Getting to Know You...furry friends

Hi all! One of our dearest members Sue (oh how I miss her!) used to start some threads we called "Getting to Know You". We'd have different topics and just spend time chatting and socializing in these threads. They were a great way to foster a sense of community and really allow us to get to know each other as people...not just crazy cat parents! I was reading through some old PMs earlier when I was feeling a bit low and noticed a thread we had about starting these posts. I thought...we have a lot of new folks and we've kind of let this one slack off...time to start again!

There are no rules. This is just a fun conversation. Please feel free to take part or not, as you wish. And feel free to start your own with other topics in a few days when this one dies off...the more we have of these, the better!

To start: How many furry friends do you have/have you had? How did they come into your life?

I currently have 3 cats: Oreo, Tigress, and Elektra. They all came from my college days when I was living in an apt and my landlady started putting out bowls of antifreeze to kill off the cat community . Oreo was hanging on my front porch a lot and one day I walked inside, turned around to lock the front door, turned back around and there he was in my living room! He had decided to move in. Gypsy (diabetic GA) and the kittens took a bit of time, but I lured them in with cans of tuna when it got cold...I couldn't leave them outside to die! They are a family...Oreo is the daddy, Gypsy is the mom, and the girls are their kittens.

I had another cat in college named Raven, but my roommate took him when she moved out.

The other cat in my life was an outside cat named Merlin. I think he may have been dumped or possibly had a home but just roamed...he came by sometimes and would come in and hang out until we pushed him back outside at bedtime. He was sweet and well fed, so I think he may have just been a community cat. One night, he came to my back porch all beat up...we think he was hit by a car. I had to let him go, but I treasure my memories of him and the fact that he KNEW he could come to me and I would care for him the best I could...unfortunately his injuries were just too severe.

I now just live with my three (who have me well trained on feeding times, when to get petted, and that when I sit down, it's an open invitation to have them sit on my lap!). They're sweet as can be and definitely my babies.

 

Great idea Rachel! Would love to see some pics of your brood. I used to love Sue's getting to know you threads. I have 13 cats at the present. All were found/rescued. 8 are solid black, 1 is tuxedo, 1 grey, 1grey tabby & White, and 1 cream and Colin the golden boy. Of the 13 only 2 are female and, of course all are neutered! I also have 12 chickens and 5 horses. Here's a pic of what I have to deal with at bedtime

 

OMG, Sharon! I can't tolerate my three on my bed at night. I'll do my "getting to know you" bit when Teasel will let me have my computer desk chair back. I'm on my iPad right now and it's not the best for typing at length.

 

Fortunately in summer they sleep elsewhere- often on the screen porch, but there have been a few nights that I've had to go sleep in the spare bedroom although some of them still find me.... Feeding time is fun too

 

Hahaha oh my! Sharon it looks like you run a hotel for cats! I'll post a picture of mine in a bit, though they're rarely all together like that!

Kris...that iPad! Any time you guys see a post from me that has a ton of typos, I guarantee I'm on my fire tablet! It's so hard to type on that and way too hard to type lengthy posts...

 

I only got to post with Sue for a short time but she was with me, along with a few others, for Maury's first 50 reading. Which brings up, I miss Pati too .

Right now I only have Maury (Kitty #9 in my life). He came into my life when my last boy got sick (aggressive cancer, made him as comfortable and happy as I could). I started looking for another kitty to introduce to my first boy so he could tell the new kitty what a great life he would have and how to train me . I found Maury on Craigslist, he grew up (adopted him at 7 months) with a Bloodhound and they were such good buddies but so close that he didn't even get private potty time so he was going around the house. They also had a young baby (human). Very energetic kitty as well. In essence, they told me the dog was there first so cat had to go. Unfortunately, my first boy passed before I could introduce them. Previous owner's named him after Maury Povich because they said they didn't know who the father was and he knew his name very well, so I kept it. I was living with a friend in Arizona through all this so Maury did make the 36 hour drive home with us back to Maryland. Although, since that drive he can't handle a drive to the Vet. Maybe he just does well on longer trips lol.

I would love to have a friend for Maury but I want to get his diabetes under better control. I have been unemployed for over a year now and doing all of his care with no income. I am thankful this came up while I am unemployed so I could be around to monitor him and learn as much as I can. And I am trying to use this time to regulate him as best I can so when I do start working, I might have a better idea of what his BG is going to do while I'm gone . I try not to let him sense my stress about finances but it is getting more difficult. I was very used to being a work-a-holic. But enough about me!

He is my baby and the majority of my reserve funds are going towards his care.

 

Love that you started this thread Rachel. Gosh, it brings back such great memories of the fun we had on the boards discussing non-insulin subjects like yummy cocktails and we would always end of in Carol and Murphy's condo for an after hours party. I hope you don't mind an ex-ProZincer chiming in.

I have 2 cats, Bubba and Forrest. They are both rescues by my friend, Karen. Bubba came to us first after Bubba's momma ( a huge orange short hair) brought her litter one by one from the woods behind Karen's house and deposited them on her porch. Bubba was the only long hair cat and in my opinion the most beautiful. Karen managed to adopt all the siblings, five others, out to good homes and Bubba was the last and no one wanted him. She had trapped his Momma too and had her inoculated also and sterilized. She was a gypsy cat and wanted nothing to do with being domesticated. Karen made a home for them in her pool cabana. He was with his Momma until he was 3 months old and he was still nursing! ( such a Momma's boy and still is ) He was quite scared when we adopted him and feral like and it took a lot of conditioning him to want to be domesticated. He still has the "wild " in him with his desire to be outside and hunt.

Forrest was a stray cat ( also a long hair orange cat) that Karen fed outside for almost one year until she could finally trap him too. He was a mess when she first got him. Extremely underweight, full of ticks and fleas, full of cuts and wounds and his canine tooth had been snapped off 1/2 his length. My vet said it was probably from a fight he got into with another animal and he fought hard to break his tooth. He has always been the sweetest calmest boy and is a real snuggler. We believe him to be about 13 -14 years old. His been with us for 8 1/2 years and the vet guessed him to be around 5- 10 ( big span ) at that time. So 13-14 is the youngest he is. I have this fantasy that Bubba and Forrest are related as they appeared on the same property and they look a like. Maybe Forrest is Bubba's daddy??

We have two dogs. Lucy and Ricky ( we like theme names) Lucy was my grand dog and I begged my son to give her to me as he did not take good care of her. She was alone all the time, not fed timely, and also very underweight. It was sad and it is also embarrassing that she was my son's dog but it is what it is. I was not a dog person until Lucy. She stole my heart and made me love her. I always ask her "How did you make me love you so much; you're a dog!??" She has a very big vocabulary and sometimes we call her Lassie because she is so smart.

And then Ricky came with my Mom when she came to live with us 3 years ago. He is a chihuahua and was 4 years old when he came here and not house trained. Ugh. I worked with him for 6 months and bought an e book on training Chihuahua , apparently they are hard to train and the training is different than with other breeds. He is a real character and a very smart little dog.

We feel so blessed to have these 4 fur babies.

Sharon, you have to look really hard to see one of the black cat up at the head of the bed on the right. I can barely see the eyes.

 

I love these threads! I'm not technically a 'PZI/Prozinc' person...can you all adopt me anyway?

 

Absolutely!!!

 

We welcome all comers! I've moved to Lantus Land but still rent space here.

 

Of course, Sharon and I are exes

 

Most of you already know me and most of my crew - we have 23 cats and dogs, most dumped out here but some we ended up with in other ways. Dakota's our current sugarbaby - he's now 16 years old! He's been here almost 4 years - doesn't seem that long. He's been diabetic for about 7 years. We adopted him from Fancy Cats Rescue, Ronda Dalton flew him from VA to D/FW.

There's 9 other cats ranging from 2 to 12 years old...and sizes from a tiny 4 lbs to the biggest boy at 16 lbs. Our last rescue has been here nearing a year - SuzyQ/'SuQ' now about 3 years old. She was left locked in a house when people moved out, when she was found, she spent the next months living outside on hard dog food. All the other dogs and cats around picked on her/attacked her repeatedly - lady finally called the rescue we work with...who promptly messaged me...who of course, as usual, couldn't leave her there. She loved humans to pieces, other animals terrified her to the point she'd just shake so bad her teeth rattled. She's a little Classic Tabby - beautiful unique markings...likely a touch of Calico in there too. Took us about 6 months to work thru that....here's a couple of pics of her:

 

Lyresa, you are a Saint! And Suzy Q is adorable!!!!

 

SuzyQ is adorable!!!!!!

 

She's one sweet little girl!! Kudos to you for looking after so many.

 

Bobbie, I am thrilled you chimed in! With Sue and Cindi gone and Robin not able to post these days, you are one of the last ones of the "old crew" left! I remember those cocktail discussions and we ALWAYS ended up in Carol's threads! Ha, she was always such a good sport about it...I'd forgotten about that! Those were truly some fun conversations, and I am always glad to see a post from you!

Lyresa, you're an honorary ProZincer...join us anytime! We LOVE having you! And SuzyQ is beautiful!

I think is the best pic I have of the three cats right now:

 

The more the merrier! That is a very pretty pattern on Suzy Q and amazing how many kitties you have saved!

 

Great photo of your crew. I don't think I have one of all my fur babies together. 3 but not all 4.......

You are right, Sharon, Carol, and I are some of the last of a time past........ I sure hope Sue will touch base and see how much we all loved her and appreciate all that she did to help us all as newbies.......... Thx again for doing this thread. A bitter sweet experience.

 

Haha. Know what's funny? I have the exact same blanket on my bed... Of my 7 only one is male.... And I know how the crowded bed goes.

 

I just saw this thread - Prozinc land will always be my first love
I've had five cats in my life - the first I got in 1980 - and I've only been cat less for a total of 3 months since then

I got Murphy 2 months after my last cat died. I never had to go to a shelter to get a cat before - but for Murphy I did - I've always had two cats but 6 months after I got Murphy, my sister's cat stayed with us for 1 week - Murphy got so upset he stopped eating and developed hepatic lipidosis and had to be hospitalized for 10 days while I was working in Kazakhstan - it was horrible. I don't feel like I can get another cat while I have Murphy. Rachel, I too miss Sue and Cindi and Robin - I'm going through a bad period right now, but will try to get back on the boards when it is over

 

I love those pics with all the cats on the bed - I would love to sleep on those beds. I hate the Murphy doesn't sleep with me

 

Hugs, Carol

 

Hi Carol & Murphy! I know you don't know me but if there's anything we can help YOU with, don't hesitate to ask .

 

Looks like you have a lot of black ones too!

 

Aw Carol, ProZinc Land will always be your home...and Bobbie's and Sharon's too even if you have another home in L! Sending you . I hope things get better soon...remember you always have a family here!

 

Two all grey, one grey and white, one grey with stripes (cc my diabetic), one all black, one black and white, and one orange and white.

It was dark for the picture so the datuk grey cats looked black.

 

Bebo was left when lady moved out - she'd had him since few month old kitten that showed up. Swore he was a she even after I showed her his ...err.. Dingleberries...duh. She'd had him for 2 years but I'd taken care of him often. She moved, took the 5 dogs leaving him, litterbox, my carrier I'd given her to travel and a bowl of rotten food. He arrived here skinny and just 'faded' looking. The freckle on his nose was just a light smudge. He's a dollbaby and HUGE love. He has severe allergies and has been on steriods for 3 years. He weighs 14.5 pounds of muscle. I think he's almost 7 years old. He's also very photogenic so I have several (<read 'many')of him

 

Oh wait, do racoons count? I call her Honey.....

 

Hahah oh my gosh Sharon!!! That's amazing!

 

Does she live in your barn? So cute!

 

She was in and out of the barn last summer. The young momma coons often come out during the day to find food, in this case some dry cat food I leave out for ferals that sometimes show up. Don't see them much in winter, but will probably see one or more this summer. She was so funny because she'd come to the house and look in through the storm door and follow me and the cats to the barn at feeding time, running right along with the cat pack! Here she is with her babies

 

Love this! I just don't understand how some people regard certain animals as pests/vermin.

 

I love 'em too, but they can be pests- eating the cat food before the cats can get to it! The worse though are the opossums! They dig up my garden every night. I have to put red pepper flakes or large stones around any new plantings, and they and the coons eat every piece of fruit off my trees before I can get it. Still like to have them around though....

 

I love reading these stories! Forgive me if mine gets a little long...I tend to go into too much detail when I tell stories

Maybe I'll start with pictures. Here is Sam at his OTJ party from 2015:


He really loves beer. Like REALLY loves it. No, I don't let him drink it.

And here are Sam (left) and Atticus (Babu) (right). Sam didn't get any beer at his OTJ party, but they did get a treat:


And here are their stories:

I have two kitties. They are my first pets.

I did most of my growing up in different places around the world, mostly in a couple of places in Africa. When I moved permanently to the states in 2005, I found it difficult to adjust to life here. In 2006, I was walking down the street in my neighborhood and passed a cat shelter. I decided to go in just out of curiosity. The shelter had a couple of large rooms that were full of cats just playing and sleeping together – not in cages. But there was a little room off to the side that just had one cat all alone. I asked why he was alone and they said he was too mean to the other cats, and wasn't tolerating humans well. He probably wasn't adoptable, but they were going to keep trying before they gave up on him.

He had been picked up after getting shot by a pellet gun in a more rural/suburban area north of Seattle. He still has a pellet in his back. The best guess was that he was about two years old. When he arrived at the shelter, they had him fixed and took care of his infections, so he was healthy, but still so so skinny and small.

I asked if I could meet him and almost immediately, he attacked my leg, biting and growling. It was love at first sight. My heart broke to see him so scared and alone – and I think I could kind of relate to him at that point in my life. So I hadn't been planning on getting a pet, and I ended up adopting a really difficult one. The shelter kept asking me if I was sure, and telling me to bring him back if it didn't work out. I think their expectations were pretty low.

I named him Samir which is Arabic for a "friend who stops by for a conversation". He earned this name because he would walk around and talk all the time, and at night he would sing and sing if I left the window open. (I'm guessing that's why someone shot him – one too many nights singing on their fence post)

The first couple of months were tough. He would hide under the bed and leap out and attack my bare ankles, he would lurk on top of the fridge and jump on my head, he shredded all of the toilet paper, fell in the toilet, pulled all of my clothes off the hangers in the closet, and he wouldn't let me touch him for weeks. One night I woke up during the night to find him cuddled against me though, and it gave me hope that he would come around. It was two months before the first time he let me pick him up – and that was only for about three seconds.

I still have scars from those first few months on my arms and back. Now he is so sweet though! He will take baths, walk on a leash, and let me stab his little ear a few times/day to get those darn tests done.


My second kitty is Atticus (Babu). I adopted him from the same shelter. After having Sam for a year and a half, I decided he was tame enough, and lonely enough, to benefit from a friend. I went to the shelter every Tuesday (the day they introduced new cats) and played with the cats to try to find just the right temperament to go with my wild kitty. Babu arrived about five months after I started looking. It was his third stay at the shelter. He had been dropped off by a breeder who didn't want him because he didn't look Bengal enough. His mama was Bengal, but apparently his daddy had climbed in under the fence. He just looks like a regular domestic shorthair. His first adopted family brought him back after only a week because he was "difficult." His second adopted family had him for over a year, and finally brought him back for the same reason. He would play a little too aggressively, and they didn't know how to train him.

By the time I met him, he had been rejected three times. He was really depressed when I adopted him, so he didn't seem to mind the long, slow introduction process between him and Samir. They didn't get to see each other except through the crack under the door for almost two weeks while I swapped them between rooms, and shared their food dishes and blankets back and forth. When I realized they were holding hands under the bathroom door, I decided they were ready to live in the same space. By the time they were introduced, they immediately bonded and have been inseparable ever since.

Atticus wouldn't clean himself at first, and didn't tolerate baths AT ALL, so as soon as he and Sam were together, Sam started cleaning him. He would just lay on the floor and purr, and Sam would spend half the day bathing him. It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen. After a couple of weeks, Atticus started to bathe himself again, but to this day, they still spend more time grooming each other than they do grooming themselves.

They are spoiled and I adore them. I'm in awe of those of you with lots of kitties. Just these two take enough work!

And if you made it all the way to the end of this very long history, I feel like I should pour you a beer too!

 

Awful picture but I had to take what I could get as the situation would change in a second. That's 2 dog food bowl risers waiting for food bowls. Dakota's feeling a bit onery today...he's daring the dogs to come get their food. You can barely see June's head at the bottom of the pic says 'Mama! Make him move! I iz hungry!'. Oh Doc, you're so naughty.

 

No way. Lol too cool

 

I love your story! And how dedicated you were to this two boys who just needed someone like you to come into their lives to love them and take care of them. Your photos are magnificent!

 

She's adorable!!!

 

This is a great story! It's obvious you love your two "difficult " boys very much.

 

I think I laughed too hard at the err dingle berries!!!