Cat owners

SnowyOwl_2

January20 wrote: »

I think with black cats it's to do with superstition perhaps? fear they will bring bad luck? And of course black cats are always associated with witches. My two were black... suited me fine

This always amuses me as in Ireland black cats are considered lucky! When I lived in London my next door neighbour was originally from Cork. She had three black cats and I had two. The next neighbour along had a black and white one, but he was English, lol.

balletshoes

now that I think about it, we've had all colours of domestic short-haired cats when I was growing up, including black, black and white etc. My sisters cat is pure black, and we had a black and white splodge monster of a beast when I was little (he was the size of a dog and always seemed to have an ear half chewed off or a welt across his nose from fighting). We lived on a farm then so he was probably off getting his kicks with the ferals.

spike and January20, so sorry about your loss, I could mentally see your cat helping you read in bed January .

Griizelda

I've had several cats over the years - some pet shops (a long time ago - wouldn't now), some feral and some rescue and some from a friend of a friend (I'm a sucker for cats!). All have been kittens. I currently have three cats - two two year olds (brother and sister) from the CPL (one is a short-haired tabby and the other black and fluffy) and one ginger kitten (from someone I know).

My local CPL has rehoming days where they bring a selection of cats into the village hall with a view to rehoming (it works - that's how I ended up with my older two!) and fund-raising. During a coversation with one of the fosterer's, she felt it better to rehome a kitten with adult cats, as it is usually easier to integrate a kitten with existing cats.

If I didn't already have cats I would take on an adult cat in a heartbeat.

And I can't understand the reluctance to take on black or black and white cats either - I've had more of these colours than any other and expect I'll have a few more in the future!

Edit: I've also got a big black flat coated retriever and always get comments on how handsome he is!

must_try_harder_2

You can often find rehome cats without having to undergo checks.

The local vets always seem to have signs up with pictures of cats looking for new homes. We found our new 6 year old cat this way. We got her a couple of days after our previous one died as it just felt wrong not having a cat in the house. The new one has really helped with the pain of losing our first.

Our first cat was black and white and beautiful, when we got our new one I was adamant I didn't want another black and white just because I wanted one that looked very different to the first one.

One problem I found with the black and white cat was how often I tried to take other people's cats into the house because there seem to be so many black and white ones about.

stumpycat

The only drawback I found with black cats is not being able to see them on the stairs at night and tripping over them.
Then we got 2 tabbies which camouflage themselves just as well.
The pale ginger cat we then got shows up, but of course is the only one who doesn't booby trap the stairs... :doh:

tiernsee

My two are cat protection league kittens, got them about three weeks ago after their first vaccination. We wanted two so they had company during the day and we wanted kittens so they could grow up with the children. We were careful to choose two which had been used to being handled by children from birth. I wanted black, but Sarge and Teasel are grey and white, semi long-hair (the children love brushing them). The CPL were excellent and if I had a bigger garden I'd love to foster more cats!

bouncydog1

Two pure black long haired and two black and white - most of our neighbours have tabbies for some reason but they all love ours - the little boy has a perfect black goatee on his chin and two hearts on his leg.

aloise

Yes, shelters are full of cats looking for homes but people like me (working, living in a flat, with a dog already) are not given a chance to offer a home to a rescue cat.

Not my fault that so many cats will never have a home with a warm bed an their own human - shelters need to look into their re homing policies....as very often they are preventing decent people from offering a perfectly good home to a cat.[/QUOTE]

I'm afraid that this is true. I helped as a volunteer for the cats protection and the criteria to be able to get a cat was ridiculous. All the rule s and regulations don't help to re home cats and sadly to many are left in cages due to pettiness. I know that they have to be fairly sure that the cat is going to a good home, but if somebody takes the trouble to go to them for an animal and are willing to pay ( sometimes a ridiculous amount ) then surely it can be taken as read that they are going to love the animal.

chez22

aloise wrote: »

Yes, shelters are full of cats looking for homes but people like me (working, living in a flat, with a dog already) are not given a chance to offer a home to a rescue cat.

Not my fault that so many cats will never have a home with a warm bed an their own human - shelters need to look into their re homing policies....as very often they are preventing decent people from offering a perfectly good home to a cat.

I'm afraid that this is true. I helped as a volunteer for the cats protection and the criteria to be able to get a cat was ridiculous. All the rule s and regulations don't help to re home cats and sadly to many are left in cages due to pettiness. I know that they have to be fairly sure that the cat is going to a good home, but if somebody takes the trouble to go to them for an animal and are willing to pay ( sometimes a ridiculous amount ) then surely it can be taken as read that they are going to love the animal.[/QUOTE]

It may be true of the CP branch that you volunteered for but all branches are run differently, as are all charities. As I have already stated, I would have no problem rehoming a cat to someone in the above circumstances as long as the cat was suitable. I have already rehomed cats to people working full time, and people who have dogs.

As for paying a 'ridiculous' amount, the charity I work for charges £40 per cat, this includes neutering if necessary, vaccination, microchipping, deflea and deworm and any other veterinary work needed, and also 4 weeks insurance. Considering the pet shops here are selling kittens for more than that with no vet treatment I think it's a good deal.

jess1974

I also have a cat, she is a domestic long haired black and white, we bought her from an advert in the free ads at 6 weeks old, she is now 10 years old and an absolute joy. I dread the day she leaves us, my children have all grown up with her, she has given us so much love over the years, i don't know if i could ever replace her....