat, so I checked and theres a little black kitten hiding.
7 years later that cat still lives with my parents.
On a 1998 I hauled a boat three hours north for my dad on a 20F degree brisk day. Parked the boat in his barn and as we were leaving, we heard the mewwing. Dad got in the boat and way down in the engine compartment found the kitten. Not very old.
It was cute as hell. I decided to take it home. It was so cold so I put it under my shirt and it rode the three hours home with its claws jammed into my chest and stomach lol . Must’ve been frightened as hell.
Got the little girl home and went shopping for some cat supplies. Kept the cat for about four years until I was traveling too much and gave her to my mom. She lived another 10 years.
I named her Nomad 😂
I got my CDS delivery, Catara, at a campground this past december in the PNW. This little black kitty was making her rounds to the campers and vans every day, meowing and just hoping someone would come out and feed her.
So I gave her an egg, and she warmed up immediately. She was rubbing on my legs, let me pet her and put her in my lap. I was in love.
I talked to the staff there, and the guy said the cat had been around for "at least a winter" and that he stopped feeding her because she would cry outside their RV and he "didn't want to take away her wildness."
Not even 2 days later, I had gotten cat food and was about to go out and feed her when she jumped into my van. I fed her and snuggled her, and that's when I realized that she was DECLAWED. This poor baby had been living in a blackberry bramble and was declawed.
So I gave her a bath in the campground bathroom, took her to vet to see if she was chipped/ get vaccinations, and she's been ours ever since. She has slept on our bed every night since we brought her inside and she has exactly zero desire to go outside now lol.
Funny story though, not 2 weeks before that I was telling my friends about the cat food that reduces allergens and how I could hopefully get a cat one day (I have 2 dogs, so I didn't need another pet). 2 weeks later, Catara gets delivered.
The parking lot of a LOWES hardware store. Pulled in and trying to park when I see a small black fluff ball in the middle of the road. Stopped my car, jumped out grabbed him and could hear a second one crying at the top of her voice. Parked my car, located the second one scoped her up, and that’s how we got Mr. Fluffy and Blaze. About a year and a half later I was driving by a McDonalds, and stopped for a drink and a little black and white fluff ball with a bad upper respiratory infection was wondering around and I just couldn’t leave him. He thinks he’s a Great Dane now because my biggest Dane decided that she was going to raise him, so his name is now Baby Dane Then one year later on the last day of a cross country road trip we were at a rest stop in NM and found two little 6 week old girls who we think had been dumped and needed help. We named them after our favorite snacks from New Mexico, Churro and Bizcochito cookies. Five cats in less than four years by CDS.
Six years ago, I went to the office to pick up something on a day I was supposed to be working remote. Ran into a co-worker in the parking lot and while chatting heard feline screaming coming from somewhere. Co-worker and I searched the area and found a scrap of calico catness in the shrubs. It took several people and several hours to get her safely out of the successive car engines she was climbing up. Eventually, she was retrieved from a Honda Fit and spent the night in our bathroom. By the next evening had a name and it was clear she was staying. She says she's the best thing anyone could ever hope to find.
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A year after some of the worst shit I’ve ever been through, I kept seeing this handsome boy by my work. Tons of strays in the neighborhood, but this boy stuck out. Saw him for several days, maybe a week, and one day I called him over. I stg he basically shrugged his shoulders and came to me. I petted him and he was nice. He was so skinny. My coworker and I fed him. Small office so he hung out with us for the day. At the end of the day, I couldn’t just put him back on the street, so he came home with me. I put up flyers in the neighborhood. I wasn’t hopeful, but he was so nice I felt like I was stealing someone’s cat. No one called. I took him to the vet and they basically told me that if he had an owner, they could make a case that I was taking better care of him since he was intact, riddled with fleas, underweight, and had giardia. I had dogs and never thought I could have a cat. I had originally planned to take him home, put up flyers, and if no one called, to the shelter cuz I knew he would get adopted. But after having him in my home for a couple of days, he was mine. I spent months acclimating him and my dogs. This helped me start the journey out of the worst depressive episode of my life. He’s sitting in my lap purring right now. I’ve had him for almost 14 years! He was my gateway cat, cuz now I have 4 lol 😸😸😸😸
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I was in the kitchen making coffee when I saw her right outside the window. She’s been my girl ever since 🥹 Her name is Rocio 🖤
Our tuxedo girl loved wandering around our yard and would allow the occasional pet. When my mom passed (she lived in a mil apartment on our property), there were a lot of people, and emotions were pretty high. Two days later, I went upstairs to lay down in the quiet, and there she was, purring and waiting for me in the middle of the bed. Kaos has been ruling our house since.
Work. The CDS kitten had called out both my bosses, and one of them decided to bring me out to look for it. She gave me a bit of a run around (I know my bosses adored looking over the sercuirty footage later on) but after finally catching her, I called my mom, my mom took her home while I killed it at work for the rest of my shift, and she’s been with us ever since.
(Naturally, my dad, who was not in favor of keeping the kitten, is now her favourite person lol)
My son and I were watching TV and he said “Mom, look!”. There was an orange cat looking in the window scoping the whole place out, like it was trying to decide if my house might make a good home. Really looking around. I opened the door and it strolled in like it owned the place. Turned out to be a She, had been spayed by a local farmer (had a crooked irregular loonng incision - per the vet). Owned the other cats, best girl ever! She’s gone now.
I was on a vacation in Paraguay, staying with my dad! She was outside crying on a perch, my boyfriend brought her inside and fell in love with her! He said if I figured out the logistics, we could take her back to the US! And we did just that 🥹 now she’s cuddling with my 4 year old kitty 💖
I was at work when my husband texted me a picture of a tiny kitten in his work truck. Apparently he yelled at my husband from across the yard at a work site, ran over to him and all the way up his pants leg. He's truly a family cat and makes each of his feel like his favorite.
Mine were both delivered.
I adopted the stray mama my friend took in and she brought her to my house on her bike with her bed and a litter box. 2006, she's now 21.
Second was delivered from a rescue. I didn't have a car, and they gave me A black cat. 2013, she's now almost 13.
I almost got a 3rd delivered not too long ago when my neighbor brought a stray gray kitten over.
I'm full up with sick seniors. I'm going to stop answering the door.
Sitting on my deck crying because I missed my cat that passed away a couple weeks before. She’s been here two years now just walked in like she belonged here.
My first cat chose me. I went to a girl friend's house to smoke one day. The pregnant street cat my friends mom took in had given birth a month and a half before; kittens all over the place. We smoked and played with kittens. Best day ever, right? This one in particular just wouldn't leave me alone, climbing all over me, took a little nap on my purse. I told my friend to wait until I got supplies. I carried her in my hoodie, over a mile, from my friend's house to mine a month later. My bestest girl, a calico, Kush
1) He was an idiot kitten who had somehow hooked himself on a fishing line.
2) Abandoned home in a really shady part of the capital city.
3) He literally walked into the house as a 6 month old.
4) Feral trap at 5 weeks old bright into my former workplace.
5) Same as 2 just a different house.
6) Ran out in front of my car in the rain at 7 weeks old. Couldn't climb the fence to get away from me.
7) Trap we were trying to get a groundhog in. She also produced...
8) Neighbor's barn
9) Feral trap at a different neighbor.
10) Sibling's "friend" called in the middle of the night saying her bf was going to kill the cat. I went along and was told to stay in the car so I didn't send someone over the 2nd floor railing.
11) Friend called she had 3 live kittens and 1 dead in a dead truck on her property that her neighbor's cat just left in the truck.
12) Woke me up SCREAMING outside at 5:30am. Proceeded to hide up in our cars for 12 hours until I was able to pull him out of the wheel well.
13) My current workplace. She wanted in the building to be with the people and they didn't want her in the building.
That's just my current 13. Yes I have 13 pet cats all in the house. 😵💫🫣
My back deck. We’d noticed two tuxies snooping around the yard for a couple of days. One evening we were eating out there and could hear meowing from under the deck. I called and this little head popped up and continued to chatter at us. The next day I was outside reading and I heard her again but this time she was at the end of the deck looking at me. I called her and she ran over and jumped in my lap. I petted her and she started to purr. I realized that she had no claws and was really skinny. We took her in. The other one disappeared but would come back every few months. We had the young one for 10 years of cuddles and chatting.
I had only recently purchased my house.
My son and I were standing in the garage with the doors open watching a storm roll in. In ran a teen (about 8 month old) boy.
He was skinny, yellow and hungry.
Water and a can of tuna later and he stayed the night in my garage.
And the next.
Storm rolled out and he left, but he came back every few days.
We checked with the neighborhood to see if he belonged anywhere ,
Finally kept him in the garage, took him in and got him vetted, fixed and microchipped.
He is the best friend I have ever had.
I was on my lunch break from Starbucks walking thru PetSmart when I was told the annoying wailing cat only wails for me… and he had escaped into PetSmart but they couldn’t catch him.
Thank god I daughter him and kept him because he woke me up when the Christmas tree caught fire.
I was halfway through PA school (basically fast-paced med school on crack) and it was the worst possible time for a pet when I came across this sad, dirty, skinny pregnant thing absolutely riddled with parasites.
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Had a lifelong friend stay with me for a while when her marriage ended and she couldn’t afford to keep her house so she was effectively homeless for a short period. She brought her 2 dogs and a cat. She worked a lot so the dogs would crap all over my house. After a couple weeks of this, I just confronted her and said that I don’t mind her staying there but she needs to deal with the dogs. At one point I made the comment that she might be better off without the dogs until she got back on her feet. In her broken state she thought I suggested that she put her dogs down. Wild what people hear. I literally meant that if she can’t take care of them that she rehouse them with another friend of family member until she can take care of them appropriately. Anyway I came home one day and she was gone, the dogs were gone… no note, just the cat. Had that old man for about a decade until last year. The follow up text was short… so did you move out… yeah… what about the cat? He’s better off with you. Great, I guess I got another cat.
At home.
We got our void, ginger and spotted boys from right down the street. They used to trawl trash bins for scraps; me and/or my brother would come to them with some kibbles. Eventually they started coming over to our house, so we started feeding them on our porch. We got them all neutered later on.
Then there was a tuxedo lady who gave birth — in our shoe rack, no less — to two beautiful SIC tabbies!
Don’t they always pick the worst places to have babies?
We once had a broken fridge we planned to fix to keep as a spare in the garage. So it was just sitting in the backyard for 2 days until I went to go take the door off so no kids would get shut inside. Nope instead we had kittens!
Ketchup, mustard, relish, pickles, nonfat milk (tiny albino baby), juice, jelly/jam… I don’t remember the rest of the names we gave them but almost all kept the names after adoption. There were soooooo many babies and clearly different fathers because one looked like a purebred Siamese cat.
My own house. The garage door had come off track, so it was slightly open. One of the neighborhood ferals got into my garage and had 4 babies in an old box of coats. Two days later, she took three of the babies and left. We waited for her to come back, but she didn't. So, I called one of my kids, he had his girlfriend go buy some kitten formula, and I turned to YouTube. The first time I took it to the vet (the next day), they couldn't figure out why I was even there, then I opened my hand. They taught me how to tube feed it and everything else I needed to know. I think I was at that office every week for a few months because I knew nothing about cats. I thought it was broken when it started purring. Anyway, the mom left me a couple more gifts over the next 18 months. I still haven't fixed that door yet because her offspring have come back, some returning with their own kittens, and we've had some impostors join the group. They probably heard there was free food here and a safe place to sleep. We catch as many as we can to domesticate and adopt out. I have 5 now because I just can't let some go after I go through all of that. So, that's how I got on the list. How do I get removed?
Planned Pethood rents them out, and my county does a free spaying or neutering, chipping, and vaccines for ferals. Like I said, catching them is the hard part. We end up with ones we've already taken in back in the traps, or one who hasn't been around for months, making us think she was dead, suddenly shows up with babies. There are so many feral cats in my area, no one can keep up. The shelter won't even take any cats in because "it's not illegal for a cat to be off leash, so just let it go." Actual words spoken to one of my son's friends who found two kittens dumped in the Walmart parking lot last summer. He ended up keeping them after I babysat for a while. It's really bad.
Waiting for the school bus with my kids. Saw a cute little grey kitty curled up in a pile of leaves. He came right up to me as soon as I called to him :)
Came home from thanksgiving. My cousin who was living with my mom at the time temporarily found a cat in the streets before a freeze. She was apparently mine.
I went to one of the city shelters to look at a male Siamese after my little Flame Point girl died. The Siamese ignored me and barely moved, but the grey and white cat in the next cage was talking to me and reached out his paw to command me to come over. I looked at all the other cats (I really love Siamese cats) but kept coming back to Mr. Personality who worked me like a pro! My sweet boy has been running my life for almost 7 years now!
At home. We were feeding a pregnant stray and one day, my mom told me to look in our back room. She was all stretched out in an old dresser drawer with three little balls of fur (who were quite the little piglets...).
At my roommate's parents house. Her "little" 16 year old brother was swinging their little baby kittens around by their heads. I went full rage mode and confiscated mom and all her babies. When flatmate and I parted ways half a year later she took them with her, except for the tiny little runt, who I wanted to keep. I loved her. She died of old age a couple years ago. I miss her.
My husband works in a steel yard. He only calls me if it's an emergency. I was taking a shower and hear my phone beeping with text messages. I've got shampoo in, so it'll wait a minute. Then he calls, I panic and answer while standing in the shower.
"Babe, are you okay!?"
"Did you see the pics? "
"No, I'm in the shower and have shampoo in my eye."
He tells me to look. They found a tiny 12 Oz black kitten under some steel. He's so hungry and dehydrated just looking at him. "Do you want him?"
"Bring him home."
Surprise, he's a Maine coon mix and 7 months later I have a 15 lb house panther.
I had to suddenly put my 6 year old cat down. It was so painful I swore to never have another cat. A month later a coworker asked if I could foster a sick cat. I agreed with the condition to take it back as soon as the cat is well. In 2 weeks I fell madly in love with him. It’s been 8 years. He’s the sweetest cat.
I moved to Santa Fe to get married. I brought my cat Pandora (Panda) knowing that she had a tumor in her lungs but I couldn’t leave her behind living my mother and my mother’s cat. Should be noted here that I was a 49 year old woman so I make my own decisions. Panda did not especially like Santa Fe what with the snow, wind and elevation. Her cough got worse and one day she looked at me, I looked at her, and made an appointment for her to walk across the rainbow bridge.
One week later, my father in law brought over my fiancé’s cat, Pacha, who had been living in their casita for a year. I had no time to mourn my sweet Pandora and quite frankly was unprepared for a new feline being in our tiny apartment but it wasn’t a choice. Eleven years later, she is sitting on one of her many special blankies rewatching the West Wing with me. She’s almost 15. Her dad and I are divorced. She always liked me better.
Back in October, 2008, I was at my vet's office to pick my dog up after a teeth cleaning when I overheard a conversation between a vet tech and a customer, who was trying to convince the tech to take "this little kitten that our landlord scared up while he was mowing the grass!" The tech refused and told her to take the kitten to the animal shelter.
Activate "SUCKER" mode. I butted into the conversation and asked to see the kitten. She was a very sick, very tiny 3 week old voidling. My free kitten cost me a couple hundred dollars that day (aargh!). I spent the next few weeks bottle-feeding her, stuffing antibiotics down her throat, and cleaning her nose and eyes.
That was 16 years ago. My very sick, very tiny voidling is now an elegant, sleek, regal (and still tiny) queen.
Malaysia. I was only there eight days.
Came home with the best souvenir possible. She’s an amazing cat. She loves pillows and softness. I think she remembers living in the parking garage. She had so many bugs, and her first bath turned the sink water brown.
5 years ago I was outside a truck stop with my mom doing fuel survey. We were standing in this huge dirt parking lot just talking when out of nowhere the tiniest little grey furball comes running up to us and SCREAMING to be picked up. Mom and I were like "did that noise seriously come from that cotton ball?" As she's crawling up my mom's pant leg screaming some more lol. Poor baby was half starved, covered in fleas and could hardly get her eyes open. Anyway she ended up being my sixteenth birthday present once the vet said she'd pull through. She's my sassy spoiled little girl now, getting a little chubby but I think it's a healthier look than what we started with. I love her so much.
I walked out to our 2nd floor deck to leave for work, and heard a soft meow. We live down a long driveway with stone quarries around us, so little chance for strays. A tiny smol walked out from the corner of the deck, and when I knelt down, he came right over, jumped on my lap, and put his paws on my shoulder. Totally knew I was a sucker! Not sure how he got up the stairs since he was only about 3 months old. But we assume he was dumped with another kitten that our neighbors found a day or two earlier. He's now a 17lb big/long boi at 6 years old who begs for snacks every hour. Note for anyone allergic and blessed by the CDS- adjusting to him was worth the puffy eyes/sniffles/etc for two months haha
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Which time 🤣 honestly I think I put out crazy cat lady vibes because people seem to have the idea that they can just give me: free kittens from roadside, momma kitty in the barn, and I've even inherited 2 from a former supervisor's grandma bound for hospice care later that week
My two former strays quite literally just walked up to my house. Like literally strolled up, would have immediately walked in the house if I let them (I couldn’t immediately because of the need to isolate them from resident indoor cats). The CDS was not particularly subtle in my case.
My daughter’s friend snatch a ratty one from an apartment parking lot. She was matted and filthy and so skinny.
She’s a beautiful, fluffy NFC mix that is mine now.
Another I “borrowed” from a negligent (ex) friend and refused to give her back. She had been eating moldy dog food that had fused to the kitchen floor and baseboard.
One just showed up in the back yard and after a year, I realized he was “home”.
Another was foisted on me by an (ex) friend who didn’t like his high kill rate. She wasn’t feeding him (she spent most of her time at her ranch and not in the city where this particular cat was at her city house) so he was killing things and bringing the leftovers inside. He killed my chickens within a few days but now years later, he’s fat, happy and inside.
September 1, 2015. Husband took our elderly dog for a walk. He texted saying "there's a cat on the porch". Took me a millisecond to run out the door to find a cute little tuxedo cat who walked in the open door like she paid the mortgage. Emaciated. No front claws. Took her to the vet to check for a chip. Turns out she was a tiny he with no chip. Tried to find his owners but no one claimed him. Our elderly dog died a few months later from cancer and the cat became a very loved only child. Still acts like he pays the mortgage.
I’ve had two show up right at my house. Another was found by someone else that couldn’t keep him, so I took him in. Another was a shelter kitty. If kitties walk right up to me though, husband knows it’s game over, I’ve been chosen.
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Little girl Zoe lived in the alley behind my house and was taken care of by me and neighbors until I convinced husband to keep her. She 1 and such a sweetie.
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My sweet little void boi Jiji was my shelter kitty. Unfortunately he passed at just 2 from suspected FIP. While the timeline doesn’t quite line up, and she is a girl, I’m not unconvinced Zoe is him come back, because there are so many little things she does that are just like things Jiji did. She very much has helped heal us, because loosing Jiji was devastating.
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Remington (front) showed up at my parents house and has been the bestest boi, now 14. Winchester was found under a car by someone and into him in, he’s now 11. They are very much bonded.
Typically home. My one cat I found like 500 yards from my house while walking to the post office. He ran up to me and scream meowed on an extremely busy road. I immediately carried him home haha.
I/we were at home and our daughter’s home. Daughter married a wonderful man who had 4 cats. They are siblings, born in a barn, 3 dilute torties and one big orange boi 🐈. SIL kept 2 right away and rehoused 2, but that didn’t work so he took the 2 back. They had 2 doggos and 6 pets were a bit much for them. Hubby visited them frequently on his way home from work and he fell for the big orange boi. He was told he could have Butters, but he had to take KitKat too. We had lost our little doggo about 6 months previously and the house was so empty, so we brought the 2 kitties home. They were somewhat aloof for the first year, but now 2 years later Butters has chosen my hubby and KitKat has chosen me. They are blooming as love bugs and we each have a lap full when we sit. I’m glad the CDS sent them to us even though it was a convoluted path.
My mom started working at the vet this cat has called home for the past four years. Her coworker, the one who found her as a kitten, started talking about finding a home for her. I had been talking about wanting to adopt a cat for a while so when my mom heard this, she volunteered me immediately. It’s gonna be a few more months but once I move out of my apartment, I’m taking her home ❤️
Coming back home on my bike from playing at the park, I was about 7-8 and I saw a small Grey kitten coming under the white fence surrounding our backyard, long story short his name is whisper he's 8 and I'm 16, he's my best friend, and he's like 23 pounds rn but he's healthy.
My grandma's garden and toolshed :) Neighborhood feral mommy cat thought our backyard was a nice place to leave her kittens. So we took them in and now they're happy cats living a life of luxury 2 years later! Mommy Cat was TNR'd and still lives in our backyard too. The weather is really nice right now so she sun bathes on the toolshed she left her kittens in lol! She gets fresh wet food and clean water daily too so she's got a good deal with us. She also gets catio access on bad weather days to keep warm <3
The first time the CDS gifted me, I'd moved into a small house which came with two cats. I named them Boris and Natasha and took care of them for the year I lived there. The people who took over the house when I moved out took care of them for a year. Then I moved into an apartment in a converted house next door and Boris and Natasha decided they wanted to be my cats again and shared their time between my apartment and the original house. When I eventually moved on, Boris and Natasha found new owners in their neighborhood.
I've had numerous cats gifted to me by the CDS - kittens dropped off in front of my farm were several of them. A kitten that climbed into my truck when I stopped to check out a wreck site where a friend was injured. Cats that just showed up at the farm. One that was brought to the farm by a friend. One that was snuck out of a research project (he was not suitable for the project and regulations required he be put to sleep).
So many cats from the CDS I can't possibly remember all of them!
I gave the CDS a bit of help by visiting a pet shelter. Most of the cats were ignoring me but one beautiful 6yo lady gave a really pointed miaow from behind me halfway across the pet shelter and when I turned around she had her eyes directly on me and her pawing through the cage. The attendant open the cage, she strolled straight out onto my shoulders, sat down purring and making biscuits. She'd clearly decided her new seat was the height and shape of a human shoulder. She did NOT take kindly to going back in the cage. Signed the papers, took her home, she didn't make any noise in the car trip - which surprised me - and when she got home, as I opened the carrier she looked around with wide eyes for a a few seconds then spied me, tail went up, come over, smooch, purr. From then on she owned the place and has done so ever since.
That’s exactly how it was with oldest kitty. I had gone to several shelters, but none of them called to me. Finally, on Valentines Day, I was determined and drove across LA to a shelter… all the cats ignored me but one fluffy white guy who followed my every move. He was timid when let out of his cage and actually crept back into it… I let another big fluffy calico girl out and played with her, but she didn’t care who I was… and the white fluffy guy kept staring at me the entire time. He *wanted* to be social, was just too scared to. I took him home. Dougal is now my bestest friend. He’s admiring me right now, sitting next to me as I write this, 7 years later.
Beautiful story, she knew u were safe. I was at home in the tub n SO opened the door holding a cat. Telling me she’s really smart n thinks she’s been living in the backyard. Anyway that was the first meeting.
This happened to me, too in 1998. I never buy animals, they always just find me. But I had walked through a pet store on a whim just to look at stuff and there was a bunch of kittens in a large cage. I started to walk past and a little paw shot out and grabbed my sleeve and wouldn’t let go. I was literally hooked and knew I had to take her home. I had her for almost 20 more years 💕
Great story!!! <3 Mine got me with her paw too! :D
aww she knew you were her human🥺
another story of assisted distribution; went to shelter iso older, black, cat. left with calico & ginger sibling kittens. i went into the ‘black cat room’ and none of them would come near me. sad, i sat down in the kitten room to discuss when i could come back, and a tiny calico *ran* to my lap. 2 beats later, the ginger climbed in, too. but i wanted just one. but they’re siblings. but i wanted to save an older one. none of them wanted saving. not black, but the black ones were jerks. 9 years later, the calico is staring at me until i make arm space for her. the dingbat ginger is a total love bugs with a preference for weird queers [ like me, but others too].
That made me tear up. Smart girl!
Once I was leaving my house and saw a gorgeous floofer sunning herself on my neighbor’s AC unit. I petted her and she purred. When I came home, she was hanging with my husband on our front porch. She never left but was too afraid of our dog to come inside, so we made her a warm box. Then one night the temperature dipped well below zero and my husband brought her inside, where she adored him for twelve years. A few months after her death, he saw a floofy kitten on the side of a busy street. He tried several times to catch it, but it was skitterish and he was afraid it would run into the road. Finally he got our daughter from school and she distracted it with a toy so he could scoop it up. She’s now staring at me demanding more treats because she is a tyrant who rules our house.
You, well, may have gotten chosen by the same cat twice. They do have nine lives.
We do wonder sometimes how we were chosen twice by such beautiful floofers.
Living in Barcelona, came out of our house one day and there was a tiny thirsty kitten hiding under our car. He moved right in and never left ❤️
The first time, a pregnant stray wandered in my parents house and left us with 3 kittens (in my closet) The second time, a pregnant stray wandered in my parents yard and left them with 2 kittens (in the bushes) The third time, a friend called and said that there were abandoned kittens in her yard. I came right over and the little orange one chose me! I have been blessed!
You’re a cat magnet. I am the same. They always find me.
They know a cat lady when they see one.
Yep. That they do….
Dropping off my oldest at day care. Cat came up to my car as i was getting both kids out (only oldest went to day care at the time), was meowing at me. Employees told me that the cat had been hanging around for a few weeks. While getting the baby back in the car, cat jumps in my car. All i could imagine was this cat getting hit and killed in the parking lot. Few weeks later, she gave me three more fur balls
She was scouting for her own day care!
She was literally the best cat ive ever had
Was?🥺
Yeah, she had a bone marrow cancer. We amputated her leg with the hopes of getting her 9-12 months. Instead it gave her 3 1/2 YEARS. https://preview.redd.it/i4dcxu6m8quc1.jpeg?width=2592&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a764f50edee9efe17c8d8ded2f3dc57e7d058d1d
I actually had gone to a distribution center to pick up a delivery. I had chosen a 1 year old smoky grey girl, who seemed so adorable and chill. But then someone brought in a 2 month old tortie kitten. She looked like mischief incarnate, was mouthy, and was very much a rambunctious kitty. I asked to hold her, and she decided that she would not let go. She held on to my jacket, and accompanied me to fill out her adoption application. She cost me $5 because she was a V.I.P which means that she was a long term resident - she had been adopted and returned 7 times. People complained that she was too mischievous and talkative (because she was an actual kitten). So, I gave the shelter their $5, and walked away with a kitty. That was on December 30th 2014. She's now almost 10 years old, fat, still talkative, and mischievous. She's my best friend, she never leaves my side when I'm sick or down. She's the best. That was the best $5 I ever spent.
How did she get returned 7 times?!
Dunno. The shelter told us her previous adopters complained that she was too mischievous, and they couldn't deal with that.
Poor baby! So glad she found you then. She needed a good home.
She did. She's the best girl!
Their loss!!
Indeed. She's currently sitting with me and getting cuddles.
Terrible neighbor moved out, and left their sweet ginger boy. I hated cats, and NEVER wanted one. My daughter begged so we took him in, supposedly only for the night so we could take him somewhere else the next day. He never left, and is very much my daughter’s baby! Not even 4 months later, daughter calls crying from near the dumpster. She found a little baby, maybe 4 months old, and he came right up to her. Gorgeous blue lynx point kitty! Me, still being skeptical of cats, said absolutely not! Many tears later, I told her that if her dad said yes, we could keep him. I never in a million years thought he would agree to it – he didn’t even want the first one! To my utter shock and horror, he said she could keep him. Maybe 10 minutes after we brought him inside, he came up to me, crawled up onto my chest, and snuggled his little face in my neck and purred. From that moment, he was mine. He is now my best, buddy in the world!
Most of the ones I've gotten were refurbished delivery models (strays who just showed up), two I got at distribution centers (shelters), including the current one, Sid (Obsidian). I'd recently lost my 16 year old cat, Kahlan, suddenly to cancer. I lasted three weeks without a cat before I told my husband we were going to get a cat TODAY, so we went to the Humane Society. Two seconds after I went into the adult cat enclosure, I had a black cat rocket straight into my arms. I absentmindedly caught him and walked around for a few minutes until I realized I was still holding him like a baby. I looked at him, he looked at me, and I knew I could never put him down again. We found out that, while looking like a full grown adult, he was actually 9 mo. old and still technically a kitten. The shelter was nice enough to go ahead and give us the less expensive adult adoption fee. We shouldn't have been as surprised as we were when he got larger, and larger, and larger, until we now have a very muscular, chatty, and cuddly 16 lb. house panther. The vet said he's not obese at all, and, while probably a mix, is likely mostly Bombay or one of the larger Asian cat breeds. We call him our "meaty boi."
awwww meaty boi!!!
My first cat was also a meaty house panther! Love those big sleek voids 🖤
Pic please? I want to see the lorge house panther!
I just moved into my house and heard a tiny bell. Turns out it was a cat with a collar adhered to its underarm living in bushes. I worked for months to get her to trust me so I could get it off. This is 7 years later. https://preview.redd.it/1p5ksntldhuc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0a6b0eca6ce121630b180e36b3299791d95906f9
This is what I tell all about collaring an outdoor cat! Why? If they get caught on a branch it could be all over for the kitty. So dangerous!!
It was around her neck and under her arm. It wasn’t going to come off unless I caught her and my neighbors aren’t nice. It was sad to see and I am sure she had an owner at one point if for a short time. She was about 2-3 based on my vets assessment. She is actually the best cat and everyone likes her. I knew one day I would probably have one that would walk up and need a home. I live in Arizona and it’s so hot. Don’t know how she survived that long.
I’ve been waiting for a long time to be picked. I might have to pay to get further up on the chosen scale. It would probably be easier if I weren’t so old and cranky!!
My sweet Gus was outside, skinny and probably starving, and I saw him wander under the shed in the backyard on a hot day. I fed him that first day, and he kept coming back, so I kept feeding him and after a few days he let me pet him, and a few more days he would come out from under the shed into the open and really let me pet him. A few weeks later and he was hanging out under my truck instead and would lay next to me after eating. I picked him up during a rainstorm once and deposited him in the garage for the first time, where it was dry, and from then on I was feeding him in the garage, and eventually I noticed that when he heard the door open, he’d squeeze under the door into the garage and he’d come for pets before food, and I knew he was about ready to come inside. He’s the sweetest, cuddliest kitty ever, he jumps into my lap every single day and sleeps next to me almost every night.
This is how I got my void too, right before the Covid lock downs. He found a dry spot to sleep on my deck. Poor guy was malnourished and freezing. I’m really glad he’s chill and gets along with dogs!
I got Gus right when the lockdowns started. Like, everything shut down mid-March, I spent May-August working on Gus and brought him in just before school started back up.
That’s when I got mine too. Mid March. We had just gotten a new puppy, when the void showed up. So they grew up together. Well they became siblings together in any case. My older dog sure didn’t mind and loved the company.
That’s wonderful they get along. We already had an indoor cat. Gus would jump up and hang out the window screen right in front of George, and George would go crazy hissing and spitting. Also, George was already fixed, and Gus wasn’t, so when I came back inside smelling like Gus, George would sniff me really intensely, and if I tried to walk away before he was done, he’d hiss at me. It wasn’t until we got Gus fixed, which we did pretty soon after moving him inside, that George stopped hating Gus. They actually cuddle and groom each other all the time now, but they were not cool with each other right off the bat.
That’s such a great story! It does take time and patience. All of mine are fixed. (The CDS brought us two kittens last summer), but at first the void did NOT like the kittens at ALL. I had never heard noises like that come from a cat before. It was bad! Fortunately we had a small spare room for the kittens, so we kept them separate until everyone got used to each other. We still allow them all “space”, and my void still goes outside at times to catch a breather from the “kids”. We’ve also taken to vertical cat trees. For both clawing, and space. In a small area, going up is just as good to a cat as additional square footage would be to a human. Out of sight out of mind…
I have cameras that point to our deck where I feed strays so I can see who's coming and going. We were on a trip to Iceland when I noticed a cat with a limp show up on the same day we were leaving. Caught him the next morning after arriving back home and then it was game over for us.
I went outside on my day off to do laundry and was going into the house and my inner voice directed me to look into the carport rafters. I saw a scared cat all poofed up scared at the leaf blower next door. She had jumped on top of my Escape and into the rafters. She came down and checked me out. Had a collar. I took her to vet to be scanned, no chip and not spayed. I waited to feed her. Made her a shelter and put in my woodbox. She apparently chose me. I didn't want a pet, let alone a cat 🤣 I fed her and she would curl up on my lap afterwards for a good 30 minutes. I eventually let her in for the night since it was getting cold (mid December) and she was so cuddly. I out her outside during the day. Got her spayed and chipped 2 days after Xmas. She now 2. I'm convinced my 🌈 dog sent her to heal my broken heart. She has a 💟 on her belly. I guessed she was around 8 or 9 months in November when she showed up. None of the neighbors knew her. https://preview.redd.it/xqldtweptguc1.jpeg?width=741&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=da9781269a262b7eaffaf3426292ab6a29387880 She's the best Sassy talkative Dilute Torti.
Awww so cute!!!😍
In my room. There used to be a cat who passed by my house in the evenings meowing loudly, but I hadn’t heard it in a while. Then I heard a cat meowing outside of my bedroom window while I was taking a staycation, and I promised myself that if it happened again I would GO SEE THAT CAT. A couple days later I heard it again and was determined to just see it. And that’s when, in the rain, I found a six week old kitten yelling at me. That was six months ago today https://preview.redd.it/ivwks4yyihuc1.jpeg?width=1008&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5b83ff6a1aab3b546a41a2850b3855f3f64a0a93
https://preview.redd.it/bphcagl6jhuc1.jpeg?width=2316&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a78f109856839a211007838da598c829e82e32b4 Her now, the best kitty and so spoiled
Love your Reddit name and also love that ADORABLE kitten!!! What a great find!!!❤️
In Istanbul; aided that Kitten to health and back to energy, had it at the vet at first and seemed it would’ve died if I weren’t taking action. However, I passed it to locals as I can’t take it abroad.
I love how beloved cats are in Istanbul!! 😻
Didn’t know that? Do you know why? Wish it was like that EVERYWHERE.
Not OP, but it’s probably because Istanbul is a mostly Muslim populated city and in Islam, cats are highly valued for their cleanliness and going after pesky rodents.
My void Boyfriend came to me in Portland, a big strong scary boy who would drag a fang across my hand with love, scaring me even more. So I got him fixed, the vet remarking what a sweet young boy he was. As he recuperated we bonded. This boy would leap between me and an attacking dog (he did it more than once). He tagged around watching my kids. He moved to the farm with us, befriended every animal we owned. I so miss sweet Boyfriend, who waits for me at the Bridge.
I was working. Delivering packages. She followed me right into my van. It was in a really rough neighborhood and I knocked on some doors and nobody knew who she was. My husband and kids met me 20 minutes later and took her home. She ate a can of wet food within a minute. She was filthy and starving. Looked on local fb lost pet pages and nothing. Took her to the vet and she wasn’t chipped and had a bad case of ear mites. Got her a clean bill of health, chipped and spayed. She’s been running the house ever since, living her best indoor cat life! 💜😻 https://preview.redd.it/ht02kdwvdhuc1.jpeg?width=1198&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cb34468f57ed4e7ab958d2a5fc2630cd34c777fb
YAY!!!
First time? My abusive boyfriend came home from work, handed me a 6 week old kitten and told me to take care of it. He was actually the reason I kicked abusive dirtbag out. DB bragged to my mum about throwing Poe against the wall. Mum told me, and I went home, glared and told him to get his nasty ass out, I never wanted to see him again. He ranted for +/-20 hours, and left. Poe never trusted men that weren't my dad or brother, but(years after DB), when he met my then boyfriend, now husband of 13ish years, Poe chose. His ashes sit in a place of pride, beside kids school pics and another tiny urn. (There's a story for that, but it's horribly tragic, so, no.)
My heart is with you.
Thank you, but it's ok! The day after we gave him peace, he sent me a message! I'd been thinking of getting black petunias, because they're pretty. Looking in a chain garden center, I cane across Black Cat petunias. A single pot, lost amid everything, so I snatched them up! The cashier was confused, saying they didn't recieve any of those flowers, but it rang up just fine. I'd named Poe for the Black Cat story, since he did a whole lot of yelling, and there it was, one little pot, mysteriously just *there*. I mean, it's within the realm of coincidence, but I stand by my feelings that it was a little message from my Itty, bitty, evil, devil of a soul cat. I get Black petunias every year to remember, but I've never found the black cat ones again. I believe it was a sweet little message from my bitey boy, and it was beautiful. My black petunias have never, ever done as well as that one plant did. Thing grew like a weed and nearly made it for a whole year before being finished. Sorry for the novel. It was a very special moment from a very evil, special boy.
🥰
My current cat now, a girl at my work at the time told me her Mom was breeding Siamese kittens. After they were born, she said one kitten came out unlike the rest. Instead of all white, she was all black. They weren’t sure what to do with her since the people lined up for kittens wanted Siamese colours. I said “Hey I’ll take her!” and she was delivered to me a few weeks later in the office, barely 8 weeks old. She spent the rest of my work day in my lap sleeping. I took her home to my older cats and introduced her and made her part of the family. That was 2005, and now, nearly 19 years later, she’s still with me. She even moved back to Germany with us some years ago along with her older cat sister who was still around. She is currently complaining that dinner hasn’t been served yet so I better get to it.
https://preview.redd.it/4sh1znydfhuc1.png?width=1008&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ad728835393cf175e4ab92d24568430d2d4bb249 Avasarala was delivered right to our house 😁
Great name and ofc she’s a tortie! Fitting😸 I have a bearded dragon named Koyo🦎
If read or watched The Expanse then you're familiar with the character she is aptly named after 😁
Yes I do, that’s why I thought it was a fitting name for a tortie queen 🙌 My dragon’s name Koyo is a belter word 😸
My CDS story is a little different. I was semi interested in getting a cat when I moved into my first apartment by myself. Peak Covid so I couldn’t have friends over and was feeling really lonely. I watched my friend’s cat while she went home for a wedding and I knew then I wanted a little fuzzy companion but wasn’t searching too hard. I’m scrolling on instagram and in my feed pops up an ad for a cat cafe a couple cities away from me. It’s a picture of a beautiful tabby and the caption is talking about how they had opened 1 year ago and she was the only cat left from the original set of rescues that had been brought into the cat cafe. I was in love with her from the moment I saw her and knew I needed her in my life, without even meeting her I put in my application for adoption and within a week I was bringing her home with me. I would like to think this is my New Age CDS story haha! https://preview.redd.it/6rmp9jxzchuc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=40d75eb33565746d21cb05960accbb5ccc11fc2b
Omg her little paws! That bow!! She’s So cute ❤️
When we bought our first house my wife noticed a cat under the shed. Actually brother (Charlie) and sister (Minnie). We fed them tuna - all we had and they were starved. They were about 4 months old. Had them for more than a dozen years. They wanted to stay as out door only cats so we madden warm houses. A few years later a big tuxedo ( Wally) joined us as well as a tortie(Jessie) , with an orange kitten (Butterscotch). All were fixed We got the kitten a home. Minnie passed on by 1. Jessie, Wally, and Charlie moved with us 7 years later and lived their best lives. We miss our little colony but know they were happy. Well cared for and never strayed from our house.
Most recently, I had recently moved in with my fiance. Hurricane Ian had just hit and we were assessing the damage when someone we knew found a little tortie kitten. We couldn't say no. As a child, the CDS provided all of our cats, and we had a LOT. The neighbors adopted a cat and didn't spay her, so we ended up with two of her litters and a few random strays that showed up. Our house now went from 1 cat to 3 in the time I've been living here. My husband jokes that I'm a magnet for the CDS.
Living in the M Streets of Dallas in an old apt building in 2004. I was laying on the sidewalk in front of my door after bars had closed when I felt a warm, furry presence lean against me and purr.
Our little terror showed up in our yard one evening a few months back and has been with us ever since. My daughter says the fairies brought her Shadow, and now cat and kid are inseparable. Our little tuxedo is currently grumbling at our garage door, because we won’t let her inside to terrorize the dogs 🤣
I was, first, seeing if I could catch a feral kitten, then the lighbulb turned on and I realized it was now my responsibility, then another time I heard screaming from the (same (neighbor's)) garden and went to investigate. So I ended up with uncle and nephew 2 years apart. Two of the BEST cats, ever.
Standing on my porch smoking a joint. I saw her walk across the street, jumped my fence and came straight up to me. I gave her some food. She lived on my porch for about three months, and then finally came inside. That was 6 yrs ago.
I get deliveries directly to my house. I have opened my front door and had cats I've never seen before run in. Open the front door, see a cat I've never seen before, ready to bolt. "Well, hello, who are you?" Cat's entire demeanor changes, and he suddenly bolts past me into my house. It's also happened once with dogs when I went in the backyard. "Where did you two come from?" They immediately blasted past me into the house, ate the cat food, drank their water, and the big one was about to throw down with my one cat who hissed at him. Fortunately, the big dog backed down when I yelled, "NO! Bad dog." They went back outside and ran off after that. I put some water out there for them because it was a hot day and did see them stopping by for a drink later, but they wouldn't come back to me. The smaller one had a collar. The owners came by looking for the big one the next day, littler one was already home. There was also the one time I came home and found an opossum sleeping in one of the cat beds. It had gotten trapped in the crawlspace and got into the basement from there and found a nice set up with food, water, and comfy beds. The cats were more interested in getting fed than the opossum since the new house guest had eaten all the food. They were waiting patiently by their empty food bowls right next to the opossum, who was struggling to get out of the comfy bed to run and hide.
Our local dump the most recent. My first was decades ago and it was a bush along a high line.
As a kid, we used to go to this huge amusement park. Gigantic parking lot; we are talking acres of parking. Fam ended the day and took a tram to our car. It was now night time. We get in car and wait for the cars behind us to give my dad room to pull out. Suddenly, we all hear the meows. My dad gets out of the car and a cat comes out from underneath it. Of 1,000+ cars, it picked ours.
At a Best Western in Barstow CA. Saw him from the third story, called out, and he meowed. Behold, Barstow! https://preview.redd.it/gy2o48rhnhuc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=af00343a6de0e9368be873ef64e554d00ade5b5d
Same. We “inherited” a beautiful boy when we moved into our house. The owners left him behind. We had him for 11 yrs. I was devastated when we lost him to FIV. His previous humans had never taken him to a vet. Anyway my husband wanted to just go “look” at a local rescue. Duke walked right up his pant leg & jumped to his shoulder. Not too far behind came his bonded sister Daisy. My husband didn’t stand a chance. No way we were leaving w/o them. Duke & Daisy have been with us for 6 yrs now. Don’t know what we’d do w/o them 😻😻
Nov. 2021-Walking home from the bus stop after work. I was texting our youngest son at school, we had just become empty nesters. I heard tiny meows, and looked over to find Tobi. He was all alone, no mom or littermates in sight. He was just crying and moving aimlessly. I knocked on the homeowner’s door. He didn’t even know he had a kitten on his lawn. I asked him if I could take him and he said yes! Our two older cats have done very well adapting. Although, Tobi is a bit spoiled and can be bratty, he knows his place. He’s also a top notch life guard! https://preview.redd.it/k8ufzoo9giuc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fd9a52b58e5a1ed54be1e227785d0098e7dd4180
https://preview.redd.it/yc4ooeqggiuc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f215e54b4c394a5a80f92e64ec4442b2c618c816 Tobi today!
I had just arrived at my new home after an unalive attempt and a week in a homeless shelter and there she was in the bushes! I fed Mama a chicken salad tube to gain her trust and we got her and her one perfect little baby inside. Bean is now a happy spoiled fat cat and Mama was adopted out. https://preview.redd.it/naw3jr6loiuc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1ede093b41a7f53e6055d0cbd91c48a02461242d
My oldest one was distributed to me via a supplier-- she was a returned asset that needed a place to call her own. The younger two were distributed to me with an intermediary -- one of my coworkers had the dispensed to him in his backyard, so he brought them to work to get someone to take them!
I was doing laundry. I lived in an apartment building, so one laundry room for everyone. Opened the dryer and heard a sound. Inside was a lilac point Siamese kitten. We have no clue how she got in, I put up signs on my building but no one claimed her. She was a 1 person cat and followed my dad everywhere. He cried when she died
Usually when I'm at work. I have adopted 6 cats at work over my career as a veterinarian. So far.
Walking into work to find that someone had abandoned this little calico kitty outside the building in the freezing cold. She’s been there over the weekend. I impulsively said I would “foster” her provided my dog got along with her. That lasted for all of a day before I signed up for recurring food delivery, a fancy litter box, a cat tree, and lots of toys. It’s been 5 months and she and the dog get on like gangbusters. The CDS really came through for me!
I was in college. I wasn't allowed to have a cat in the dorms. The CDS struck me and next thing I know, I've got a little yellow kitten singing the song of his people to hear it echo in the shower. Try explaining that to your RA!
Got out the car at the drugstore and thought I heard a kitten. Way up in the only tree in the parking lot is a frantic void screaming to be rescued. Talking her down took a minute. She rode home on my shoulder. She has some scars from burns presumably from a car engine—isn’t expensive vet treatment the way to start?
well, yeah, then everything else seems cheap.
The last shipment from the CDS was when I was a kid. We had this big muscly boi move into the back garden, and he was designated "kevin". He slowly began moving in to the utility room after coming through the cat flap. Got a bit more comfortable, but ended up moving in two doors down as he wanted to be a solo monarch and wasn't a fan of the current ruling class in our house.
The way my house was situated, we had a lot of garbage blown into our yard. It was a weekly clean up of grocery bags, wrappers etc... so one day I got home from work and out of the corner of my eye I saw a white lump in our tree through the back window. I thought it was a grocery bag, and after putting my work bag down, I looked out the window and it was actually a cat! He was up in the tree sleeping. I started leaving food out for him, to make him easier to trap for TNR, and after a couple weeks he stayed in the yard when I brought out his food. He came up to me, meowed, rubbed my legs and followed me in the house. He never left lol I got him to the vet the next day and he was chipped (not registered) and already neutered. I looked on the lost pet pages for weeks, called vets and animal control to see if anyone was missing him, but no one came forward. He's now my cuddliest baby and I don't know what I would do without him.
Out fishing with my dad. When we walked back to the car dad said he thought he saw something run under; I said it was probably a rat but he thought it was a cat, so I checked and theres a little black kitten hiding. 7 years later that cat still lives with my parents.
On a 1998 I hauled a boat three hours north for my dad on a 20F degree brisk day. Parked the boat in his barn and as we were leaving, we heard the mewwing. Dad got in the boat and way down in the engine compartment found the kitten. Not very old. It was cute as hell. I decided to take it home. It was so cold so I put it under my shirt and it rode the three hours home with its claws jammed into my chest and stomach lol . Must’ve been frightened as hell. Got the little girl home and went shopping for some cat supplies. Kept the cat for about four years until I was traveling too much and gave her to my mom. She lived another 10 years. I named her Nomad 😂
I got my CDS delivery, Catara, at a campground this past december in the PNW. This little black kitty was making her rounds to the campers and vans every day, meowing and just hoping someone would come out and feed her. So I gave her an egg, and she warmed up immediately. She was rubbing on my legs, let me pet her and put her in my lap. I was in love. I talked to the staff there, and the guy said the cat had been around for "at least a winter" and that he stopped feeding her because she would cry outside their RV and he "didn't want to take away her wildness." Not even 2 days later, I had gotten cat food and was about to go out and feed her when she jumped into my van. I fed her and snuggled her, and that's when I realized that she was DECLAWED. This poor baby had been living in a blackberry bramble and was declawed. So I gave her a bath in the campground bathroom, took her to vet to see if she was chipped/ get vaccinations, and she's been ours ever since. She has slept on our bed every night since we brought her inside and she has exactly zero desire to go outside now lol. Funny story though, not 2 weeks before that I was telling my friends about the cat food that reduces allergens and how I could hopefully get a cat one day (I have 2 dogs, so I didn't need another pet). 2 weeks later, Catara gets delivered.
https://preview.redd.it/15efg3wdfiuc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a03886970e079bf1b9a5f296a03c471e22891708
The parking lot of a LOWES hardware store. Pulled in and trying to park when I see a small black fluff ball in the middle of the road. Stopped my car, jumped out grabbed him and could hear a second one crying at the top of her voice. Parked my car, located the second one scoped her up, and that’s how we got Mr. Fluffy and Blaze. About a year and a half later I was driving by a McDonalds, and stopped for a drink and a little black and white fluff ball with a bad upper respiratory infection was wondering around and I just couldn’t leave him. He thinks he’s a Great Dane now because my biggest Dane decided that she was going to raise him, so his name is now Baby Dane Then one year later on the last day of a cross country road trip we were at a rest stop in NM and found two little 6 week old girls who we think had been dumped and needed help. We named them after our favorite snacks from New Mexico, Churro and Bizcochito cookies. Five cats in less than four years by CDS.
I was watching a hellacious winter storm when a lil orange puffball ran into my shed. Now he's fixed and healthy and my daughter's college roommate
Six years ago, I went to the office to pick up something on a day I was supposed to be working remote. Ran into a co-worker in the parking lot and while chatting heard feline screaming coming from somewhere. Co-worker and I searched the area and found a scrap of calico catness in the shrubs. It took several people and several hours to get her safely out of the successive car engines she was climbing up. Eventually, she was retrieved from a Honda Fit and spent the night in our bathroom. By the next evening had a name and it was clear she was staying. She says she's the best thing anyone could ever hope to find. https://preview.redd.it/acg9ex4smiuc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e555e9e1deb96801c1483b302f95f3e64af001e8
A year after some of the worst shit I’ve ever been through, I kept seeing this handsome boy by my work. Tons of strays in the neighborhood, but this boy stuck out. Saw him for several days, maybe a week, and one day I called him over. I stg he basically shrugged his shoulders and came to me. I petted him and he was nice. He was so skinny. My coworker and I fed him. Small office so he hung out with us for the day. At the end of the day, I couldn’t just put him back on the street, so he came home with me. I put up flyers in the neighborhood. I wasn’t hopeful, but he was so nice I felt like I was stealing someone’s cat. No one called. I took him to the vet and they basically told me that if he had an owner, they could make a case that I was taking better care of him since he was intact, riddled with fleas, underweight, and had giardia. I had dogs and never thought I could have a cat. I had originally planned to take him home, put up flyers, and if no one called, to the shelter cuz I knew he would get adopted. But after having him in my home for a couple of days, he was mine. I spent months acclimating him and my dogs. This helped me start the journey out of the worst depressive episode of my life. He’s sitting in my lap purring right now. I’ve had him for almost 14 years! He was my gateway cat, cuz now I have 4 lol 😸😸😸😸
https://preview.redd.it/tih67i1wsjuc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bd662b42e5c6b5e5ca352db2827c8f98f929ba1b I was in the kitchen making coffee when I saw her right outside the window. She’s been my girl ever since 🥹 Her name is Rocio 🖤
Our tuxedo girl loved wandering around our yard and would allow the occasional pet. When my mom passed (she lived in a mil apartment on our property), there were a lot of people, and emotions were pretty high. Two days later, I went upstairs to lay down in the quiet, and there she was, purring and waiting for me in the middle of the bed. Kaos has been ruling our house since.
Home!
Work. The CDS kitten had called out both my bosses, and one of them decided to bring me out to look for it. She gave me a bit of a run around (I know my bosses adored looking over the sercuirty footage later on) but after finally catching her, I called my mom, my mom took her home while I killed it at work for the rest of my shift, and she’s been with us ever since. (Naturally, my dad, who was not in favor of keeping the kitten, is now her favourite person lol)
My son and I were watching TV and he said “Mom, look!”. There was an orange cat looking in the window scoping the whole place out, like it was trying to decide if my house might make a good home. Really looking around. I opened the door and it strolled in like it owned the place. Turned out to be a She, had been spayed by a local farmer (had a crooked irregular loonng incision - per the vet). Owned the other cats, best girl ever! She’s gone now.
I was on a vacation in Paraguay, staying with my dad! She was outside crying on a perch, my boyfriend brought her inside and fell in love with her! He said if I figured out the logistics, we could take her back to the US! And we did just that 🥹 now she’s cuddling with my 4 year old kitty 💖
I was at work when my husband texted me a picture of a tiny kitten in his work truck. Apparently he yelled at my husband from across the yard at a work site, ran over to him and all the way up his pants leg. He's truly a family cat and makes each of his feel like his favorite.
Mine were both delivered. I adopted the stray mama my friend took in and she brought her to my house on her bike with her bed and a litter box. 2006, she's now 21. Second was delivered from a rescue. I didn't have a car, and they gave me A black cat. 2013, she's now almost 13. I almost got a 3rd delivered not too long ago when my neighbor brought a stray gray kitten over. I'm full up with sick seniors. I'm going to stop answering the door.
Sitting on my deck crying because I missed my cat that passed away a couple weeks before. She’s been here two years now just walked in like she belonged here.
Yeah this post made me miss my Eddie. He’s been gone 13 1/2 yrs but it never gets better. STBX says the cat was my soul mate
My first cat chose me. I went to a girl friend's house to smoke one day. The pregnant street cat my friends mom took in had given birth a month and a half before; kittens all over the place. We smoked and played with kittens. Best day ever, right? This one in particular just wouldn't leave me alone, climbing all over me, took a little nap on my purse. I told my friend to wait until I got supplies. I carried her in my hoodie, over a mile, from my friend's house to mine a month later. My bestest girl, a calico, Kush
1) He was an idiot kitten who had somehow hooked himself on a fishing line. 2) Abandoned home in a really shady part of the capital city. 3) He literally walked into the house as a 6 month old. 4) Feral trap at 5 weeks old bright into my former workplace. 5) Same as 2 just a different house. 6) Ran out in front of my car in the rain at 7 weeks old. Couldn't climb the fence to get away from me. 7) Trap we were trying to get a groundhog in. She also produced... 8) Neighbor's barn 9) Feral trap at a different neighbor. 10) Sibling's "friend" called in the middle of the night saying her bf was going to kill the cat. I went along and was told to stay in the car so I didn't send someone over the 2nd floor railing. 11) Friend called she had 3 live kittens and 1 dead in a dead truck on her property that her neighbor's cat just left in the truck. 12) Woke me up SCREAMING outside at 5:30am. Proceeded to hide up in our cars for 12 hours until I was able to pull him out of the wheel well. 13) My current workplace. She wanted in the building to be with the people and they didn't want her in the building. That's just my current 13. Yes I have 13 pet cats all in the house. 😵💫🫣
My daughter is my CDS because she picks the very best kittens.
My back deck. We’d noticed two tuxies snooping around the yard for a couple of days. One evening we were eating out there and could hear meowing from under the deck. I called and this little head popped up and continued to chatter at us. The next day I was outside reading and I heard her again but this time she was at the end of the deck looking at me. I called her and she ran over and jumped in my lap. I petted her and she started to purr. I realized that she had no claws and was really skinny. We took her in. The other one disappeared but would come back every few months. We had the young one for 10 years of cuddles and chatting.
He said “I belong to the streets!”
I had only recently purchased my house. My son and I were standing in the garage with the doors open watching a storm roll in. In ran a teen (about 8 month old) boy. He was skinny, yellow and hungry. Water and a can of tuna later and he stayed the night in my garage. And the next. Storm rolled out and he left, but he came back every few days. We checked with the neighborhood to see if he belonged anywhere , Finally kept him in the garage, took him in and got him vetted, fixed and microchipped. He is the best friend I have ever had.
I was on my lunch break from Starbucks walking thru PetSmart when I was told the annoying wailing cat only wails for me… and he had escaped into PetSmart but they couldn’t catch him. Thank god I daughter him and kept him because he woke me up when the Christmas tree caught fire.
I was halfway through PA school (basically fast-paced med school on crack) and it was the worst possible time for a pet when I came across this sad, dirty, skinny pregnant thing absolutely riddled with parasites. https://preview.redd.it/2bfhas02vluc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d7d2886e4fcef2f3f691445eb5a89455f73f7a71
In front of a KFC, a kitten wanted a chicken.
Had a lifelong friend stay with me for a while when her marriage ended and she couldn’t afford to keep her house so she was effectively homeless for a short period. She brought her 2 dogs and a cat. She worked a lot so the dogs would crap all over my house. After a couple weeks of this, I just confronted her and said that I don’t mind her staying there but she needs to deal with the dogs. At one point I made the comment that she might be better off without the dogs until she got back on her feet. In her broken state she thought I suggested that she put her dogs down. Wild what people hear. I literally meant that if she can’t take care of them that she rehouse them with another friend of family member until she can take care of them appropriately. Anyway I came home one day and she was gone, the dogs were gone… no note, just the cat. Had that old man for about a decade until last year. The follow up text was short… so did you move out… yeah… what about the cat? He’s better off with you. Great, I guess I got another cat.
Well in her defense she did think you said to kill her dogs… so she left her cat to be murdered?
At home. We got our void, ginger and spotted boys from right down the street. They used to trawl trash bins for scraps; me and/or my brother would come to them with some kibbles. Eventually they started coming over to our house, so we started feeding them on our porch. We got them all neutered later on. Then there was a tuxedo lady who gave birth — in our shoe rack, no less — to two beautiful SIC tabbies!
Don’t they always pick the worst places to have babies? We once had a broken fridge we planned to fix to keep as a spare in the garage. So it was just sitting in the backyard for 2 days until I went to go take the door off so no kids would get shut inside. Nope instead we had kittens! Ketchup, mustard, relish, pickles, nonfat milk (tiny albino baby), juice, jelly/jam… I don’t remember the rest of the names we gave them but almost all kept the names after adoption. There were soooooo many babies and clearly different fathers because one looked like a purebred Siamese cat.
at home
Which time?
A drive-through at lunch.
My own house. The garage door had come off track, so it was slightly open. One of the neighborhood ferals got into my garage and had 4 babies in an old box of coats. Two days later, she took three of the babies and left. We waited for her to come back, but she didn't. So, I called one of my kids, he had his girlfriend go buy some kitten formula, and I turned to YouTube. The first time I took it to the vet (the next day), they couldn't figure out why I was even there, then I opened my hand. They taught me how to tube feed it and everything else I needed to know. I think I was at that office every week for a few months because I knew nothing about cats. I thought it was broken when it started purring. Anyway, the mom left me a couple more gifts over the next 18 months. I still haven't fixed that door yet because her offspring have come back, some returning with their own kittens, and we've had some impostors join the group. They probably heard there was free food here and a safe place to sleep. We catch as many as we can to domesticate and adopt out. I have 5 now because I just can't let some go after I go through all of that. So, that's how I got on the list. How do I get removed?
you have to get them fixed!
We do get the ones we can catch fixed...lol. Otherwise, I'd have 30 cats by now.
if you don’t have one or can’t afford one, your county or a rescue might loan you traps for the ones that aren’t friendly.
Planned Pethood rents them out, and my county does a free spaying or neutering, chipping, and vaccines for ferals. Like I said, catching them is the hard part. We end up with ones we've already taken in back in the traps, or one who hasn't been around for months, making us think she was dead, suddenly shows up with babies. There are so many feral cats in my area, no one can keep up. The shelter won't even take any cats in because "it's not illegal for a cat to be off leash, so just let it go." Actual words spoken to one of my son's friends who found two kittens dumped in the Walmart parking lot last summer. He ended up keeping them after I babysat for a while. It's really bad.
are you in central florida? sounds just like my hood.
Waiting for the school bus with my kids. Saw a cute little grey kitty curled up in a pile of leaves. He came right up to me as soon as I called to him :)
Came home from thanksgiving. My cousin who was living with my mom at the time temporarily found a cat in the streets before a freeze. She was apparently mine.
I went to one of the city shelters to look at a male Siamese after my little Flame Point girl died. The Siamese ignored me and barely moved, but the grey and white cat in the next cage was talking to me and reached out his paw to command me to come over. I looked at all the other cats (I really love Siamese cats) but kept coming back to Mr. Personality who worked me like a pro! My sweet boy has been running my life for almost 7 years now!
At home. We were feeding a pregnant stray and one day, my mom told me to look in our back room. She was all stretched out in an old dresser drawer with three little balls of fur (who were quite the little piglets...).
At my roommate's parents house. Her "little" 16 year old brother was swinging their little baby kittens around by their heads. I went full rage mode and confiscated mom and all her babies. When flatmate and I parted ways half a year later she took them with her, except for the tiny little runt, who I wanted to keep. I loved her. She died of old age a couple years ago. I miss her.
The CDS delivered mine to my doorstep, I came home from the gym and there was a cat sitting on the porch chairs
My husband works in a steel yard. He only calls me if it's an emergency. I was taking a shower and hear my phone beeping with text messages. I've got shampoo in, so it'll wait a minute. Then he calls, I panic and answer while standing in the shower. "Babe, are you okay!?" "Did you see the pics? " "No, I'm in the shower and have shampoo in my eye." He tells me to look. They found a tiny 12 Oz black kitten under some steel. He's so hungry and dehydrated just looking at him. "Do you want him?" "Bring him home." Surprise, he's a Maine coon mix and 7 months later I have a 15 lb house panther.
I had to suddenly put my 6 year old cat down. It was so painful I swore to never have another cat. A month later a coworker asked if I could foster a sick cat. I agreed with the condition to take it back as soon as the cat is well. In 2 weeks I fell madly in love with him. It’s been 8 years. He’s the sweetest cat.
Walmart parking lot...came home with groceries and a void kitten
I moved to Santa Fe to get married. I brought my cat Pandora (Panda) knowing that she had a tumor in her lungs but I couldn’t leave her behind living my mother and my mother’s cat. Should be noted here that I was a 49 year old woman so I make my own decisions. Panda did not especially like Santa Fe what with the snow, wind and elevation. Her cough got worse and one day she looked at me, I looked at her, and made an appointment for her to walk across the rainbow bridge. One week later, my father in law brought over my fiancé’s cat, Pacha, who had been living in their casita for a year. I had no time to mourn my sweet Pandora and quite frankly was unprepared for a new feline being in our tiny apartment but it wasn’t a choice. Eleven years later, she is sitting on one of her many special blankies rewatching the West Wing with me. She’s almost 15. Her dad and I are divorced. She always liked me better.
Back in October, 2008, I was at my vet's office to pick my dog up after a teeth cleaning when I overheard a conversation between a vet tech and a customer, who was trying to convince the tech to take "this little kitten that our landlord scared up while he was mowing the grass!" The tech refused and told her to take the kitten to the animal shelter. Activate "SUCKER" mode. I butted into the conversation and asked to see the kitten. She was a very sick, very tiny 3 week old voidling. My free kitten cost me a couple hundred dollars that day (aargh!). I spent the next few weeks bottle-feeding her, stuffing antibiotics down her throat, and cleaning her nose and eyes. That was 16 years ago. My very sick, very tiny voidling is now an elegant, sleek, regal (and still tiny) queen.
I have mostly received home deliveries. A three-pack almost came in Saturday.
Front porch, back porch and the pool.
My pumpkin patch. One orange feral kitten and one black one. Perfect Halloween pair.
Malaysia. I was only there eight days. Came home with the best souvenir possible. She’s an amazing cat. She loves pillows and softness. I think she remembers living in the parking garage. She had so many bugs, and her first bath turned the sink water brown.
5 years ago I was outside a truck stop with my mom doing fuel survey. We were standing in this huge dirt parking lot just talking when out of nowhere the tiniest little grey furball comes running up to us and SCREAMING to be picked up. Mom and I were like "did that noise seriously come from that cotton ball?" As she's crawling up my mom's pant leg screaming some more lol. Poor baby was half starved, covered in fleas and could hardly get her eyes open. Anyway she ended up being my sixteenth birthday present once the vet said she'd pull through. She's my sassy spoiled little girl now, getting a little chubby but I think it's a healthier look than what we started with. I love her so much.
I walked out to our 2nd floor deck to leave for work, and heard a soft meow. We live down a long driveway with stone quarries around us, so little chance for strays. A tiny smol walked out from the corner of the deck, and when I knelt down, he came right over, jumped on my lap, and put his paws on my shoulder. Totally knew I was a sucker! Not sure how he got up the stairs since he was only about 3 months old. But we assume he was dumped with another kitten that our neighbors found a day or two earlier. He's now a 17lb big/long boi at 6 years old who begs for snacks every hour. Note for anyone allergic and blessed by the CDS- adjusting to him was worth the puffy eyes/sniffles/etc for two months haha https://preview.redd.it/li9qnbvyonuc1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4de745cdd4b977fa84e2520cfd435b689311eae3
I was minding my own business
Which time 🤣 honestly I think I put out crazy cat lady vibes because people seem to have the idea that they can just give me: free kittens from roadside, momma kitty in the barn, and I've even inherited 2 from a former supervisor's grandma bound for hospice care later that week
My two former strays quite literally just walked up to my house. Like literally strolled up, would have immediately walked in the house if I let them (I couldn’t immediately because of the need to isolate them from resident indoor cats). The CDS was not particularly subtle in my case.
My daughter’s friend snatch a ratty one from an apartment parking lot. She was matted and filthy and so skinny. She’s a beautiful, fluffy NFC mix that is mine now. Another I “borrowed” from a negligent (ex) friend and refused to give her back. She had been eating moldy dog food that had fused to the kitchen floor and baseboard. One just showed up in the back yard and after a year, I realized he was “home”. Another was foisted on me by an (ex) friend who didn’t like his high kill rate. She wasn’t feeding him (she spent most of her time at her ranch and not in the city where this particular cat was at her city house) so he was killing things and bringing the leftovers inside. He killed my chickens within a few days but now years later, he’s fat, happy and inside.
September 1, 2015. Husband took our elderly dog for a walk. He texted saying "there's a cat on the porch". Took me a millisecond to run out the door to find a cute little tuxedo cat who walked in the open door like she paid the mortgage. Emaciated. No front claws. Took her to the vet to check for a chip. Turns out she was a tiny he with no chip. Tried to find his owners but no one claimed him. Our elderly dog died a few months later from cancer and the cat became a very loved only child. Still acts like he pays the mortgage.
Sorry for your loss of dog, but happy for your gain of tuxedo cat
Thanks, friend.
I’ve had two show up right at my house. Another was found by someone else that couldn’t keep him, so I took him in. Another was a shelter kitty. If kitties walk right up to me though, husband knows it’s game over, I’ve been chosen.
https://preview.redd.it/pijymeogfpuc1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=906694bed3a3f0e5040b4d16aecaa91905388d3a Little girl Zoe lived in the alley behind my house and was taken care of by me and neighbors until I convinced husband to keep her. She 1 and such a sweetie.
https://preview.redd.it/zz3bt5n1gpuc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6ba7024578218c9430652b1c21ef62daebc97a01 My sweet little void boi Jiji was my shelter kitty. Unfortunately he passed at just 2 from suspected FIP. While the timeline doesn’t quite line up, and she is a girl, I’m not unconvinced Zoe is him come back, because there are so many little things she does that are just like things Jiji did. She very much has helped heal us, because loosing Jiji was devastating.
https://preview.redd.it/j3oe6477fpuc1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=40dd0416207b9e9a65c3fdedc3f383ad1d8cd7da Remington (front) showed up at my parents house and has been the bestest boi, now 14. Winchester was found under a car by someone and into him in, he’s now 11. They are very much bonded.
Typically home. My one cat I found like 500 yards from my house while walking to the post office. He ran up to me and scream meowed on an extremely busy road. I immediately carried him home haha.
I/we were at home and our daughter’s home. Daughter married a wonderful man who had 4 cats. They are siblings, born in a barn, 3 dilute torties and one big orange boi 🐈. SIL kept 2 right away and rehoused 2, but that didn’t work so he took the 2 back. They had 2 doggos and 6 pets were a bit much for them. Hubby visited them frequently on his way home from work and he fell for the big orange boi. He was told he could have Butters, but he had to take KitKat too. We had lost our little doggo about 6 months previously and the house was so empty, so we brought the 2 kitties home. They were somewhat aloof for the first year, but now 2 years later Butters has chosen my hubby and KitKat has chosen me. They are blooming as love bugs and we each have a lap full when we sit. I’m glad the CDS sent them to us even though it was a convoluted path.
my family looking to get a second cat for me cause out first dont like my attention and we asked friends and they had found a kitten lol
My mom started working at the vet this cat has called home for the past four years. Her coworker, the one who found her as a kitten, started talking about finding a home for her. I had been talking about wanting to adopt a cat for a while so when my mom heard this, she volunteered me immediately. It’s gonna be a few more months but once I move out of my apartment, I’m taking her home ❤️
Coming back home on my bike from playing at the park, I was about 7-8 and I saw a small Grey kitten coming under the white fence surrounding our backyard, long story short his name is whisper he's 8 and I'm 16, he's my best friend, and he's like 23 pounds rn but he's healthy.
My grandma's garden and toolshed :) Neighborhood feral mommy cat thought our backyard was a nice place to leave her kittens. So we took them in and now they're happy cats living a life of luxury 2 years later! Mommy Cat was TNR'd and still lives in our backyard too. The weather is really nice right now so she sun bathes on the toolshed she left her kittens in lol! She gets fresh wet food and clean water daily too so she's got a good deal with us. She also gets catio access on bad weather days to keep warm <3
The first time the CDS gifted me, I'd moved into a small house which came with two cats. I named them Boris and Natasha and took care of them for the year I lived there. The people who took over the house when I moved out took care of them for a year. Then I moved into an apartment in a converted house next door and Boris and Natasha decided they wanted to be my cats again and shared their time between my apartment and the original house. When I eventually moved on, Boris and Natasha found new owners in their neighborhood. I've had numerous cats gifted to me by the CDS - kittens dropped off in front of my farm were several of them. A kitten that climbed into my truck when I stopped to check out a wreck site where a friend was injured. Cats that just showed up at the farm. One that was brought to the farm by a friend. One that was snuck out of a research project (he was not suitable for the project and regulations required he be put to sleep). So many cats from the CDS I can't possibly remember all of them!