What Was Your First Cat?

[Canary42]

Ours was a tabby - full of originality we called him Tiger. He died some 60 years ago. RIP Tiger.

My second and last (so far) cat I acquired in the mid-70s - I'm not a cat-person, but on the way home from the pub one evening this emaciated tiny little kitten emerged from the hedgerow mewing piteously - being all heart I took him home and fed him (sardines, all I had suitable) and adopted him.

I took him to the vet when I calculated he was old enough for his jab (vet confirmed my age estimate) but he obviously took exception to such treatment so shortly after he did a bunk. I called him Gandalf. Here's a pic of him sunbathing in my garden.

https://ibb.co/swLRxVb

[pastafreak]

My first was the neighbours cat that I tried to adopt when I was nine...my parents then got me a dog.
The next cat was a stray I found outside where I worked on Madison avenue in NYC. I was living in my own flat for the first time...he was welcome company. But he took a walk when I hound myself going back and forth between my place and mg boyfriend's flat. There have been many more, including a mum and her almost feral kittens living in the garden of an empty house.
The most memorable was a huge black cat my ex and I brought with us from NY. He was in quarantine for 6 months...and pretty much hugged us when we were finally able to visit him.(we were in Scotland, he was in Hertfordshire). We called him the "dog cat".
Gandalf looks a cheeky boy.

[Buenchico]

Many years ago, there was a beautiful little ginger cat that appeared seemed to like coming into my house for some food. He was very young and not much more than a kitten really. I assumed that he lived nearby but I loved his company whenever he came in and looked forward to seeing him. Then one night, on coming home from the pub, I found him lying dead underneath my hedge. (I assume that he'd been hit by a car). I was really upset and, even more so when I found out from others in the street (whom he'd occasionally visited too) that he was a stray, with no home of his own. I'd have loved to have him as my own if I'd have known :(

A week or two later I was driving past an independent animal shelter about an hour away from my home and found myself thinking about getting a rescue cat. After a few miles, I turned back and went to enquire about the possibility. They'd got a beautiful fluffy little girl cat, who was totally adorable, but I said that I'd like time to think about adopting her (particularly as I didn't have a cat carrier with me or anything like a cat bed or litter tray at home).

A day or two later (after buying various cat requisites and a pet carrier) I phoned to ask if she was still available for adoption and, upon being told that she was, I set out on my hour's drive to collect her. When I got there though, they told me that someone else had just beaten me to it. I asked if they'd got any other cats and was told "We've only got a big, black male cat, called Sharka. He's absolutely massive but incredibly affectionate".

I asked to see him and held him in my arms. Knowing that black cats are the hardest to find adopters for, I felt incredibly sorry for him and decided to take him home with me. He brought me incredible happiness for many years after that ;-)

[Toorak]

My first cat wasn’t mine: I stayed rent-free in a friend’s flat while he was on sabbatical in New York on the condition that I look after his cat. I was smitten: she recognised the sound of my car coming home after work and was always waiting at the back door before running through the flat to greet me at the front door when I came in. I have had cats ever since.

[Buenchico]

PS: Gandalf was lovely, Canary42 ;-)

[Hopkirk]

Ours was a seal point Siamese. We got her in the sixties, and she was proper cat shaped. Nowadays they are bred to be thin and almost sharp looking.

She was the most gorgeous loving cat ever, and I really loved her.

When I was lying in bed having a morning lie in, she would use her nose to lift the bedding. She would then push her way into the bed, turn around by my knees and come back up. She would then settle with her face barely out of the covers, and start purring so loud. I still miss her, though at the time I moaned that she woke me up.

[pat2604]

My first cat was called 'Choochie Face
Cat Cat'. A tabby. Don't ask!! There have been numerous others since and at present 3. Mostly rescued!

[pat2604]

All different colours and personalities and all dearly loved. And 6 dogs over 43 years. And other furry or feathered friends.

[haras2]

My first cat (I only have a hazy memory) was when I was about 5 years old, I called him Monty, which my mother, the Mystical Nancy, being a devout pacifist, did not approve of, but I liked the name and had no idea that it related to Montgomery

[wolf63]

I disliked cats with great intensity when I was a kid, all I wanted was a big dog - something like a German Shepherd. At the age of 16 I got a puppy (GSD/Bullmastiff) and he came with me when I left home. After he died I adopted a psychopath from the local dog pound - GSD/Lab, he was 5 years old and still had his dangly bits. He was 14 when he died.

Then I got a cat, George. He was 3 years old according to the cats protection and had half a tail and little bandy legs. When he got his first vet check-up it transpired that he was at least 13. He was a grumpy old git and lived with me for 5 years.

Then I was adopted by Frankie (pictured in my profile) and his sister Princess Merlin, they were feral kittens initially and were about 18 months old. They hated each other, or more accurately Merlin bullied her brother and he was just a nice boy. Frankie was asthmatic and was a mummy's boy.

Merlin was an attack cat, she bit a workman or two and she also got the postie. I ended up in hospital overnight when she bit me and the wound got infected. She was also stupid and sweet at the same time.

They are both gone now and I am without an animal for the first time in 40 years. I may get adopted again, but for now, it is actually nice not to have responsibilities in life.

[tonyav]

First cat ( family cat ) was Ginger when I was around 5 years old, my dad bought him home from the foundry that he worked at. He was no where near being young and was semi feral. He was a proper Tom cat with a nick out of both ears and proper claw mark scars across his nose ( he was a proper foundry hard man ). He was great when he allowed us to fuss him without him trying to savage our hands, I have always had an affinity with cats since Ginger.

[Sam1960]

wolf, I live on my own, and this is the longest period I haven't had a cat to look after either, (13 years)
Have thought about getting a rescue cat a few times, but don't think it's fair as I am still working.

P.S Had three cats, plus the ones I fed when they invited themselves in.

[tonyav]

plus the ones I fed when they invited themselves in.

That's the thing, Sam. Cats choose you !

[campbellking]

Our first cat acquired us, as a child I was born and brought up in the countryside and a cat turned up on our doorstep one night asking for food. I think she had probably been dumped she was about 4 months old, a tabby and white cross. She never went away, we called her Mogsy, she was a prolific mouser, every day we we would have a mouse or shrew on the doorstep. She also managed to catch a bat, she was tiny. She never slept in the house but preferred a box outside. She was hit by a car twice, first time she dislocated a hip, the next time she broke a leg and had to have it put in a plaster cast. She had to stay indoors while she recovered, and managed to get the plaster cast off (intact) on her first night.

[aelmpvw]

//I'm not a cat-person//
i'm not really surprised Canary . . .

[tiggerblue10]

My dad got a ginger kitten when I was around 6 and I called him Ginger. At first I was a bit scared of him but then I got used to him and that's when my love of kitties began. My dad gave him to a neighbour down the road as he decided I was too young to have a small kitten. I found him in my garden and brought him indoors but my dad took him back.

He got me another ginger cat when I was around 9 or 10 which I called Tibby. I had him for 4 years and one day he disappeared and my parents never told me what happened to him. I was so upset.

My next cat was Snoopy. I got him as a kitten from a pet shop when I was 15. When I moved into my old house in 1996 he came with me. I had him for 15 years but had to be put down due to kidney failure.

In 2001 I got Tigger and Blue from Battersea. They were 2 years old as they didn't allow me to get kittens due to working full-time. Tigger developed diabetes and I had to inject her once a day. She had to be put down a year after Little Tigs was born as she had kidney failure too. Blue was put down a year later as she had a malignant growth in her stomach.

Taking on a pet a huge responsibility and I don't feel I'm in a position to adopt any cats at the moment.

[Arksided]

Phew! that must be a relief for cats everywhere.

Xx

[douglas9401]

"cats choose you"

Aye, right up to the point where you stop buying Dreamies for the one that perches on the window ledge. They soon re-choose if they ain't getting what they want.

[Hazlinny]

First tabby cats (Peach and Pebby) were sisters and came from a farm,
Sadly, Peach went out one day and never returned - Pebby lived on happily to age 17. A friend then gave us Mitzi who sustained an accident (unknown cause) and had to have her tail amputated - she was a character and we used to think she was speaking to us. Fields and garden were her playground and she lived a happy life till last September when she passed away aged 21 years - we do miss her.x

[bobbie22]

I just love cats. Cheeky, bossy little souls. I have had few over the years, sadly gone now. I don't think I would have another now because of my age.

[calmck]

My first was Blackie, somehow he got to sleep in the house while numerous others were outdoor ones. I had three others while living in the states and since moving to Portugal have had 17, all strays, live to old age. Now have 7. Also fostered about 75 dogs between 2003 and 2015. Have 4 permanent ones now!