Well, I have and it’s a family trait. I teased my mother once, saying, “You must be on the lost animals list of good places to beg.” All my life she took in all kinds of strays. One year when I came home from college for Thanksgiving, I found that she had a little lost white poodle, five kittens that had been threatened with drowning, another cat that was threatened with being euthanized. And the coup de grace, my stepdad found a lost parakeet trying to eat birdseed in our backyard. That was just one time when our little house was full of strays. (Of course, my mother always kept a birdcage in the basement. Who doesn't?)
PS: She put an ad in about the lost dog and the family came and picked it up. And an ad in the paper giving away the kittens and all five of them went to very happy children. She adopted the older cat and named him Smitty. He lived with her till he was 19. And the parakeet lasted until Smitty learned how to get the birdcage open, but on the bright side, the bird had an extra nine months of a pampered life.
Now to my life as an easy-touch:
When I was just a young single, my mother dropped mature stray Professor off at my apartment. (I named him that because he was the smartest cat I’ve ever known!) He stayed with me for nine years before he passed away. Sheba also came to our door and lasted for several years. In Iowa, Shadow came to our door and within a month delivered five kittens. Shadow was the cat that grew up with my children and we still have very fond memories of the sweetest cat ever.
When we moved north, we found out that there are no strays in the woods because they are “delicacies” to eagles and fishers (a relative of the mink that can climb trees! Who knew?). So we were forced to go to the animal shelter. We chose Sadie and V-8. Then our daughter moved in with her cat Trixie, and then my mother-in-law passed away and we took in her cat Mutzie (Slovenian for Kitty).
Presently V-8 is here alone because the other three have all been buried, one by one, in our cat cemetery out back.V-8 is approximately 22 years old which is the equivalent of over 100 years in people years. So he is suffering from arthritis but is still one of the sweetest most laid-back cat I've ever had. We are waiting till he passes before we go to the shelter to get another two cats. He deserves our care and attention.
But I am not happy without a cat or two in the house. I do like dogs but our neighbors are very close and we have no sidewalks since we live in the woods. Plus we have a lot of ice and snow in the winter so I don't want to have to walk a dog. But I love it when dogs visit. So how do you get your pets? Have you ever taken in one who really needed a home? I'd love to hear your stories because each unexpected animal is so special. I’ll give a free ebook Northern Shore Intrigue Duet with many “four-footed” characters in it to one commenter, chosen randomly. So tell me your story OR JUST TELL ME --STRAY OR SHLETER AND THE PET'S NAME!—Lyn Cote
Our current pets Jester and Louie are both shelter cats that we got from family members. Jester from my son when he changed apartments and couldn't take him and Louie when my older brother passed. Our dogs when we had then were also from the shelter, except for Colossus, who we got from our sil (when he and our daughter were dating) when his dog had puppies. All the puppies were kept "in the family."
ReplyDeleteYou sound like my kind of family!
ReplyDeleteYou have spoken my name! I have taken in cats off the street (including several we knew were dumped by neighbors who moved away), a feral kitten brought to us by a mom who trusted us enough to let us feed her but was afraid to come in, and adopted cats from rescues. Most of the ones from rescue came through friends who actually run (or did at the time) a rescue and simply passed a special cat along to me. We had 7 at our peak, but now have only one...a little lady who has multiple health issues, so there are no more in our future until she crosses the Rainbow Bridge.
ReplyDeleteYou are my kind of lady!
DeleteThey call me the Cat Lady (lol) I have taken in many strays over the years. Right now I have Dewey (who we found outside the door to our church library-hence his name). He is 11. Then I have Kellas who is almost 6 who I adopted from a rescue. Callie is our stray mama cat who has had several litters of kittens (3 of which I took in-Jazzy, Oliver and Pepper). As well as the last one that I couldn't take in named Stormie (5 inside is the limit!)
ReplyDelete