Your first ever cat?

Discussion in 'Cat Chat' started by Yolanda, Nov 22, 2011.

  1. Yolanda

    Yolanda Well-Known Member

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    Hi everyone,

    I've always loved cats and I couldn't wait to get one. Unfortunately my mom is allergic to them and so I could never have one. When I got older someone we knew had a litter of kittens and my mom wondered whether or not her allergies were still as severe as when she was a child. She pet the kittens, even rubbed their fur in her face, and little happened. She did get an itchy skin when they scratched her, but nothing more than that. That's when she decided she would give me one of these kittens; which was my first cat. Unfortunately this kitten was heavily molested by children (we didn't know that back then) and she was lovely with adults, but would hiss at me and scratch and attack me. The older she got, the worse it got. Even though this was a bad first experience with a cat I still loved her and felt sorry for her that she wasn't able to trust. She got a good home with two elderly people without any children. Theirs had already grown up and they had a wonderful companion. After this experience I got other cats which fortunately had much better childhoods which didn't include any type of aggression towards them. This first experience thought me how you can damage an animal when being cruel to it, and I can't stand seeing injustice done to animals. I get upset about stories on t.v., let alone when I am face to face with them in real life. Kudos to all the people who spend their time, experience and money in helping these animals!
     
    Yolanda, Nov 22, 2011
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  2. Yolanda

    magickat Well-Known Member

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    It's a shame you had problems with your first cat but I'm glad she went to a good home and it didn't put you off! My first cat just turned up on our doorstep when I was about 4 years old. We took him in and that was the start of a lifelong obsession for me - I currently have 6 kitties at home!
     
    magickat, Nov 23, 2011
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  3. Yolanda

    Micheleteresa Well-Known Member

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    My first cat was, Kitty, I was 12 and found her in our garage having kittens. She had three tiny stillborns. My dad was going to take her to a shelter because we had two dogs but my tears convinced him to let me keep her.
    we soon found out that I was allergic to her but not severely (I am still thankful to the makers of benadryl as I am still allergic to cats) Kitty stayed with my dad and step monster after I had moved from home, she passed away at about 18 years old.
     
    Micheleteresa, Nov 23, 2011
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  4. Yolanda

    Yolanda Well-Known Member

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    Thank you both for sharing. I love that both of you took in cats that needed a home and gave them a loving and caring place to stay.
    I have five cats now and I love them all to pieces. They are like my children and they can crave and demand attention like any toddler would, lol!
     
    Yolanda, Nov 23, 2011
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  5. Yolanda

    Micheleteresa Well-Known Member

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    That is so true that they crave and demand attention like any toddler would, Yolanda. Edge can be busy playing or just relaxing and as soon as he see's someone else getting a cuddle or pat on the head he is right there trying to push them out of the way so he can get some attention and Trinity has started telling me when its bed time! She has to be kept separate from the other kitty's until we are sure she no longer has any health problems, she sleeps with me and when I am in my room on the computer at night she will come and tap he on the leg with her paw then jump on the bed and meow at me, she repeats this until I lay down on the bed, then she throws herself down on her side up against me and purrs.
     
    Micheleteresa, Nov 26, 2011
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  6. Yolanda

    catnhorsegirl Member

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    Growing up we always had animals....cats included. The first ever cat that I really got attached to was Tie. She was a orange tabby and was very sweet. Unfortunately, she disappeared one day which was extremely traumatic. It was 4th of July and my family believed that someone probably took her home during the parade. She was such a sweet cat that they probably couldn't resist. At least I hope that's what happened to her. As an adult, I adopted Chester and Daisey. Unfortunately, Chester died shortly after I adopted him....but Daisey and I were together for 12 years. She was a wonderful cat. She didn't leave my side. I still feel her jump on my bed sometimes as I drift off to sleep. She's my cat angel :)
     
    catnhorsegirl, Nov 26, 2011
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    MaxKitteh likes this.
  7. Yolanda

    ssleutz New Member

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    My first cat was wild. She lived in the weeds behind my house and was missing one eye. She looked to be about 2 years old. I would go out by the weeds as a kid and just sit down and soon she would be rubbing my back. I just sat there quiet as I could be and after a few weeks she got where she would step on my lap. I fed her and took care of her and she soon had kittens to look after and stopped coming out of the weeds as often. Eventually she moved on but I will never forget that cat.
     
    ssleutz, Nov 26, 2011
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  8. Yolanda

    Fleexie Member

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    The first cat we got was before I was born but it lived 21 years and was a part of my life in 8 years. If the other sentence did not make sence then I will write another: My parents got the cat 13 years before I was born but we had until 8 years after I was born.
    Well that cat had been through a lot in her life. Through some years she almost never saw my parent because they was at the hospital with my brother(before I was born) but she was still there when my dad came home. This is some thing my dad told me.
    I think she was one of the most loyal pets we ever got.
     
    Fleexie, Nov 26, 2011
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  9. Yolanda

    MaxKitteh Well-Known Member

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    I've been with my girlfriend 13 years and never thought I could get a cat because of her allergies. Her friends have a purebred Burmese that she noticed didn't trigger much in the way of an allergic reaction, so I took her to a breeder to really give her allergies a test. Not a cough, sneeze or sniffle, and the breeder had a lot of Burmese in her home! We spent at least two hours there petting all kinds of kitties. The test was definitive, no allergies with this breed!

    A year later we had the funds to buy a gorgeous 4-month old kitten and here we are—we've had Max 3 weeks as of today and he's settled-in nicely. I've been researching a ton of stuff for his care and have learned a lot. I even have Max on a raw diet now and he loves it (and it's better for him). I've covered that in a few other threads. Lots of info about this on the web.

    So, I've had cats before but this is my first cat that I 'own', or who owns me. My other cats belonged to my family when I was a kid or an ex-girlfriend a long time ago. So, Max is really my first cat I acquired myself and am responsible for. He's a great little guy. Very people-oriented and full of personality, and he's super smart—amazing how quick he learns stuff. For instance, I pretended to scratch his cat condo scratch area and he copied me. He also sits on my lap, but when I need to re-adjust he either rides it out or jumps off and then jumps back on. He's learning not to step on my computer keyboard either...I don't know how he knows not to do that but he just figured it out. He still likes to watch my monitor but he knows he can't stay there too long. So cute.
     
    MaxKitteh, Nov 28, 2011
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  10. Yolanda

    christy sharpton Active Member

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    My first cat I had was named Flash and he was black and grey striped. He went missing not to long after I moved out of my parents house. His favorite thing to eat was bacon grease on his food.
     
    christy sharpton, Nov 29, 2011
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  11. Yolanda

    Wallie0921 Well-Known Member

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    I don't really talk much about my first cat because he broke my heart. His name was Rasputin, and he had some kind of metabolic problem that caused him to kind of go into comas. He was an amazing cat. Very affectionate, loved to play and be carried around.

    Not to go into too much detail, but he was killed by a linear obstruction. But it was the support of my vet and his office through his final days that made me a loyal fan of my vet.
     
    Wallie0921, Nov 30, 2011
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  12. Yolanda

    Becky Well-Known Member

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    My parents had a cat before I was born, but unfortunately when I entered the world my Mum became severely allergic to cats and they had to re-home him :(

    When I was growing up we could never have a cat at home because of Mum's allergy. However my parents used to run a nursing home and they decided to get a rescue cat to live there. Because the building was so big and cleaned so regularly it meant that she wasn't really affected by him - in fact, being exposed to him little by little meant that over time she actually became immune to him!

    His name was Fred, and he was a tabby with a white tummy and white socks. My brother and I used to spend a lot of time at the nursing home, so Fred became our cat :)

    I moved away from home to go to University, and since graduating I've been living in a city centre flat. I'd love to get a cat once we've got a house!
     
    Becky, Dec 1, 2011
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  13. Yolanda

    luvmypets Member

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    We had a cat when I was a child. Puff. I don't remember having Puff very long. I rescued Thomas and have been a cat lover since.

    I rescued he and his two sisters. What fun having three kittens to watch! Lots of laughs and lots of scratches and bloody hands and arms until the kitties learned to keep their claws retracted.

    Life lessons for all!
     
    luvmypets, Dec 3, 2011
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  14. Yolanda

    MaxKitteh Well-Known Member

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    Max (pictured) is *my* first cat, though I've lived with other cats. He's great, and it's fun to train him, cuddle, play, sleep together, etc. When he first slept with us in the bed he'd bite my legs! I trained him out of that in the first week but just putting him out when he did that, and he's such a Velcro-people cat that he learned quickly. Now, he'll occasionally try to bite my arms when he wants to play (nothing serious, just starts to engage me) and I've trained him not to do that too...he'll go through the motions now but he doesn't bite...hehe. It's been fun seeing him grow this past month and it was really cool to see his food drive come alive when I improved his diet (raw food). He's just a lot of fun and laughs, with occasional demon-kitteh coming out but mostly a lovebug. ;)
     
    MaxKitteh, Dec 7, 2011
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  15. Yolanda

    Becky Well-Known Member

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    "Velcro-people cat" made me chuckle, that's a good term :D
     
    Becky, Dec 7, 2011
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  16. Yolanda

    Belligerent Well-Known Member

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    My first ever cat was named Simba, after the main character in "The Lion King". He was so sweet.. he was an orange tabby and one of the best cats I ever had. He would always sleep with me every night, under the blankets. In the morning, he'd get really playful and nibble on my fingers. He would also lick my neck, which I thought was strange.. lol.
     
    Belligerent, Dec 7, 2011
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  17. Yolanda

    Victor Leigh Well-Known Member

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    I have had cats on and off ever since I was a kid. The first one that I really remembered was Black Beauty aka BB. She was a totally black tabby left behind when her owner moved house. When I took her, she was already full-grown. Her favorite place is my bed. Even when having kittens.
     
    Victor Leigh, Dec 8, 2011
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  18. Yolanda

    Wahcashmom Well-Known Member

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    So sorry you had trouble with your first cat, it is nice that things turned out good in the end. Sometimes having your first pet is hard, and you got to get to know each other and see how each other react and live.
     
    Wahcashmom, Dec 9, 2011
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  19. Yolanda

    Victor Leigh Well-Known Member

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    Getting a new cat as a pet is not that much different from getting a new person as a friend. There will be a period of adjustment. Only problem with cats is that they never really become owned, like a dog. Cats are always independent creatures.
     
    Victor Leigh, Dec 14, 2011
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  20. Yolanda

    SheWolfSilver Well-Known Member

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    My first cat was Gizmo. I'm not sure what kind he was maybe just an American short hair? He was black and white and had six toes on all four feet which as I understand it makes him polydactyl cat. This just makes me mad even thinking about it but my psycho neighbor ran over him and threw him in the garbage and never told me! I found out because this person was BRAGGING about it to a mutual friend and that friend came and told me. He was the sweetest cat ever! He would come up to you and give you hugs.
     
    SheWolfSilver, Feb 4, 2012
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