I''m claiming a cat!

[yssie]

FI and I found this girl skulking in the parking lot of the strip mall right beside our apartment complex some two months ago. She bolted as soon as she saw us, but FI managed to toss "ocean whitefish and tuna dinner" pretty much right on top of her, and we had her coming back every day for her evening meal.

After three weeks of this we finally caught her and took her to the vet. who proclaimed her female, 7-8months old, full of fleas, almost ready to deliver her first batch of kittens, and starving, but FIV-/FeLV-/infection free. They aborted, we tried to find a place at a local shelter but they were all full (except for the one that told us that if she wasn''t adoptably sociable within four DAYS she''d be put down!), so we took her home to wait it out.

We had to socialize her but keep her away from our two cats so she stayed in a 4x6 in the bedroom with us. And yowled. And scratched. And yowled some more, and knocked things over and batted at the cage door all day long, and of course our two were disgusted with being locked out and they whined and scratched at the door too. It finally came to either tossing the cage or throttling the cat - and she was amazingly well behaved free.

She gets along great with our cats, though it was a SLOW introduction. FI jokes that she''s a dreadful feral: she meowed when we caught her and that''s become something of a habit, she loves being picked up and scratched on the chest, and she''ll chase anything - including other cats'' tails! She sheds terribly, there''s white hair everywhere. We''ve been training her out of a nipping habit. She''s still incredibly skittish, and if you pat her unexpectedly she''ll jump a good two feet, but then she''ll smoosh herself up to you for a cuddle, and mewl if you stop petting her.

We''ve been trying (not very hard... and definitely not at a shelter) to find her a home, still, but both of us talk about keeping her, and my fingers and toes are crossed! We''ve named her Mina. Its honestly amazing to look at her now, she''s well-fed and her coat is thick and healthy, and she''s got enough energy to play for hours, and it''s such a difference from when we found her just weeks ago.

Vet thinks she''s at her final size - 8lb. (She was 6 when we first took her in

) Our boy (black) is 14lb, girl (tort) is just under 13lb.

Pics following

 

[tlh]

she''s a cutie! good luck finding her a home!

 

[yssie]

Yes she is!

She sleeps in a perfect circle...

 

[yssie]

.duplicate deleted

 

[yssie]

..

 

[yssie]

all together

 

[Lorelei]

Oh she is beautiful and bless you Yssie for helping her - looks like she is really at home with you!!!

 

[yssie]

they share food and water. He won't let his sister eat with him, but he'll share with Mina, for whatever reason

. They're all messy eaters, I thought cats were supposed to be neat! Cleaning up after mealtime is not a fun chore.

Check out the size difference! She's one of the smallest cats I've ever seen, really.

 

[Loves Vintage]

I love the circle pic! And, the group snuggle pic - no way!! All of my cats must maintain at least a 2 foot distance at all times! I think you''ve got a keeper!

 

[tyty333]

You must keep her! Sounds like she is settling in already! Her coloring looks like my cat a lot but my cat has longer hair.

I''m sure she will get more comfortable with time

 

[Ara Ann]

She is SO pretty, love her expressive green eyes! Happy she seems to have found a good home, with YOU!

 

[LGK]

It''s amazing how few shelters will actually take found cats. I had a similar experience with our orange boy O.P. (short for Orange Problem). We found him at our commercial property, goopy in one eye and matted and skinny, with a bullet in his neck. No shelter, even the so-called no kill shelters, would guarantee they wouldn''t put him down if his eye continued to be a problem and most of them said eye problems were very difficult.

Four years later, he''s very well installed in our home. He and the other boy fell in looooove

and are all inseparable and adorably gay together, they snuggle and lick each other to bits. And the eye is still goopy, though he was successfully de-bulleted at least. Apparently he was kicked in the eye as a kitten and it healed wrong. But he''s fat and sassy now and has stopped flinching finally when you pet him unexpectedly... that took several years for him to stop doing.

So awesome she likes the other kitties. That helps soooo much! She''s gorgeous. And teensy compared to the others!

 

[yssie]

Thankyou, tlh, Lorelei, Loves Vintage, tyty, and Ara Ann for your welcome and wishes! I get the fuzzies when people value my furbabies, I must admit.

LittleGreyKitten - I''m glad you kept him! Orange Problem is SUCH a cute name, and I can just imagine him from your description! I''m also really glad he''s recovered nicely. I think part of the reason Mina is adjusting so well is that we found her so young, and she''d been spared any lasting trauma (that we know of anyway - she wasn''t abandoned, no scars from fights, no abuse...). Who kicks or shoots at a cat, and leaves it??

 

[HVVS]

Oh, keep her. She''s pretty, all three get along, and she already looks so happy to find a new home.

 

[packrat]

I hope you keep her! She''s a pretty girl!

 

[lulu]

She''s beautiful. You should just keep her. After you have two going to three makes no difference.

 

[violet3]

Date: 9/30/2009 5:06:50 PM
Author: yssie
all together

I love this shot!!!!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Date: 9/30/2009 5:04:35 PM
Author: yssie
Yes she is!

She sleeps in a perfect circle...

AHHH, look at that! Such a cute cat!

 

[MishB]

She is so cute, what a sweet face! No wonder she melted your heart. And you are so lucky they all get on so well, the group hug shot is adorable. Best of luck to you all.

 

[deegee]

Oooohhh, I hope you get to keep her! She is tiny, but so pretty!!!

I found my kitty Kiki in my apartment parking lot starving and hugely pregnant. I fed her, but didn't bring her in until I saw a kitty dead at the side of the road that I thought for sure was her. I got home and she was on my doorstep, so she officially came inside and was my baby for 16 years (I kept one of her kitties too). I'm so glad she's getting along well with the other cats. My 2 surviving cats look like your other 2 cats - one is black, and the other is tortoise shell.

 

[movie zombie]

you may find that the shedding isn''t so bad after she''s been on good food for a period of time. i hope you keep her. she reminds me of my Tommy cat, RIP.

mz

 

[iheartscience]

What a gorgeous girl! You have to keep her-the picture of her snuggling is ADORABLE. Plus it sounds like your big boy might have a crush on her and he''d be super depressed if you found her a new home! What a beautiful girl, and I''m so glad you saved her!

 

[yssie]

Thanks everyone

Deegee - My stomach would''ve been somewhere near my toes til I got to my doorstep

, goodness. It was good of you to keep her and her kitten

thing2 - your post made me giggle. So I''m to go from worrying he''ll crush her to worrying he''ll crush *on* her, huh?