# It's recently hit me just how lucky I am



## jawramik (Dec 3, 2012)

I ended up with some amazing cats. I really did. I see people on this forum going through troubles with cats adjusting to new homes, or drama introducing their cats to each other, and it's really hit me how unusually laid-back my two kitties are. Neither have ever had any trouble adjusting to new situations, and even though I introduced them "all wrong," (didn't know any better at the time), they had about ten seconds of drama and that was it.

I'm not saying that kitties who are more challenging aren't awesome cats, too, but for an inexperienced cat person such as myself, I really feel like I hit the jackpot.


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## scottd (Jun 28, 2011)

Tell me about it. I have an 8 year old cat that's never been sick at all. Reading on here has made me paranoid. She went on a sneezing spree one day while I was dusting (which of course I didn't connect). I thought she was ill and was ready to call the vet.


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## jawramik (Dec 3, 2012)

Yeah, having healthy cats in another thing I'm so very thankful for.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Getting a great starter cat is wonderful!! And it makes you want more. :grin:

Cinderella was pretty much perfect. Then came Cleo, also trouble-free, my little talker, with her little quirks. 

Life was good.

Then the twinz arrived. My little Calibratz. And they showed Cleo the entryway into TROUBLE CITY.

But my three little brats are healthy. :grin:

(although there are times when I'm tempted to sneak a little Benedryl in their food.....)


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

In my case it's the difference between going out and finding a nice friendly cat or two that I want instead of taking in various ones that come with hangups from being on the street too long. I'd really like that first option one day. 

Cats are more likely to get along if they've lived with other cats in the past - older single cats are often more set in their ways - or cats that are introduced when both are younger.

Cats can be extremely healthy... until they aren't. Blaze is 17 and never had a health problem either.


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## jawramik (Dec 3, 2012)

We adopted Coda from the shelter and got to pick her out from quite a lot of kitties, and she didn't have any behavioural warnings. 

But I found Cal on the street, and just got extremely lucky that he turned out to be such a laid-back and adaptable cat, despite having a history of abuse and being....well, not old, but far from a kitten (seven years old).

And then I lucked out again that both these cats just happened to be able to get along with one another very quickly.


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## OctoberinMaine (Sep 12, 2006)

I hear you! My Murphy is the sweetest, most in-your-face cat who has never destroyed anything, eaten anything he shouldn't, or peed outside the litterbox. I do consider myself very lucky to have such a problem-free boy.


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## 3gatos (Nov 28, 2012)

I have 3 kitties + dog and worked in an emergency vet office for 2 years. Every day I would come home from work and hug all my animals (they didn't appreciate it, but it made me feel better). I have always felt SO lucky to have such problem free animals when I hear about all of the horror stories.


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## GhostTown (Jan 12, 2012)

I certainly cannot say that my group of four are or have been entirely without problems. However, I am completely infatuated with all of them. When a complicated issue comes along and my wife and I focus on it and get it under control, I always feel like in the end I'm that much closer to my cats (and dog), and understand and love them even more than I did before.


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## jawramik (Dec 3, 2012)

GhostTown said:


> I certainly cannot say that my group of four are or have been entirely without problems. However, I am completely infatuated with all of them. When a complicated issue comes along and my wife and I focus on it and get it under control, I always feel like in the end I'm that much closer to my cats (and dog), and understand and love them even more than I did before.


I have absolutely no doubt that this is true, and I have heaps of respect for people who deal with any and all pet problems with love and patience. I feel that way about horses. I've always preferred to work with "problem horses," because it's just that much more rewarding when you finally do succeed with them. But I'm an experienced equestrian. I've been working with horses since I was quite young, now I work with them for a living, and I wasn't always able to handle the problem cases. That's something that's come with time and experience.

I'm a relatively new cat owner, and I'm still learning. Down the road some ways, I can see myself willingly taking on cats with more problems, but for now, I feel like I got the perfect "starter pack." All the love and little to none of the drama.


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## 3furbabies (Dec 7, 2011)

I also realize how good I have it and everytime someone new meets my 3, they say I am very lucky and that they never met such good cats. Aside from my youngest being high energy, they are really great cats. I used to work at a shelter and it really made me appreciate how healthy and well behaved my girls are. My youngest sophie had it the worst and was going to be put down at a high kill shelter. Ironically enough she is the best, She is super easy going, adapts to any new situation/change, loves every animal she meets(dog cat, etc) with 0 intros needed. I could go on about all my girls but I won't, lol. It's like my dog too. I realized how lucky we are to have her and I always say to my bf that we better appreciate all of them now because when they are gone, who know what our new animals will be like...


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

Although I went through a difficult introduction with my two, I'm otherwise very lucky, since they are both very gentle and well behaved. I have all sorts of breakable things lying out and the cats never disturb or break anything. They don't bother with people food. Muffs is never on the counter, while Abby hops up perhaps once a month, but hops back down again after a few seconds. They scratch on their scratching posts, not my furniture. They leave the Christmas tree alone. They don't wake me up in the morning or in the middle of the night. So, if we overlook the occasional hairball on the rug, I can't complain!


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## snowy (Aug 23, 2012)

After reading all the horror stories too, I thought I had better stop at one and thought it isn't too bad with ET, though I had a bad start with him being my 1st cat. I was glad I managed to tame him after more than 6mths. He is not a bad cat, just didn't know how to relate to human. He isn't finicky, eats wet/dry and eats whatever supplements I give, I have many breakables too, he didn't break any. He didn't go on top of my dining table, didn't ask for human food, never been on top of my alter.


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## TravisFTW (Dec 27, 2012)

i have so far been lucky myself! my cat taz was an "only child" (yes i call him my child :lol: ) for about the first 4 years of his life, he hated it when i brought bentley home as a baby, and did not accept him for about 2 months, now they are inseparable and act like brothers, it is great.

i am also grateful that they do not have health problems, taz is almost 5 years and has never been sick *knock on wood*

have had bently for almost 2 years and no problems so far!


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## dweamgoil (Feb 3, 2010)

By the way, I LOVE this thread! My 4 are great kitties and we feel very blessed to have found them. We have had our challenges, but with patience, love, and some slight tweaks (mostly us accepting them into our lifestyle), we live very happily together. They are all healthy and eat pretty much anything we give them. I sometimes think they feel the same way about us; "we are pretty lucky that our humans are good people and that they are smart enough to be trained to fit our lifestyle"...lol


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## JustOneMore (May 4, 2012)

marie73 said:


> Getting a great starter cat is wonderful!! And it makes you want more. :grin:
> 
> Cinderella was pretty much perfect. Then came Cleo, also trouble-free, my little talker, with her little quirks.
> 
> ...


oh how sad. Could they really be that bad? I couldn't imagine feeling that way over any pet. 8O


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## Penny135 (Apr 6, 2011)

I had Mia for a year (7 weeks-1year old) as an only cat. I got Mac out of a horrible situation when he was 6 weeks old (currently 7 1/2 months). He was a very dirty and malnurished kitten. When I brought him home Mia hissed and hissed at him. As soon as I gave him a bath in Dawn Dish soap (in case of fleas) and she was fine once he was clean. There has never been a problem between them. They are very affectionate toward one another, sleep in bed with me cuddled up next to my bed, have never broke nic nacs or anything else. Mac has never clawed my couch (Mia is declawed), I have even moved twice with Mia , once with Mac and they never acted like it was a big deal, no litter box problems, never sick. I count myself blessed!


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

JustOneMore said:


> oh how sad. Could they really be that bad? I couldn't imagine feeling that way over any pet. 8O


Yes, they're horrible. I'll probably rehome them after the first of the year and start over with nicer cats.


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## Penny135 (Apr 6, 2011)

marie73 said:


> Yes, they're horrible. I'll probably rehome them after the first of the year and start over with nicer cats.


Wow Marie! I know you have talked about how bad they are and I understand you must have a rough time with them from the stories I've read. I just didnt realize HOW BAD it was. Hoping for things to get better!


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Yup. I think I'll just get new kittens every year, and as soon as they start getting bigger and not so cute, time to switch them out for kittens again.


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## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

I don't think I would want to willingly take on a cat with problems. I've been blessed with my old kitties. They come to me as old throw-aways but usually are wonderful after the adjustment period. With old cats it just takes longer for them to get settled and own you - but they do.
:luv


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## Penny135 (Apr 6, 2011)

marie73 said:


> Yup. I think I'll just get new kittens every year, and as soon as they start getting bigger and not so cute, time to switch them out for kittens again.


lol ig


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## britishvixen21 (Jan 6, 2013)

We have been tottally blessed with both of our girls. They tottally both picked us out at the shelter.

Bee has been amazing and has adapted so well to everything, including the arrival of her sister. it literally took all of a week before they were hugging it out grooming eachother and being BFF's.

Bee has been a little more of a challenge with some minor health issues but again she is such a superstar cat and is so darn adorable you cant help but love her.


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## GhostTown (Jan 12, 2012)

marie73 said:


> Yup. I think I'll just get new kittens every year, and as soon as they start getting bigger and not so cute, time to switch them out for kittens again.



lol.... you're terrible. I don't think they ever picked up your tone.


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

When I went to adopt a second cat to be a companion to my first cat I found Mz Tess thru a rescue. She was waiting for a home for over a year. She had a fan club at Petsmart she had been there so often with no takers!!! She was a year and a half old. I had no idea about introductions or much about cats at the time. 

She came home with me and blended in with no problems. I credit what a well balanced cat she was to the person who fostered her in their home from the time she was rescued off the street at 6 months old.

I want to give a heads up to those who lovingly foster and give us the wonderful gift of a companion kitty who is trouble free! :worship


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## dt8thd (Jan 7, 2013)

3furbabies said:


> My youngest sophie had it the worst and was going to be put down at a high kill shelter. Ironically enough she is the best, She is super easy going, adapts to any new situation/change, loves every animal she meets(dog cat, etc) with 0 intros needed.


Your Sophie sounds like my Galileo, who was 4 - 6 years old when we adopted him from the OSPCA. He was very sick when we got him, though we didn't know it at the time--he had been hit by a car at some point in his life, and any external injuries had healed, but his lung capacity was 1/3rd of what it should have been because most of his internal organs had migrated up into his chest cavity and were slowly smothering him from the inside. At the time, we just thought he had a shelter cold, but afer a few weeks we realized that wasn't the case, since his breathing didn't seem to be getting any better. It took months to figure out what the actual problem was, and once diagnosed, we were told that his only shot if we wanted him to live through his next cold was a $3,500 operation with 40% odds that he would die on the operating table. I'm so thankful that the shelter didn't know he was sick, as he would have been euthanized on the spot, and that we were the family to adopt him. He's a wonderful cat, extremely calm, confident, and empathetic, and is immediately friends with anyone he meets, whether they're another cat, a dog, or the telephone repair guy. I trust him implicitly with the ferals I'm rehabilitating, and he has really helped draw them out of their shells.

I really lucked out with Autumn, an adult semi-feral, in that sense too. She's never been the least bit agressive, has become very affectionate with people, and is very good with my other cats--even Dante, which is impressive, since Galileo is the only cat whom Dante's even remotely friendly with, and they've lived together since Dante was a 4 week old kitten.

Cosette and Ramona are both quite good too, though Cosy sometimes purposely picks fights with Dante when he's lashed out at her earlier in the week, and Ramona's a kitten. Dante is Dante, but we love him anyway.


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## Straysmommy (Dec 23, 2010)

I don't really like cats much, and I don't need one for companionship or entertainment. The super of the building told me one day that the strays downstairs suffered very much and needed someone to take care of them, that's all. And then I took home 3 of the neediest ones who were like fish out of water in the street life. So about trouble-free, plug-and-play kitties, I know nothing, I never took an interest. 

All I know is about adult, traumatized, semi-feral, highly defensive, set in their ways, unruly, often scary, scratching and biting, love and attention starved beings who constantly challenge me to prove to them that life is indeed worth living as I claim. 

They're an awful amount of work 24/7, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I only long for the times when I could get up to grab a bite or use the toilet without having to convince someone in no human language that I'm not abandoning them and returning them to starvation, just getting up for a few minutes and yes, I swear, they'll be back on my lap in no time at all.

I can't even imagine the aloof, low-maintenance pet that everyone talks about.


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## soccergrl76 (Dec 1, 2010)

My husband & I found our first cat, Patches, when he was 6 months old. He had fleas, worms and ear mites. We later discovered that he belonged to our landlord. But our landlord told us that we could keep him. 

I decided that he needed a friend and we bought KC from a pet store. KC has had medical problems since he was 2. He is almost 14 now. He had bladder surgery, skin allergies and most recently diabetes. But we love him. 

And now we have Shadow our newest member which we adopted from a rescue.

We also have a dog that we adopted from the shelter almost 5 years ago. She has been the best dog. 

Patches is no longer with us. He got sick, 2 years ago, and we had to put him down.


Sent from my iPhone using Petguide.com Free App


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## Blakeney Green (Jan 15, 2013)

I've been really lucky, too, all things considered. 

Zephyr was an easy kitten, and has grown into an easy cat. He's loud and demands a lot of attention, but I don't mind either of those qualities, and I'm glad he's affectionate.

I knew when I took Maisie in that he had some behavioural special needs, so it wasn't a surprise. It _did_ surprise me how long he took to adjust to living with me, since he was only two years old at the time - but he'd already lived in multiple different homes, so he refused to get attached to a caretaker again because in the past everyone always left him. It was seven months before he even acknowledged me, and about three years before he fully accepted me. Now, he's very loving and affectionate, and we have a good bond, but it was a slow process.

I'm kind of glad I didn't know in advance how long it would take, because I think I would have convinced myself I couldn't handle it. It wasn't always easy - especially in those first months - and I was afraid I had made the wrong choice by adopting him, because I was under the (incorrect) impression that he was miserable living with me.

I even considered rehoming him - not because I didn't want him, but because I thought _he'd_ be happier with someone else. I realize now that would have been the worst thing I could have done, because it would have destroyed his trust even further, but at the time I thought it might be what was best for him. He was bonded with Zephyr almost from the start, though, so I figured at least he had _someone_ he liked. Anyway, there was really nowhere else for him to go.

I am so very, very glad I kept him. It has been totally worth it to watch him finally heal from what he went through in the past. 

Zephyr has never had any serious health problems, except one time when he got very sick from (we think) eating a spider. Maisie is currently having some urinary problems, but with the vet's help we're getting that under control.

All this to say, I feel like I've lucked out with both my cats too. 



GhostTown said:


> lol.... you're terrible. I don't think they ever picked up your tone.


It made me laugh too. But then, growing up in my family has given me a pretty well-tuned sarcasm detector. 

Calling cats "trouble" should normally be read as affectionate, I think.


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

marie73 said:


> Yup. I think I'll just get new kittens every year, and as soon as they start getting bigger and not so cute, time to switch them out for kittens again.


I was thinking the same thing. 

Trade you? :lol:

If we switch Blacky and Cleo maybe no one would notice.


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## Arianwen (Jun 3, 2012)

I've been very lucky over the years with on-going physical problems - taken all in all - but most of my animals (not just my cats) have had problems either with injuries when I first got them or because of early abuse. I wouldn't swap any of them for so much as a minute.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Carmel said:


> Trade you?
> 
> If we switch Blacky and Cleo maybe no one would notice.


I'll switch for Blacky for the bratz, Cali and Charlee. :grin:


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## ezmeray (Nov 8, 2012)

my family always had horrible luck with cats, until we didn't, the ones I remember from being little: Daisy had a disease the vet couldn't even diagnose and eventually had to be put down, Pinky was an indoor/outdoor cat (she was quite wild/feral and was a terror to all neighborhood small animals) and was hit by a car, and then my maine ****, Molly (who was so sweet and so smart), had cancer... soo, all died by age 4.


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## StellaLuna (Jan 16, 2013)

I am so lucky to have Stellaluna, especially for my first cat. Other then being on deaths door as a kitten, she has never been sick since **knock on wood**. She has never made a potty outside the litty, never even complained if I had to use the cheap brand one week. Shes been through sooo much with me and just keeps bouncing right back. <3


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## MyBabiesDaddy (Jan 1, 2013)

I'm lucky to have Cuddles, walk into my house at 8 weeks old. In my eyes he's a model looking cat and he hasn't had ANY behavioral problems, even though he was a feral. He won't eat patte, but otherwise he's ok 

Simba was adopted at 10 weeks old and he had some mighty allergies which made his eyes run like a faucet, but 1/2 pill of Zyrtec daily fixed that! He's a naughty little purring machine and he gets along great with his big brother. 

At least once a week my girlfriend and I voice our appreciation and thanks to God for sending us two little angels. 

I don't know if I would adopt a cat with behavior or health problems, but I'll definitely adopt an older cat (or two) next time, to let them live their remaining lives with comfort and love.


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