We're looking for "our cat"- maybe you have him or her :)

nearly

Hello! My fella and I are finally read to bring a kitty into our home. Maybe you have kittens available soon?

I grew up with cats, and living without one has been sad. But last night we finally realised that we have a place big enough (4 beds to nap on) to keep a kitty safe and very entertained as an indoor cat. We live in Sligo Town, so we don't want to let the kitty outside with those nutty drivers. We're hoping to find someone to adopt a cat from who understands this.

You may recognise "our cat" if you see him or her roll on their back to greet you, and likes a nice belly rub. The belly rub test is very important. If she or he doesn't like sitting in a warm lap and being held, then you probably don't have our kitty.

I work from home alot, and I'd really like a companion. My fella and I have friends around to play games and such, and we hope to find a friendly cat who likes to play and socialise.

We don't mind too much how he or she looks, but short hair would be ideal. Hopefully we can find a grey or brown tabby (striped) kitty.

I did message Kelly in the re-homing thread, but I thought I'd post here as well. I know we're asking for a pretty specific kitty!

Please reply or PM if you think you have "our cat" and you're not far from Sligo.

Also- looking for a little advice, We plan on getting two cats eventually, but we'd like to start with one and raise and enjoy it from being a kitten this summer, and then adopt another cat later. What are the best ways to ensure they will get along? I heard two boys together doesn't work well.

tryu

My friend Jean has two British short haired tabbies - one with stripes and one with spots which she bought as kittens together - two females from different sources. They had their ops last week and are doing great.

They are great playmates and as Jean travels a lot this is great. She doesn't need to use a cattery - her next door neighbour does the necessary. Jean uses litter trays and kept them indoors for a few months. They now venture into the back garden and love it there - they don't venture anywhere else.

Don't know if this helps but good luck!

Call me Socket

Love your post Nearly!:D Best of luck in your search!

bunyip123

Cool post! Best of luck in the hunt. I really believe there are no rules about male/females. I've always had between 5 or 8 cats, m/f, adult/kittens (depending on who strayed in when etc) - never had any major hassle with any of them, the odd spat maybe, nothing serious - just clap my hands and stay calm. If you are calm, they will be calm. Once that becomes norm, they'll settle.

nearly

Speaking with the nice lady at the Sligo SPCA, she said you could 'mold' a kitten into a personality. I haven't raised a kitten before myself (except for when we had them as kids.) So I expect she knows what she's talking about.

But... in my experience there are just some cats more aloof and some more cuddly. I spent months living at a friend's house, and tried hard to turn a barn kitten into a lap kitty, but with no luck. Trust me, tried alot of patient coaxing, petting. Then my old neighbors cat had three kittens (she kept them all) and only one became a lap kitty. He was the only boy of the lot (neutered). I miss that cat, Barry, since we moved, he's how I got my kitty-fix And hes pretty much why I'm hoping to find a cat like him.

What do other people think? How can I tell if a kitten is our cat?

I'm going to go to the SPCA in two weeks time, she says she will have some kittens ready then. I don't want to pick the wrong kitty, because I know my heart will melt and I'll think they're all lovely.

PinkTulips

nope, having raised a fair few kittens from birth i'd emphatically state that they all have very distict pesonalities from just a few weeks old and even kittens within the same litter, raised in exactly the same way can vary vastly in friendliness.

i have a kitten, 5 weeks old needing a home. i'm in roscommon.

i'm waiting for another lady to get back to me with a final decision on which she wants but it'll either be a jet black female, very adverturous and loves belly and ear scratches or a black male with funny little white eyebrows and white speckling on his legs who is very vocal and is currently snuggled up on my lap desperately trying to fuse his body into the crook of my arm as i type... he calls from the travel cot where i keep them for me to come and cuddle him

they're from a litter of 5 and will be well socialised as they're being kept in the house with lots of people and kids around them constantly. they'll be ready to rehome in 3 weeks.

if you want i can PM you and let you know which is available as soon as i hear from the other lady?

nearly

I posted you a PM with my info! Show us pics if you can too

nearly

We picked up our lovely kittens on Caturday!

We drove out to lovely Leitrim and met Kelly and her fella for tea, and to make the tough decision of who to bring home.

There were 3 kittens available. Right off, the light coloured tabby chose my fella, she perched on his knee, and then nestled in his jumper. That decision was made. I really was charmed by another very friendly kitten, who even passed the belly rub test. But based on Kelly's advice, she said these two, a dark tabby and the light one seemed to be pals more.

We trust their observation of them, and brought them home Caturday night We had a little party in the room we're keeping them in to start. Mostly they were spooked and hiding under things. But now, it's Monday and Tora is on my lap all stretched out, and Saba is happy in the cat chair.

Tora means tiger in Japanese. She's the brave bold one that came over to choose my fella. Saba means mackerel in Japanese, because of her colouring. Interesting though, after we named them I Googled tabbies. There are names for different tabby patterns. In fact Saba is not 'mackerel' she's 'classic tabby', and Tora is not 'tiger tabby' she has a 'broken mackerel' pattern!

More about Tabby cats on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabby_cat

You can see their patterns here, Tora on left and Saba on right. Yeah that turned out to be wayyy to much food!



Here's Saba:



Here's Tora:

kildara

They're lovely!

Caturday - brilliant!:D

Best of luck with them.
Why did you decide to get two?

nearly

By the way, their sister, the 3rd kitty, totally charming and sweet (passed the belly rub test) is available still from Kelly7589

We always intended to get two cats. They exercise each other better than we ever can, they can comfort and entertain each other when we're not there, they're less destructive when no people are there (I've heard) and the effort isn't really much more. The more I talked with friends and family and read online, two cats are much healthier and happier, if you can have em.

However, if you don't get them from kittens it can be hard to get them to bond. Likely there will be territory battles.

I have a friend with 3 cats, who is having some trouble with dominance and bonding between her cats. One is a recent rescue, and they've been battling it out. Wouldn't be so bad except one of her other cats is ill and stress can be very dangerous for him in recovery.

So it seemed like getting two at the same time as kittens was the best... and getting two from the same litter is even better. I don't know that they've sorted out their own dominance things yet, but they have certainly bonded, of course.

clofty

Aw they are beautiful.

Lucky kitties.

giddybootz

Wah I miss my kitty (passed on before crimbo) I'm not in the position to have one right now but hopefully by the end of 2009

They are such pretty kittys!!! And lovely names too....so glad those little ones have found a happy home full of belly rubs!! Congrats!!

bhaneasa

Awe, Lucky you and Lucky them!
They are absolutely adorable. My cat was killed on Friday Miss him so much.

They'll be such a great addition to your home, Nearly - cherish them and the very best of Luck with your two new babies!

anniehoo

kildara wrote: »

Caturday - brilliant!:D

Im a bit slow here today. I was reading the posts and was like, how is she spelling Saturday wrong when her spelling is perfect for everything else More coffee me thinks to get my brain goin!

PinkTulips

great news nearly, they're delicious

bhameasa... so sorry to hear you lost your cat on friday be kind to yourself and don't push yourself to get over it quickly, allow yourself time to grieve

nearly

PinkTulips, did you find a home yet for your last wibble kitten? I hope all has gone well. Please do post some pics in the animals available thread, if you have time.

Bhaneasa, that's so sad... I read about your poor kitty... we have chosen to have indoor kitties, and it's horrible to think that we can't always keep them safe, when really that is their primary concern.

I think it's wonderful you did care so much though.

When I told a friend of mine we were getting kittens the first thing she said was "WHY?" She has had so many cats, she is "over it" she said. She pays them to be neutered/spayed, she pays vet bills, and then wonders why they get knocked down on her 80km/hr country road. She said they were "disposable".... and I hate to say, but I think alot of people feel the same way about cats.

So it's really lovely that you cared about Fudge so much, and he was well loved when he was with you.

bhaneasa

Awe, thanks so much Nearly. Keep us updated (with lots of pics!) about your new arrivals!

PinkTulips

nope, still looking. she's just spent 2 hours asleep on my lap occasionally rolling over for a belly rub and a purr.

she's wandered off to play fight with one of her brothers now, it's like having a small herd of elephants gallavanting around the house