Hi...just a little intro here

[Mommy-Of-Three]

I live in Manitoba (Canada) and have three cats. My oldest, Church, is a black and white male DSH born April 6, 1997 (during a horrible blizzard that preceded "the flood of the century"). I found him at the Humane Society on May 28 and fell in love with him immediately. I'd been going through a really horrible time, have tragically lost my brother on April 17 (which is the day after my birfthday) and Church was a gift from God. I've become unnaturally attached to him over the years, but he's been a great sense of comfort to me through all my bad moments.

In 1999 I took a college program based on veterinary medicine because I really wanted to get into that line of work. In 2000 I began working at our Humane Society and met my boyfriend there. We began talking at work shortly after a raid on a puppy mill in a near-by town (the sight was horrible. Anyone who says puppy mills aren't all bad is dead wrong). In November of 2001 we found our second cat in the shelter. I should actually say that she found my boyfriend because she kept reaching out of her kennel every time he went by her and when he decided to pick her up she started purring right away and sucked him right in! We named her Sadie (I'm a Beatles fan) and she's a Maine Coon cross. If she was purebred her colour would be listed as cameo, but we just call her a dilute tortie (grey, beige and orange mostly). She's a very sweet, loving and affectionate cat but she's afraid of everyone but me and my boyfriend...although she has gotten better. Her date of birth was estimated as August 21, 2001.

In 2002 I began working as a receptionist in a veterinary hospital. I loved it there and that's where I got my last cat from. When I came in for work on Halloween in 2003 I found a couple of the girls around a treatment table with four tiny kittens that had no tails. The groomer passed me the female and I fell in love with her instantly! They'd been dropped off because the mother had abandoned them (probably caught by someone or injured). There were two orange tabbies (males) with no tails or stumps, the calico (mine) with a small stump and a brown/black tabby (not sure if it was male or female) with a slightly longer stump. We estimated them to be about three weeks old so I gave Edie the same date of birth as my all-time favourite musician (John Lennon), October 9, 2003. She's such a character! She does a lot of grunting rather than meowing and when I come home or when I get up for the day she goes charging around the house for a little while. We had a bit of a scare with her in the late spring of 2004--she had an infection in her lungs and she was so sick. She had to stay in the clinic having iv fluids and oxygen for the first few days, regular x-rays and procedures to drain the fluid from her lungs. But she was a trooper and she made it out just fine! One of the vets praised me because Edie was such a wonderful cat to work with (considering what was being done to her) and she (the vet) was amazed because she'd never seen a cat who was so sick have such a good appetite. I participated in one of the first procedures to drain her lungs and that same vet praised me for how well I did...I guess she expected me to get upset, but I was there to comfort my baby and couldn't get upset!

That's about all. Sorry it got so long!

[Prin]

Welcome to the board! What lucky kitties to have such a caring mom.

Oh, BTW, you don't have to explain why puppymills are bad. We know how horrible and disgusting they are already.

[Mommy-Of-Three]

Originally Posted by Prin

Welcome to the board! What lucky kitties to have such a caring mom.

Oh, BTW, you don't have to explain why puppymills are bad. We know how horrible and disgusting they are already.

That's good to know! I have heard other people say garbage like "well, they keep it really clean so it's not really bad" or one pet store owner in my city PROUDLY admits to buying from puppy mills, but he only buys "the ones that are in really good condition", as if he's performing some sort of rescue mission. The guy needs a slap on the forhead.... Buddy--you are still supporting a puppy mill, whether it's a rescue or not!

As for my lucky kitties...in my next life I want to be a cat with an owner like me! I'd be lost without my babies; I'm just as lucky as they are to have found them. I suffer severe depression (my whole life), lost my younger brother in 1997, my maternal grandfather in 2000 (he was like a father to me) and my maternal grandmother (my second mom) in 2003. If it hadn't been for the love I got from my cat(s) I don't know where I'd be.