Theories you have about the previous owners of your rescue pet

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Do you have theories about the people who owned your pet before you? Or things you deduced from their behaviour? Or maybe something you pieced together from what you were told at the shelter together with what you notice about your pet?

My parents got a rescue cat about a year ago; he’s an absolute cutie. From the shelter we know that he belonged to an old lady and we like to theorise about what she was like. For example, he doesn’t understand not being allowed to jump onto the kitchen top. He’s quite sensitive and tries to be a good boy, but being told he isn’t allowed on the top surprises him every time. So we think she let him on the top while she cooked, and she definitely fed him bits while he was up there.
Also, we think she liked to garden, as Finn loves gardening and he seemed to recognise the activity. He likes all kinds of activities together, but if you get out gardening tools he gets really excited. He stays with you the whole time, and sometimes he sort of mimics what you’re doing. Last night I went round with a bucket of water to collect slugs, and he “helped”, searching among the grass.

Here is a picture of Finn gardening. I went away for a minute, and he stayed with my gloves and kneeling-thingamabob. He cracks me up! :slight_smile:

We don’t think the old lady was much of a party animal. He’s a very social cat and he loves everyone, but parties scare him. He doesn’t normally get scared of anything, but he won’t come out to say hello when there is a party. Funny, my dog loves parties. She starts wagging when she sees party prep, but not Finn.

So that’s what we think we know about the mysterious old lady, “Finn’s Old Mum” we call her. I hope he doesn’t miss her anymore, I’m sure she was very nice. Maybe she had to go into a home, or maybe she died…?

So, do you have theories about your rescue pet’s previous owners?

2

I have two boxer dogs that were surrendered to a rescue on the condition they were adopted together, as they were a bonded pair. They were 2.5 years & 9 months old when abandoned

My theories:

  • They were allowed on the couch and on the bed at their previous home, given their utter shock and surprise that this wasn’t an option at this home (the bed is still off-limits, but the couch has since been allowed).
  • They weren’t walked daily
  • They lived in a small yard
  • They slept indoors

Some of these may not reflect their previous home, but may have been influenced by being in a rescue kennel for 3 months. Or they may just be unrelated, of course.

The rescue also told us that the previous owners split up. The younger pup doesn’t seem worried, but the older one hates any argument or disagreement betwen the two of us, is very ‘intense’ and has abandonment issues. So I theorise there were some nasty fights before the couple split. Might just be imagining it though.

3

I adopted a doberman a long time ago, he passed away a long time ago.

His previous owners were abusive assholes and probably drug dealers as well.

He was so skinny when I got him that you could see every bone in his body and his dull copper colored coat soon fell out to be replaced by a beautiful deep red coat.
He was food aggressive until he figured out that food was always in the bowl. I free fed all my dogs from a big roasting pan. It wasn’t long before he was eating with the other dogs (and sometimes cats). However, the few times I let the pan get empty he started getting aggressive again.
You could see the marks where he had been burned with the tips of cigarettes.

He had a freaky personality where he could love you one day and attack you the next. However, he was terrified of lighters and matches. At that time most of my friends were smokers, all they had to do was pull a lighter out of their pocket and my dog would back off from them.
He even attacked me a few times, once going for my throat.

I think the previous owners had cats because whenever you’d pet him he’d start to purr. This scared more than one friend who though he was growling. He got along well with my cats.

He hated drug dealers. I lived in the city at the time and anybody could walk past my house with no problem until it was one of the drug dealers. I guess he could smell the drugs on them and he’d… well it was kind of funny actually. If they were hanging by my house he’d sneak through the yard until he got close to where they were. Then he’d let loose with the nastiest barking and growling. Most than once I’d watch the dealers jump on top the nearest car, and more than once one of them had to go home to change his pants.
My yard was fenced so he’d never get them but he did enjoy the game. He’d always run back to me afterwards with a big goofy smile on his face.

For whatever reason he also hated pregnant women, to the point that I had to send him to live with a friend during my last few months of pregnancy.

He passed away in his sleep (old age, he was at least 12 years old) when my son was a few months old. I hate to say it was a relief in a way, but the dog was extremely unpredictable and I worried what would happen as my son became mobile.

Outside of that though he was a great dog, very obedient and the tattle tale of the bunch. When one of the other dogs learned how to open the gate to let the gang out, he was the one who’d coming running to get me and tell me they were up no good.

4

Of course. That’s the kind of non-scientific theorising this is, the kind of “so I have this theory…”

I think when you have rescue animals you realise that they had a life before they came to you, but they can’t really tell you about it. There are little clues, and we try to interpret them and we are probably wrong about a lot.

Sometimes it’s fairly clear, though. My parents used to have a whippet, imaginatively called Whippy. Whippy was a really chilled little dog, loved everyone, up for anything. But he had a strong fight or flight response to people in leather jackets. He also had some ugly scars. The story there seems pretty clear. :frowning:

My parents’ invitations used to include the line “please leave your leather jacket at home, as Whippy doesn’t like them”.

5

My cat Pudding is piebald. She’s half white and half brown, but the brown has slightly darker tips, like a Siamese cat. Also, her one remaining eye is blue.

Which has led me to theorize that she’s a Snowshoe Siamese, and a breeder’s reject. I know that she had two owners before me, in three years of life. I’m guessing the breeder was #1, and a well-meaning but hapless family, who gave her up when they had to move, is #2.

She’s also always been eerily well-behaved. No inappropriate elimination ever, and she never never never eats anything but cat food. I can’t decide if that’s environmental or just the way she is.

6

One of my dogs is a black Lab that I got from the police as a puppy (they found him in a bad area of Flint roaming around a park. He was about five months old and as I was actively fostering dogs at the time, I took him figuring that we’d either find his owners quickly, or failing that, find him a good forever home.

However, he ended up being a “failed foster” and Deefer (D fer Dog, heh) is now about five years old and still here.

It was odd that we never found his previous owners, and even odder that he was in that part of the city. He was and is a friendly, outgoing dog and he has never once eliminated in the house. He never once chewed or destroyed anything. He knew come, sit, down, was comfortable in vehicles, appropriate with my other dogs - at five months old; so it appears whoever had him first had treated him well and done some training and socializing.

But he had no idea how to play with humans. He was puzzled, confused and sometimes apprehensive about toys - squeaky ones, tuggy ones, balls, fluffy toys, etc. If you threw something for him to fetch, he had no clue what he was “supposed” to do. Weird for a puppy not to understand the concept of playing with people, while being otherwise apparently as well-trained as a puppy that age can be. And he was horrified by water, even puddles. Bear in mind this was a Labrador retriever, undoubtedly purebred albeit not a perfect specimen.

Just a weird combination of traits for a 5-month old puppy. He still has no clue what retrieving is all about, but he loves going to the lake to swim now.

7

Our girlcat’s previous owners were well meaning but lacked foresight, and were either too busy or too lazy or too ashamed to take her and her sister to the shelter. They left two young kittens in the apartment that they moved out of. The shelter told us that they left a big bag of kitten food torn open on the floor, and a big bowl of water. No mother cat. I assume they thought that the landlord would come inspect the unit and find the kittens and take them to the shelter himself - and that’s exactly what happened, but not until more than a week after they left. Poor kittehs.

Our boycat probably didn’t have any previous owners. He was found in a dumpster that his mama probably carried him into before she got hit by a car or eaten by a coyote. Or it’s possible that a person tossed him into the dumpster, I suppose, but I like that story even less, so it’s not what I tell myself. :frowning:

They’re roughly the same age, but unrelated. It was just lack of space that brought them together in the same crate at the shelter, but they lurrrve each other a lot. We went in intending to bring home a single female cat, but couldn’t bear to break them up. (Girlcat’s sister, also a cellmate, was already claimed by someone else, thank goodness!)

Strangely, it’s the former apartment abandoned cat who is interested in people food and rifling through the trash for nibbles, while the former dumpster cat won’t eat anything that isn’t cat kibble, not even tuna fish or wet cat food.

8

Only one of our rescue cats had a provable background with a previous owner. We even knew her previous name.

Shadow was the all time best cat ever. Very loving, followed us around (hence her name “Shadow”), etc.

We would often wonder why the previous owner gave her up. Couldn’t keep her in a small apartment? Why give up such a wonderful cat.

We are just thankful that she ended up with us. When she passed, we considered finding the previous owner and letting him know that she lived and long and happy life.

9

I adopted a 5 year old giant tabby cat from the ASPCA in 2010. He’s super friendly and loves absolutely everyone. No hissing, no biting, no scratching. He weighed about 15 lbs when I adopted him and gains weight very easily. He’s constantly “hungry” so I wonder if his previous owners fed him all the time.

I should have asked about his past, but I didn’t think of it at the time- I have no idea why. He’d been in the shelter for about a month or so and they had details such as his exact birth date, so whoever had him before must have cared about him and had him since he was a kitten. I’m assuming he belonged to a family or maybe a couple (or a single person, who knows!) who had to give him away for some reason, maybe they had to move. They obviously treated him very well for him to have such a sweet demeanor.

10

I have two rescue dogs.

One I got at 9 months old. She came at a good weight, housebroken, moderately leash trained and was an all around good egg. Based off the area she was found, I am guessing they couldn’t afford her.

The other? She was a mess. She was un-spayed, weighed about 15 pounds less than her ideal weight of 45 pounds. She wasn’t housebroken, had a mild destructive streak and knew not a single command. She was very sweet but scared of everything, although better out on walks than in the house. Tall men and especially tall men with beards were extra scary. She was and still is terrified of the bathroom. My guess? Neglect with a dose of low-level abuse and lived mostly outside. When she was inside she was locked in the bathroom.

11

One of my cats was taken in as a “stray” by an area shelter, very thin and matted up, with broken teeth and bite marks all over. Poor little guy was in bad shape. When I adopted him, he was still skin and bones with bad teeth and matted fur - even though the shelter (a rescue group) had at that point had him for almost a year and taken him to the vet for shots. (Grrr…don’t get me started…:mad:)
Well I got him fixed up with my vet, teeth pulled and mats cut out of the fur and all the various booboos taken care of. We (the vet and I) were both thinking he really was a stray, the shape he was in. But after a month of being fixed up and finally eating - teeth hurt him too much before to eat - he packed on the weight and his fur glossed out, and he was such a happy, social boy. Then I began noticing that he had PERFECT manners - never on countertops or tables, never scratched anything but a scratching post or cardboard scratcher, perfect litterbox use. So I figured he had to belong to someone at one point. He was 5 years at the time I got him and he’s now 10.

He is still to this day terrified of vacuum cleaners, brooms, mops, a chair getting moved out of its place, rugs being shaken out etc. - anything to do with housecleaning. It’s led me to believe that he was either lost or dumped when someone moved house. I’ve often wondered if anyone was still out there wondering about their cat and what happened to him - I just can’t imagine he was dumped, even though I know some people do that with pets when they move, because his manners are so perfect. So there’s my idea - he was lost when someone had to move - and I suspect they had to move far away or they would have been reunited with him during the year he spent in the shelter before I took him.

Oh yes, I know the rule, here he is: Rummy

12

I got my kitty Vincent from the local humane society when he was 5 years old. The paperwork said he was being given up due to the owners moving or allergies or something.

We believe there were men or teen boys in his previous owner’s house. Vincent responds very well to male voices (even delivery guys!).

At least one of the people in the house was more “with it” than we are musically. If rap or hip-hop comes on the TV, his ears perk up.

He was not allowed to have treats at all. If I give him a cat treat, he will try to bury it. So I don’t give him treats (just as well, he is up to 19lbs now).

He had to put up with a lot of annoyances (pets, kids, etc.). Often he will isolate himself in my room. Also, if you pet him too much, he’ll get overstimulated and bite you. Well, not you. Me, generally. :wink: He does not like noise, or change of any sort.

I’m not sure how clean they kept his litter box. With us, he always wipes his paws when he’s done using the cat box, no matter how clean the litter is.

I love my weird cat!

13

When I adopted Miss Lucia from the local SPCA, they told me that she had been picked up as a stray, but she had obviously belonged to someone before–she has a friendly temperament and was already spayed as well as declawed (and not a good job of the latter; it’s the kind where the first joint of each toe was simply removed).

She may have gotten out of her previous owner’s home and been lost, but I sometimes wonder if she had been abandoned. I also suspect she was mistreated. It’s little things that are suggestive. For example, Miss Austen, my other cat who died last year used to love to watch me sweeping up the patio or in the kitchen; but the sight of the broom will send Lucia running upstairs. When I would toss something at Miss Austen–a cat toy, or a wadded up piece of paper–she would catch it and play with it; when I toss something at Lucia, she scrambles to hide under the sofa.

14

I found my cat behind a bush as I was walking down a random street; she was skin and bones but looked like a pet, and I went around the neighborhood awhile, trying to find her owner. Eventually I gave up and (super happily) took her in - my theory is, since when I found her she was just out of kittenhood, her prior owners wanted a tiny cute kitten, but not an actual cat. Joke’s on them, as she’s the most personality filled animal I’ve ever had. At first, she was very skittish around other people, so there may have been some abuse, but it could have just been her adjusting to new surroundings. Now her favorite spot is lying on her back, all four paws stretched out in the sunny patch on the carpet, so she’s gotten over it. :smiley:

The only remaining behavior is that when she’s outside, she always sticks very close to the house - as if she’s afraid of being “lost” again.

15

Our now long-gone cat Midnight was always terrified of black plastic garbage bags. She also had a broken tail – it was completely paralyzed (which did not stop her from climbing trees, or falling and landing on all fours). Our theory was that she was thrown out in a plastic bag, maybe because of her tail. Or else the tail got broken getting her in there.

Another of our long-gone cats, Clarence, definitely had a run-in with SOMETHING. We don’t know what – a dog, a wild animal, maybe a car. He was found in the yard of a 90 year old guy seriously smashed up, and he called the animal people, who took him in and fixed him up. They couldn’t save one eye. For the longest time Clarence refused to even consider going outside. I think he was afraid that whatever got him was still waiting out there for him. He eventually got over it enough to venture briefly outside.

Our newest cat, Hermes, will NOT eat “people food” It might be mere preference, but he’s the only cat we’ve ever had that won’t beg at the table. I suspect his original owners broke him of it somehow.

16

I’ve mentioned Jack, our kelpie-heeler cross before, but anyway…

My husband had brought our kids to the university where I was studying so that we could all have lunch together. Sitting on some benches near the main cafeteria area, a strange dog came up looking for scraps, which delighted the kids no end. Finishing up, we all walked back to the carpark (nearly 800m away) and ‘Jack’ tagged along. Opening the side door on the Kombi-van, Jack jumped right on in and would not be budged OUT. However, he shook like a leaf for the whole drive home: obviously not ever been in a car before it seems.

I put notices in the paper, flyers up around the uni, but no-one came to claim Jack. He was neutered, looked in pretty good condition, but had no collar or microchip.

He was also the best behaved doggie ever. He never barked, snarled or showed any signs of aggression despite living in a household with four little kids…they could pull on his tail, try to tickle his teeth and he just remained patiently stoic. The only issue was that within a week, he wouldn’t let us (or me in particular) out of his sight. He developed a serious abandonment fear.

Doing the washing and hanging it on the line? Jack would sit down beside me until I finished. Cooking, Jack would lie down next to the fridge just watching. Bedtime he’d lay in the doorway to make sure I couldn’t escape without him noticing. One day we tried leaving him at home when we took a Sunday drive…let’s just say that was a really dumb idea, and we had to replace a door that he’d attempted to chew through! :smiley:

So after that, Jack came EVERYWHERE with us. We had a station-wagon then, with a rear window that could be wound down. Jack would jump in the front seat, over onto the back seat, into the rear then settle in for the journey with his head hanging out the window. He was the Happiest Dog Evah!

He’s been gone now for nearly 20 yrs, but by golly, I still miss him.

Oh, that’s right…this is meant to be theories about the previous owners! :smack:

OK…I reckon Jack was reared in a family, used to kids etc. SOMEBODY had done some basic training, and had gone to the trouble to have him neutered. I also reckon that the family got sick of this ‘tag-along’ dog that demanded their presence constantly and dumped him at the Uni. No way did this dog just wander onto campus…

17

My nathan’s previous owners surrendered him to the shelter. They gave his age as three months but that was not true, he was at least half grown and the shelter estimated seven months. He was healthy but had recieved no training. I guess they got him as a super cute puppy and then realized what a lot of work a dog can be. He chewed things (he was a PUPPY) and they’d listed that as “bad behavior” Of course, dummies, you have to train the dog, work with him. On the papers, when asked where the dog stayed when they were away, they’d listed “outside”.

18

I think my dog was owned by a Hispanic family. He never begged for my food. Then, back in November, I decided to try my hand at making tamales and home made corn tortillas. As soon as I made the masa, he wouldn’t go away. He begged and whined, and had never done that before. I had had him for over a year by then and hadn’t made anything with corn flour before. I think the smell brought back some old memories for him.

19

I got Robin from a rescue at about eight months old. Her age had been estimated. She’d been picked up as part of a stray litter. She loves people and she’s not scared of anything. Visitors to thunderstorms are greeted with only curiosity. I can only assume the rescue took immaculate care raising her. She was sprawled on my bed taking ownership her first hour home. Our last pet was an abused and abandoned dog, so it’s almost weird to have a pet that doesn’t shy at everything.

Robin.

20

We have had several rescue cats over the years. One in particular we rescued ourselves. He was found literally on the street in a nearby town. He had Siamese markings, except with pure white paws. We imagined that somebody’s Siamese queen was impregnated by a stranger and the kittens were simply “thrown out.” We named him Oliver Twist since he was of good parentage but was an orphan, out on the street.