Similar thing happened to my stepfather, who also claims to not be much of a pet person. Except it wasn’t at the mechanic, it was at the wrecking yard. (He was getting car parts.) Little gray-and-black kitten comes begging for attention; yard owner says it had been hanging around and getting tormented by the local kids. My stepfather has his moments of being a softy, so he brought the kitten home. One good hot bath later, the gray-and-black kitten was revealed as white-and-black. Hence, his name for the kitten: Dirtbag. This got clipped to D.B. in short order. D.B. was absolutely the smartest, most well-adjusted cat I’ve ever been around, and I’ve had a few. Just a wonderful, wonderful cat.
Sad ending: He was so wonderful, my mom went and got another cat, who turned out to be somewhat less wonderful and remarkably less smart. So they got a third, who was antisocial and problematic. Eventually they decided they were tired of the hassle, and got rid of all three.
When I was growing up my siblings and I frequently heard my mother proclaim that she was never going to have a cat. If we wanted a cat we’d have to wait until we had our own place to live. (Which is what I did actually.) However she hadn’t bargained on a certain gray tabby that decided he wanted to live with her and no one else but her. Took the little guy almost a year but he finally ended up a permanent resident. And how. Mom showed me how the couch has to be made up before he’ll nap on it-two pillows stacked up, with a folded blanket on top.
And because I’ve got nothing to do at the moment, another little story why not?
A couple of years ago I lost my best feline companion at the age of 16. He was the one who always slept with me and kept my lap warm on nippy nights. My cuddle bug. I missed this so much I started thinking, tenatively, about getting another one. My sister had already decided I need one so she kept bringing by kittens she was fostering for the local humane society. She’d tried about a dozen but I just didn’t connect with any of them, cute as they were. Then one weekend there he was. I was smitten. Funny thing was my sister had been planning on adopting him and hoped I would take the other female kitten she brought that same day. I had chosen the wrong one. I found out later that my brother had told our sister that I would want the male-I didn’t realize he knew me that well!
And just to reward anyone who’s made it this far, here’s a picture of the little guy.
Oh, and let me add my vote for kitten pictures please!
I would love to post pics of my kitty … my dogs , too , if anyone is interested , but don’t know how . If anyone would be willing to instruct me , I would be happy to share !
I’m almost always allergic to new cats and dogs. After about 2 weeks, I can bury my nose in them and not have any problems.
My uncle, Starving Artist, used to be so bad he had to take Benadryl anytime he came over. About 3 months after he started staying here, he stopped having reactions of any kind.
So it can be done, you just may need a little Benadryl to get you through the adjustment period
My daughter muttered something about her camera card being full. I’ll have her work on it tomorrow. I do want to get pictures of this baby while she’s still tiny.
She is eating, drinking, using the litter box, and sleeping very nicely. Not all at the same time, of course, but she has adjusted very well to our household so far. She prefers to sleep cuddled up next to a human, and right now she’s curled up under my computer desk next to my feet. She is deeply appreciative of the fact that I will sit here for a while.
My husband thinks that her name is Spike. I don’t think so…I think that she’s Bluebell, or possibly Judy. I’m sure she’ll let us know what her name is in time.
Ok, we’ve had some really cute pictures posted, but that’s just whetted our appetites. Do I have to contact an admin about this, Ms Bodini? I know it’s in the forum rules somewhere: Kitty and baby posts MUST include pictures!
October 2002 - my dad had just died, and my husband was flying from Baltimore back to FL to meet my daughter and me, and the three of us were going to drive back to Baltimore for the funeral. At the time, we had 2 dogs. But for some reason, this little grey and white stray wanted to come into our house. The Dalmatian wanted no part of the hairball.
When my husband got there, he decided it was the perfect boat cat. We found out from Sue across the cul-de-sac that the cat had belonged to one of the other neighbors and they’d tossed him out. Nice, huh? So we borrowed a crate from Sue, bought some kibble and other cat accessories, and the kitty rode north to begin life on a sailboat. He lived aboard for nearly 2 years until I moved north, and we bought a house. The Dalmatian has long since gone to her reward, and the border collie/lab mutt is mellow enough to have reached a truce with the cat.
He’s still nameless, but he’s definitely my husband’s cat.
The thumbnails weren’t working when I posted this, but click on them anyway - the photos are there…
And I admit defeat. After spending her first day and a half recovering from the bath, and eating and drinking and sleeping, New Kitty has recharged her batteries. She is not interested in holding still for anything. She has to explore the house and make friends with the adult cats and PLAY. When she gets tired, she retreats to the cat carrier and snoozes. She is a dark gray color, and she looks like a shadow in the carrier. When we haul her out to try to take her picture, she thinks it’s time to PLAY again. I took several shots of a dark gray streak, but nothing that I’d care to put on the web.
The adult cats are, if possible, even more pissed off now. New Kitty has been trying to play with them, and has succeeded in chasing them all over the house. My Siamese girl in particular is going around swearing under her breath. There have been no fights, but there’s a whole lot of hissing going on.
Last night, my husband (who, you will recall, doesn’t like cats) woke up in the middle of the night to go pee, and asked me where HIS kitty was. He’d taken her to bed with him, and she was gone when he woke up. He wasn’t happy until he’d found her and checked that she was OK. When he comes home from work, the first thing he does after putting down his briefcase is check on the new kitty. He has to pick her up and hug her, too.
Good luck, Lynn! I was so excited when I got my first digital camera because I thought I would be able to get great kitty pics. My cats have an uncanny knack for becoming invisible if I even think about the camera.
My sister and her husband have a papillion also, called P.G. His full name is P. G. T. Beauregard. Their part-Maine Coon cat is called Jubal and another kitty is known as Miss Georgia.
My stepfather has his moments of being a softy, so he brought the kitten home. One good hot bath later, the gray-and-black kitten was revealed as white-and-black. Hence, his name for the kitten: Dirtbag. This got clipped to D.B. in short order. D.B. was absolutely the smartest, most well-adjusted cat I’ve ever been around, and I’ve had a few. Just a wonderful, wonderful cat.
