BELLA IS A SHY BUT VERY AFFECTIONATE LITTLE GIRL(10lb little girl). SHE IS DELIGHTED TO HAVE THIS APARTMENT AND ME ALL TO HERSELF. ALTHOUGH SHE HAS HEALTH ISSUES RIGHT NOW SHE IS STILL DEVOTED TO ME. AND I ADORE HER. WHEN I LOOK AT HER SWEET FACE I JUST KNOW GOD WAS IN A GOOD MOOD WHEN SHE CREATED CATS.

Minx was adopted from a no-kill shelter through PetSmart.  I was looking for something that ended up being out of stock.  So before leaving I just went to peek at the other kitties in the store.  She was the only non-kitten that was paying attention.  I petted her for a bit and then went to leave.  I looked back and her eyes just begged me to not leave me there.

 

Pixie, Ebony, and Minx - we all know cats rule the roost.

We weren't planning to get a cat, certainly not a kitten.  We went to buy food for our two senior cats and had to go through the adoption area to get in the store.  Ginger took one look, got our attention, and that was pretty much it.  We were hers!

2) Fast-forward a few months.  One of the two seniors had died, and the remaining senior didn't get on well with Ginger.  One cat wanted to play all the time and the other never wanted to play. We didn't know it but the senior had bone cancer. We'd been looking leisurely for a Scottish Fold but realized that Ginger was lonely and needed a playmate - now.  So we were looking for a kitten a bit younger than Ginger, one that she could mother and play with.  A different shelter group, a different PetSmart - and there he was.  Cute little white kitty with big blue eyes, just calmly sitting in the cage as though he was just waiting for us.  We  realized this kitty met our criteria - male, younger than Ginger - and Harley came home to become Ginger's best-loved toy. She greeted him with great excitement as if she understood that we had brought her a cat of her very own!

3)  Almost immediately afterward, Phyllis died of bone cancer.  And then we found the Scottish Fold kitten I'd been looking for.  Phyllis and her half-sister were Folds and I really love that breed.  Kearstie Sugear was my bonus that year - while I could have invested the $$ in the stock market and watched the investment lose its value, I chose to invest it in a kitten who grew up into a cat from whom I receive high interest and daily dividends of love, head-butts, and purrs.  I think I made a very wise investment!

Cats_Dolls

George came home with my ex because his best friend's name was George and had died in an accident.  I guess he went to the shelter and thought it was a sign.  He moved out soon after that and I refused to give George up. Great decision!

Walter was finagled away from a homeless guy here in Dallas two or three weeks after the passing of Baby Kitty,  I wasn't totally sure I wanted a new cat yet at that point, I thought that I would take him to the shelter but after a day I knew he was staying.  

   

We is friends now, whether you want it or not!

Butterscotch- he was previously owner by my neighbor but her cause so much trouble with their other cat that the neighbors gave him to us. We had him for about five years but he went missing one day.

Coco- my dad bought home a free kitten flyer and he agreed to bring her home. The man who had her said that a feral had had two kittens but couldn't keep them we took the female. Her brother was scared of people but lucky he got neutered. We had Coco and Butterscotch for about 6 months before he went missing.

Sadie- she was a frail grey kitten who's mom left her so we had a less than a weeks old kitten. She is still alive a doing well, except she is a little fat.

Leo- I was donation so food my my humane society when my dad wanted to go look at the cat, well he fell in love with one so now we have three cats.

"The really great thing about cats is their endless variety. One can pick a cat to fit any kind of decor, color scheme, income, personality, mood. But under the fur, whatever color it may be, there still lies, essentially unchanged, one of the world's free souls." Eric Gurnery

The GF had encouraged me to get a cat, so I put the word out ... and a few months later I was told of a cat that had a litter ready for adoption. That's how I got Motzie, my first  and now only cat.

Well, put a pretty lady in the window, and before you know it all the young guys want to hang out. That's how we met Tommie #1, a pet who had been abandoned.

Motzie was lonely during the day, so I got Vonnie, a flame-point Siamese. Vonnie was a bit territorial, and didn't really approve of Tommie. Eventually we realized there were TWO Tommies, one a female.

Tommie #2 had her litter, and I was able to place her and her babies with a foster home. I also found a home for Tommie.

Well, nature abhors a vacuum, and almost overnight  Brendan and Brenda, two ferals, moved into my yard.  These two eloping sweathearts were quickly joined by several other cats .... Buff, a very tough, easy-going feral tom who was the clan leader; Swirlpaw, an older feral with a bad hip; two ladies who kept apart, and began raising two kittens; Tux, a tuxedo stray; Cinder, a gentle gray abandoned male; Button, a cute, small white male; and sundry other transient cats.

Buff kept everyone civil, and welcomed any cat in need. I began the long process of taming the cats, and adopting them out.

Meanwhile, in the house I accumulated more cats. Lady cat, an elderly cat whose elderly owner could no longer keep her; Whitestorm, a lively, affectionate young tom who had been dumped; Bramble, a tiny kitten whose owners no longer wanted him; Greycloud, a little lady left behind when the owner moved; an un-named kit left on my doorstep on evening as I was inside, watching a film; another baby left in my shed by a passing transient. I'm sure I have forgotten a few.

I did not 'accumulate' all these cats at once. As I tamed them, I found them homes. Some had to be put down ultimately, for medical reasons. One died in his sleep one night.  Every one left his (or her) pawprints on my heart.

When I left Reno, I had to leave five cats behind. Three went to the humane society, where they quickly found good homes. A neighbor continues to care for, and tame, the two remaining feral cats. Motzie I was able to bring with me.

I even lost the GF to illness along the way. The joy the cats gave her in her last few years will forever make me appreciate our furry friends. There have been many, many special moments along the way.

If you're ever in Reno, stop by the Nevada Humane society and ask to meet Cinder. He's the one yet to be adopted; an older gray male with a gentle disposition. He's been there two years now ... my one remaining story. (He was an emergency placement, and wasn't fully tamed when I put him there).