# Hi from a Newbie



## Leia (Sep 17, 2007)

HI! I'm Leia from Northwest Florida.  So far I am not lucky enough to be owned by a cat. I am looking into adopting one though. Currently my fiance and I have 5 rats, two small dogs, and a ferret. We are very much an animal family. When we moved into our new home a few weeks ago my fiance' had to leave behind his cat and he misses him alot. I have always wanted a cat but never been allowed to have one because of my mothers allergies. Just to clear things up the cat he left behind was "the family cat" not his alone and his parents wouldn't part with it. So no, he didn't abandon him or anything. Anyway we have been talking about a possiable kitty addition to our family for a while now, even before we started looking for a home. I reccently switched jobs and went to work for the vet clinic nearby and began working with cats for the first time. Aside from being bitten, scratched, hissed at, scared half to death a number of time, and dispised by some of the kitties I am really quite taken with them. I am a Pet Groomer, and this is the first job where I have been required to work with cats. I take time out to cuddle and interact as much as possiable with the nice kitties who come to visit me and I just Love them! As for the grumpy ones, well, I try to be as nice as I can to them and understand that they are not mean, most of the time they are scared and... well frankly they probably don't feel so good since most of them are severly matted 
I have purchased a book on cats and done some research online and I think we are about ready. We have discussed things like diet and keeping the cat inside, and vet expenses, and the ,"claw issue", as I call it and are in agreement that a cat would be a great addition and we could provide a great home for one who needed it. I am a certfied dog trainer and have succeeded in clicker training both my rats and my ferret so _hopefully_, I can do the same with a cat. 
So anyway, there it is, my longer than nesscary introduction  I am sure I will have plenty of questions for real cat owners that a book and the internet just don't cover.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

Hi, Leia! Welcome to the forum. I think you'll find that a cat or kitten really adds a lot to your lives. I see that your wedding is coming up quickly! I hope you'll show us pictures.


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## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

*Welcome, Leia!*

Just a warning - Last year I got my first cat, now I have FOUR! 8O 

They really do add so much to our lives! :luv


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## DesnBaby (Apr 18, 2004)

I hope you find your purrfect kitty!


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## melysion (Mar 12, 2007)




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## Leia (Sep 17, 2007)

It's nice to recieve a warm welcome, thankyou. I will most definitly post lots of pictures  I really love to take photos. As for my wedding, I suppose I can post a picture or two of that as well. We are getting married on the beach and will have both of the dogs in attendance  To bad I don't already have a kitty I'm sure I would have cat wedding photos in addition to the dog photos!
I'm super excited to go looking at kittens/cats. I wish moving in and getting settled didn't take so long lol. [/u]


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## chaoticborders (Nov 27, 2006)

Welcome! 2 of my cats are clicker trained, so it is possible! I got the book "Training your cat in 10 minutes" I can't remember who it was by, but it was very helpful.


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## Leia (Sep 17, 2007)

wow really? Maybe I will have to look that book up. Then again... I think if I bought another training book my fiance' would have a cow. I reccently moved all of my training/behavior/diet and nutrion books over to the new house and I thought his eyes would pop right out of his head when he realized how many there were. He wants me to sell some of them but I reminded him that he was marrying a trainer so what did he expect? 
Glad to know that it's been done before though. I'm really excited at the prospect of trying my hand at cat training.


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## kitkat (Sep 22, 2003)

LoL @ the books story hehe, sounds like something my bf would tell me to do as well. Who knows, you might have a kitty in your hands within a months time.....anyways welcome to the board & make sure to post pictures when you get one


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

You are going to love it here. Sounds like you will be a great cat parent! What a perfect job to have. You never know who is going to come into the clinic needing a home! Our rescue TNR group always has lots of kittens and cats up at the vets being treated.

Post some pictures of your current pets!


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