Have you ever taken in a stray?

[Yellowroses]

Hey everyone

Have any of you taken in a stray into your home? I took three when i was kid there were Cody, Jazzy, and Maggie.

[capnsweets]

We never have. Growing up in my neighborhood there weren't many stray animals around ever. Every now and then a dog would get loose, but the owner would always be looking for it. Now married and an "adult" I live 3 blocks away from my childhood home, the closest thing to a stray we have had so far is a golden retriever that busts loose at least once a week when summer comes.

[jmb9101]

Yep...when we found our cat Gabby as a little kitten in a tree...right around easter...we figured she was dumped. We lived out in the country and unfortunatley we saw strays all the time...way too many. But this kitten we just couldnt leave out there...she looked so helpless...but she ended up turning into a great pet, and we even think she is Maine Coon, or at least part. She is such a huge cat! Someone really dumped a great pet. But we are glad we found her.

[Pure14K]

Yes, I've taken in more strays than I can count. Probably 5-10 when I was a kid, I was the little 'savior' in the family. I saved a tiny white kitten from a horrible death when I was 8, some little boys were going to bury her in the sand in a paper bag, and I told them if they gave her to me, I'd go & get some $$$ and bring it back to them. Well they did, I left & never came back... We kept her for years... I've also saved several cats/kittens found under cars, stuck in holes, ect...

[Becki]

To many to count! Strays turn into the best pets

[Dena]

When I was little I took in a stray kitten (only one because thats all I ever found) Her name was Dallas. She was my buddy. I was shipped around a lot when I was little (between parents) and my father wouldn't let me take my cat and I never really knew what happened to her. Now I'm making up for all of the lost time and my whole life revolves around taking in strays LOL!

[Punxatawny]

I live in a neighborhood, so the most we ever get is a loose dog now and then and out door cats that are really friendly and come up to get petted. if a dog gets loose and comes up to me I will grab the collar if it has one on and take it back to the owner, I have gotten quite a couple of rewards for returning dogs.

[Dirk]

Yellowrose, is interesting you start this thread as that is what I do. I take in 3 stray cat already in past few month. My latest one is Heimlich and I try to find new home for her. Take in stray cat give person such good feeling as you help. Is very good. I explain all about experience of me with stray cat before in this thread:


http://www.paw-talk.net/forums/showthread.php?t=17808

Dirk is too lazy and too tire to write it all again! I say sorry! Goodnight People! Love and Peace - Dirk.

[Yellowroses]

Cody and Maggie were two little kittens that were left in my neighbor's storage shed. He gave them to my family and we had maggie for 13 years and cody for 6 years. They were good pets. When I was 15 I was working at my uncle's restaurant and a pretty calico cat was haning around me and my uncle fed her dog food for awhile. Then I decided to take her home with me and give her home. We had for two years then she developed cancer on her leg and we had to put her to sleep. Now I'm devoted foster mom for cats and if I see a stray I do take it in.

[SharonM]

Lizzie and her siblings were found underneath a trailer that was being taken out of the trailer court I lived in ... my friend and I nursed them back to health, and found homes for the others.
When I was in high school, my parents let me take in "Boo-Boo Kitty" - a stray tom that was eating the popcorn that we threw out for the birdies. We decided too late to bring him in the house though - within a year he had a massive heart-attack, most likely from a blood clot caused by one of the fights he'd been in before we turned him into an indoor kitty.
My parents have a kitty named "Whiskers", they were feeding him and his Momma and siblings one summer, and after watching his brother get hit on the road, they caught him and brought him in.
It's funny how similar Whiskers and my Lizzie are, they're very skittish, and terrified of strangers ... I can't say I think feral rescues make great pets.

[Pure14K]

Quote: Originally Posted by SharonM I can't say I think feral rescues make great pets.

I have to agree with you on that one

I've taken in many strays. Do bottle babies count as strays? I used to steal the feral kittens in my neighborhood to raise, then place them once they got older. Ewok, my Maincoon cat was my last bottle baby but he stayed for good. There are just too many to count.

[kittygurl823]

I resuced all 3 of my cats. Snuggles was a 4 month old stray found wandering in the street. I went to the pet store to buy a new hamster cage and they had an adoption agency there. There he was, sticking his little paw out at us. I had never had a cat, so when we came back home me, Brad and my brother begged my mom to let us get him! We turned around and went back and adopted my Snuggies!

About a year later, I was in the SAME store, getting some bird food, and as soon as I walked in, there was this beautiful tiger cat, standing up meowing at me and John. I went over and saw the sign on the cage.. "Female/spayed, 1 year old, front declawed, unwanted" I said right then, "I have to adopt this cat!" So, went to beg my mom again, and we went back and got Ginger. It broke my heart to see the words "unwanted" My guess is she was declawed by her previous owners and she was probably mad at them, and they decided to give her up, and she was only 7 lbs when I got her.

When I moved to Orlando, Brad and I got an apt. ALL the stray cats would come to our door! They knew where the cat people were! We would feed them and give them water. We got little Smokie as a kitten and took him in and went to the vet to get him checked out. So we have 3 rescued kitties!! We then moved to a house and wanted to take some of the cats, but we couldn't get any to come with us, I was so sad.

Well, we discovered once again that this was a "cat" neighborhood. It was so sad to see all these cats, there were so many. There was a black cat, was very friendly, and people in our cul-de-sac left their garages a crack open to feed him. We started feeding him and again all the cats came to the bowls of food and water we had at the front and back doors. ( I named him Boo-boo kitty, too!)
Then, in October, this sweet little cat we never saw before, started coming to our front door, all day, all the time. Meowing and SO sweet and friendly, she HAD to have been someone's cat or around people. She would run into our house all the time! LOL. I knew we couldn't have her in the house, until she got a clean bill of health, with all our animals. My mom , brother and his girl friend came up the next week to visit, and they loved this little cat and my brother begged my mom again to keep her! lol. She said yes! So, Brad and I took her to the vet here, and she had all the bloodwork and tests done, and everything checked out great. The vet couldn't get over how sweet she was, she purred the whole time! She said she was about 1 years old. So, that is how we found Gabby, my brother's cat!

There was another cat that came in our backyard for months, LOVED our dogs, it was so funny! We fed him and he would meow for food and didn't like other cats much. He was real scared to get close to us, though, but he seemed so sweet. When we moved in Feb, I wanted to take him with us and get him fixed but we couldn't get him to come with us, he was too scared of people. But the good thing is, the owner of the house took notice of this little guy and we told him we fed him, so he is gonna take over feeding him!! I'm happy about that!

[Kathy74]

My dad has the same feelings about animals as i do, and as a result, when we lived on the farm, we used to constantly have cats dropped off at our place cuz people knew they'd get a good home!! We always had btw 5-15 barn cats. Our barn was heated all winter and my dad would make them all beds out of old winter jackets, and they always ate very well!! In the summer, ours was the only mouse free yard! We moved to town when I was 11, and that spring, my friend and I found a TINY kitten abandonned in a water/ice filled ditch. She couldn't take him home as she already had a cat, and he wouldn't have liked a "new addition", and my mom DOES NOT like animals, so we found him a good home with another friend. Then, when i met my husband, his roomate had a cat and when he moved out, he asked if Nike could stay with us....OF COURSE he can, I said, and that is how Nike became our boy! A year later, the old roomate moved back to town, and stayed with us for 6 mths. When he moved out, hubby MADE me ask him if he wanted him back, THANK GOD, he said " the way you guys treat him?!? He'd make a break for it and come back to you his first chance!" We aren't big cat people, but he was in our hearts long before he was even ours! I can't imagine a day without him.

[elfomatic]

I have 2 cats ... one was a rescue (SPCA) and the other a stray. The stray came within two weeks of the rescue so I think it was fated ... they are inseperable.