My Kitties

Between my fiance and I we have 5 cats.

Our oldest cat is Pepper. Pepper was a stray from New York City. She had a litter of beautiful babies and they were all taken in by a nonprofit. We found Pepper and took her immediately. It took her 10+ years but she finally got comfortable with us. We took it slow and we let her get used to us on her terms. We never pushed her to come to us and it paid off. Now she cuddles with us every night. She is also the healthies 20+ year old cat we have ever seen.

Our next cat was Barnum. Barnum was another rescue from NYC. He had been at his shelter for over 100 years because of his health issues. Barnum became a pseudo-mascot for the shelter and they all celebrated when we took him home. Barnum is a very food motivated cat. When we got him he knew how to "find it" and jump through hoops! He can still do both of those but now he can also sit, lay down, stay, wait, give me a kiss, and rollover! Barnum was 10 when we got him and I started to work on his tricks shortly after. He is almost 18 now and we recently decided to try to leash train him. Barnum loves his leash and his cat back pack! Even though he is very happy to explore, he is still very fearful of things and we discover new fears all the time. We try to work through them and make him the most confident cat he can be!

After Barnum came Bailey. Bailey was the only cat we got as a kitten. She was a runt that the mom did not want to care for. We were in contact with the shelter that we got her from and they mentioned her case. We immideatly agreed and took her in. When she was big and strong enough we let her meet Pepper and Barnum. Pepper was happy to have a little sister and Barnum was overjoyed to have a new cuddle pal! Barnum took the best to Bailey. Bailey is about to turn 5 and over the past 5 years Barnum and Bailey have been inseperable!

The most recent two cats we saved within a month of each other. The first was Ava. Ava I got through my job at a veternairy clinic. She came in as a stray and had a microchip. We were able to contact to owners and they seemed very excited that we found their cat. They said they were going to come and get her that night! They never showed up. I took her home that night because we didn't have an overnight situation for cats at work at the time. She got along immediatley with my other cats and started to play with them with their toys that night! The next day Ava and I went back to work and we called her owners to see if they were going to come get her. They said they were no longer interested in her since she got out of the house and they didn't want to deal with it. We got a witness to note the reliquishment. Ava was given to the animal hospital which were legally obligated to give her to animal control. Ava was scared and was scratching and biting. I was afraid of her getting put down so I drove down on my lunch break to drop Ava off at animal control. Before leaving I explained the situation and I asked to adopt her. They checked her over and let me pay for her. For a few weeks she was a bit timid with my fiance and I. Now every night she sleeps right inbetween us. We asume Ava is close to a year old but we have no idea.

Our last cat is Nala. Nala was a stray in the neighboorhood. Nala's mom was Angel. Angel showed up after a bad hurricane one year and started to have litters of kittens. I started to contact my neighboors and a bunch of us agreed to take in some of the cats, get all of them fixed, keep some, and release some. Angel was taken in by my neighbor and I took in Nala. We took Nala in a bit too late though because the night we took her in she gave birth to 7 orange babies (6 boys, 1 girl). I helped her take care of her babies and once they were old enough I adopted them out. I was able to find and vet people through my current job and most babies went to relatives of my coworkers. Once her babies found homes we introduced her to our other cats. She fell in love with Barnum and they cuddle all the time! She loves playing with Bailey and Ava. And she really looks up to Pepper. Nala just turned 1 recently and she's really fitting in.