Have you ever rescued a stray animal?

[ProudLib72]

I sort of did when I co-managed a youth hostel with my girlfriend back in the day. There was a feral kitteh who used to come by trying to get some love. At first she was really timid. Then she became a little bolder. Finally, she would come inside the hostel and get pets from everyone. That is, until the regional manager visited and shooed her away. That guy was a consummate asshole!

So have you ever actually taken in a stray, not from an animal shelter. A real life stray off the streets?

[SHRED]

1. A stray chicken

From our church.
I was a young boy. The chicken loved our small farm and would follow me around.

[mucifer]

2. Yeah, I got a stray cat. The cat was very freaked out by my dog. She hid in a hole in the basement

I ended up giving the cat to my 9 yo patient. They both really enjoyed each other and the cat stayed away from me when I visited. Probably because she could smell my dog.

[ProudLib72]

18. At least the cat got a good home in the end

[onecaliberal]

3. Yes, a cat. We still have her. She's a very sweet old girl.

[applegrove]

4. A university student at the end of a school years was walking down the street asking people if

they wanted her cat. She was going home for the summer. Very irresponsible. I took the male, had him fixed and adopted him out to a good home.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

36. Actually, that student was far more responsible than most.

I've heard way too many stories of how university students adopt a cat for the school year and then just abandon it in May. It doesn't seem to happen as much with dogs, but that's not at all the point. The point is being responsible for the four legged critter you take in.

I am a cat person, currently without any resident cats. Right now my life is such that it would be irresponsible of me to have a cat. Heck, a friend gave me a poinsettia for Christmas in 2017, and I only kept it alive for 9 months because a neighbor helped out. If I can't keep a plant alive, I have no business with a cat.

Someday, someday, when I stop travelling so much, I will go to my local animal shelter and adopt the very oldest at they have. If I'm lucky it will be two cats who've been together for a long time, and whose owner has gone into a nursing home and no one close to him was willing to take the cats. But I will.

Someday. Someday.

[applegrove]

42. I have two cats right now. I want a third older cat but I have no room.

Plus my guys monopolize all my time. They would be pretty pissed off if an interloper appeared and got my attention for a few hours. Anyhow had cats all my life. The first one I had as an adult went through some bewildering times as I was traumatized and decompensating and smoking and drinking and falling apart and having anxiety attacks and crying. She was 5 months old when i got her and not a lap cat, though she liked to play. And sit in the middle of a room full of stragers. Of course i did not know my life was going to be that when i adopted her. I am too much of a pollyanna to see how dangerous my life was. She landed with my dad who she adored and followed around like a puppy later on. Been more stable for the last 3 cats I've had. The others have all been very focussed on me in their own ways and i adore having them. I have a routine with both right now.

[LakeArenal]

53. We once managed a student high rise apartments.

No pets. At lease end, we have found
a hedgehog, a lizard, white rats released into the building and a ferret in the dumpster.

Later when we managed an eight unit, five college boys left the cutest white German Shepard puppy. It was crazy having been raised by five guys. But we adopted him, named him Zeke, housetrained him and taught him not to chew everything in the place. At the end of summer, one brought his mom to our apartment demanding “his” dog back.

Said if he wanted to pay for our new couch and four months of board and four months of training i’d Consider it. They didn’t and Z lived for 12 years. My dad’s fav of all our dogs.

[ProudLib72]

61. When I lived in the dorms my freshman year of college

there were these three guys across the hall who had a husky. Got him as a little puppy, and raised him in the cramped dorm room. I was always so damned angry that they would be so selfish as to keep a puppy in a dorm room.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

5. Yes, a friend found a little gray kitten in a box in a parking lot and gave him to me.

Sadly, he developed a neurological disorder and he only lived to be seven. But he was a sweet little guy.

[qazplm135]

6. yes

a one-year old dog that I found walking the parking lot where I worked.

Took me twenty minutes to get her to come to me, but when I did, she was all loving.

I found her a good home in about a week. She was chipped but the owners never responded, so they must not have wanted her.

Sweet dog...I might have kept her but my cat was definitely not interested. lol

[captain queeg]

7. Yeah a couple feral cats

Didn’t really go well. The first was a little orange kitten. She was nice till she was well fed and fattened up a little then turned nasty. Escaped thru an open window and never saw her again.

Another time I was living in a remote park and there was an older white cat that I started feeding. He finally got where he’d come inside sometimes but was always very suspicious. Went on like that a couple years. When I moved I brought him with me. He just couldn’t adjust and I’d moved into town which was hugely different for him. He just disappeared after a week or so. He was a survivor. I’m sure he managed on his own.

[happybird]

8. All the cats I've ever had except 2

Most were strays we've fed and been like, "Aw, hell, we gotta take 'em with us" when we move. Then they become indoor only Kitties of Leisure.
Some have moved in during their spay/neuter recovery.

We think a few of them had been abandoned by previous renters, a few were full-on strays, and I think our newest is a reject from the feral colony based a few blocks over (aka the cats we are *not allowed* to feed because we don't need anymore freakin' cats! DH had a weak moment, now we have Ziggy).

We got Pooper out of the storm drain in a Wendy's parking lot. We were paying at the drive thru and saw her sitting on the curb across the parking lot. She looked like she was waiting for a bus, lol! So poised, with her little tail curled around her little feet and an air of nonchalance. But she darted down into the drains when approached. I lured her out with Jr Bacon Cheeseburger. She was only about 10 weeks old.

I stole a dog in college after the third time we almost hit him in the road. He was a cute little beagle, and two of our friends said they had almost run him over, too, and more than once. He was always out in the road, the poor guy. We found him a good home with a sweet lady down the street from us.

[Aussie105]

9. Daughter's cat

came to 'visit' permanently, as she was moving about a bit at the time.
A ginger cat, named Neddy, after Ned Kelly. (Australian historic bush ranger)
Didn't get on well with our two dogs, put up with them for years, but he eventually moved 2 houses up the street.

Went looking for him one night, came across a similar looking ginger cat, but not him.
Hungry as, eyes glued shut, but tame enough to pick up.
Took him to the vet a few times, got him desexed, micro-chipped, eyes fixed - inverted lower eye lids. Cat had plastic surgery, now has beautiful, expressive eyes.
Took a while for him to lose that strong tom cat smell.
Tested positive to feline aids, but he is ok for the moment.
(Insert rant at people who don't get pets vaccinated.)

Total opposite personality, has the dogs bullied. But he does wake me up at 4 am for a feed. He used to scratch gently and fake bite to wake me, he now just gently licks the back of my bald head. Very effective!

[ProudLib72]

20. I have to admit that I gave my parents a cat once

Maggie was a gift from my friends in college. I had her for a few years but was moving off to grad school, so my parents took her. She was a mean cat, though. My parents were outside of Albuquerque at the time, out in the countryside. Plenty of house cats got taken by coyotes and different birds of prey. Well, Maggie insisted on going out all the time. My mom gave up trying to keep her in. But she never got taken because she had the coloring of a skunk!

[demigoddess]

10. yes, we took in a cat from the street one year in November with a lot of snow.

We had him for many years and he was very loving. We had another cat at that time who mothered him and made him welcome. They were best buddies until the other one died and our second cat was broken hearted. they are now together in cat heaven.

[Haggis for Breakfast]

11. Yes. And then we got married !

[TlalocW]

12. Yeah

I'm not sure if this counts as off the streets, but I grew up in a small farming community - past my backyard was nothing but wheatfields, which means mice, which means stray cats. I tamed a few of them - my favorite was Felix. He was about the ugliest tabby I've ever seen, but once tamed, he was a sweetheart. I remember his walking calmly to come over to me to get some pettings and getting whapped on the back of the head by a dive-bombing meadowlark who thought he was too close to her nest and not reacting.

I hadn't owned a cat since high school (now 47), but about four years ago, I captured two feral kitties who were living under my patio and tamed them. They're sisters and off in the other room right now making noise with a plastic bag.

About a year ago, I found a vanilla-cinnamon colored cat in my apartment's laundry room (she was hiding behind a dryer meowing). I brought her some wet food, and she came out and warmed up nicely to me. I took her in and made flyers and put them up around the complex, but no one claimed her, and she wasn't chipped. Super sweet and always wanted to be held, but I'm only allowed two pets, and my other cats did not take kindly to her (I found places on the wall where she was either hit so hard by the others that it sprayed blood, or she rubbed up against the wall after being bloodied). Another resident in the complex took owner of her and sent me some pictures. She's happy and healthy and not getting the shit kicked out of her by my two bullies.

TlalocW

[Nevermypresident]

13. Yes, two. One yellow lab and a chihuahua.

One was in bad shape physically and parked herself on my porch steps one morning. After 8 weeks of vet visits and lots of love, she was adopted by a wonderful family with a farm.

The other was pregnant when she was obviously dumped by her previous guardian and also ended up on my porch one night. She is a needy but oh so sweet girl. She is now part of our family!

Also helped rescue 2 other dogs with my neighbor. One we were able to get adopted and the other is part of my neighbor's family. (we split the vet bills on these 2, which helped.)

[lastlib]

14. Probly half a dozen dogs, 3 or 4 cats, and a raccoon.....

I would've rescued the stray cat that climbed the utility pole, but our other cat wouldn't have accepted it.

[Arkansas Granny]

15. Many times. Dogs and cats. Although I don't technically have any pets at this time,

I'm feeding 4 feral cats that hang out in my back yard. They won't let me get close enough to touch them, but they are waiting for breakfast every morning and wait for me to come home in the evening.

[ProudLib72]

23. It didn't take very long for the feral cat at the hostel to get used to us

After about a month, she was coming in to get petted. I though that was kind of strange for a feral cat. Maybe she had been abandoned and still remembered that people could be good sometimes.

[2naSalit]

16. Many times.

I don't every remember getting a kitty from a shelter. They were either from a friend's barn or I found them struggling somewhere and in need of a mom figure... and I needed some snuggles.

[rusty quoin]

17. Oh sure.

[imaginary girl]

19. Yes, dogs and cats

Yes, a stray dog who was very timid and took over an hour to come close to me when I met him. Three feral kittens found under my mother-in-law's porch (their Mom disappeared). A couple older stray cats. And I foster dogs, so also helped about 25 dogs transition from difficult situations to loving homes.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

21. Yes.

About 12 years ago a cat showed up in our front yard. She was thin, starving, and flea infested. She'd apparently decided we were her last hope. It was in the middle of a serious midwestern heat wave, with temperatures above 100 degrees every day. I was actually out of town when she showed up. After a few days someone in the family gave her some water, and the next day someone gave her some food. We had cat food because we had two inside cats.

When I got home and saw her I realized we needed to take responsibility. So I brought her to our vet, got her shots and flea medication, and after 24 hours (to make sure the fleas would all be dead) brought her inside. I set her up in one of my son's bedrooms (with his permission) and the very first thing she did when she got inside was to get on my lap.

It quickly became clear that she'd been a well taken care of and no doubt well loved pet. How she wound up on her own is a total mystery. When she showed up she was, just barely, surviving by hunting. My brother who lived with us saw her nail a rabbit and proceed to eat it.

After a bit, probably too soon now that I know a bit more about these things, we integrated her into the household. It was rough. She clearly was completely taken aback by the presence of the two other cats, and they, one in particular, were not at all happy to have another feline in the household. For several months there was an uneasy truce. Sometimes new cat (we named her Gracie) was relegated to the second floor of our house, and sometime she was allowed on the main floor. Sometimes I came home to find a whole lot of cat fur in the upstairs hallway.

Not long after my marriage came to an end and I decided to relocate some 800 miles to another city. And to take all three cats with me. I rented a 900 sq ft 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment. The previous place had been 2,000 sq ft on two levels, plus a full basement, so the cats could mostly get away from each other as needed. Now they were confined to a much smaller place. Interestingly enough, they got along. I found it hilarious that they'd all curl up next to me at night, each pretending no other cat was around. Or they'd all gather on the window shelf, again pretending they were alone. But no more fights. No more fur scattered around.

As it happens, Gracie, the stray who showed up in my front yard, left me after about a year. By that time I'd concluded she was actually the oldest of the cats, probably about 17 when she died. The other two were gone within three years, each one achieving a decent age.

Right now I am without cats. I love them and hope to have them again, but right now my life is such that it would be somewhat irresponsible to have any. I did have a discussion a few days ago with a friend about cat sitting if I acquired one. I do a fair amount of out of town trips, which is why I remain cat free. But someday. Someday.

I have told my son that if someday he needs to put me in a nursing home, make sure it is one with resident cats. Considering that when I was only three years old I was dragging home strays, I don't think I could ever get so senile I wouldn't still love cats.

[Bayard]

22. I've lost count

Cats, dogs. Even two pitiful starving horses that showed up at my barn when I was in Calif. It was supposed to be temporary, but 5 years later, I ended up moving them with the rest of the clan back to KY.

[Big Blue Marble]

24. Many, many times.

Dogs and cats. Wonderful animals. All responded to love and care and lived
long.healthy lives. Now have two feral cats. We have had them for nearly two
years and they are doing well.

[lunatica]

25. The cat I have now adopted us.

He came up the stairs and stayed on the front landing. We persuaded him to let us pick him up and take him inside. We left a note on the mailboxes in case he belonged to someone. A couple of people came by but he wasn’t their cat. We kept him. He was in great condition so I think he was abandoned and something made him choose our condo.

His name is King Tut and he’s still with me. He was not yet full grown when he adopted us so I know how old he is. He’s six years old. I hope to have him for many, many years. He’s my only companion now.

[shanny]

26. I've had 4 purebred street dogs,

numerous cats and a whole bunch of baby falcons (kestrels mostly: they nest in tree cavities and the trees that have cavities are more likely to be cut, or come down on their own--we were known so people brought them to us).

[Kali]

27. stray animals, stray people

I am a total sucker.

[Duppers]

28. Absolutely! A few times, all wonderful, great kitties.

And we have adopted 2 rescued dogs but not directly off the street.

[Lucky Luciano]

29. Nine years ago in July, I was attempting a 20 mile run around the top of manhattan...

...and I failed to get past the sixth mile. At that point I entered a part of Highbridge Park and there was some construction and a temporary chain linked fence blocked my intended route. Turning around would have been a pain, so I found my way through.

Thirty seconds later, I came to a pretty brindle pit bull tied to a fence on a very short yellow rope in 97 degree weather. No food or water scared out of her wits. Luckily, on long hot runs, I carry money with me because I will need to buy cold drinks along the way. Instead, I bought dog food, a bowl, and some water and went back to the dog. She was terrified, growling, and defensive so I had to carefully give her the food and water which she was all over.

Then I left the park again and found some police and I told them about the dog. I asked a friend who does animal rescue and she said to do that. I left at that point, but the police did the right thing and got the dog to the animal control center.

I told my friend and she found where the dog went. My friend asked her Facebook connections to pledge money that could be promised to a would be adopter in the form of dog food and other supplies as it encourages adoption and gets the animal a temporary stay from the kill list. I asked her how much gets her off the kill list and 300 was a good number. “Done!” I said.

My friend worked her network to find an adopter...they found a match! Pollie now lives Bangor Maine and is a very loved happy dog!! I’m Facebook friends with Pollie’s owner and I see occasional updates. Once Pollie’s mom came to NYC and we connected for a bit and Pollie was there too! Good puppy!

I totally failed to complete the 20 mile run.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

37. What a wonderful story.

Rescuing the dog is far more important that completing the run.

[Lucky Luciano]

40. I'm still mad at the heartless bastard that tied the dog up like that in the heat.

Definitely left to die - I only found the dog by going where I wasn’t supposed to be.

Glad it worked out and she found a loving home.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

44. Yes.

I simply don't understand humans who do such things.

A decade or more ago I had friends -- although it would be a bit more accurate to say just that I knew them -- who lived out in the country, at the end of a road that many people took to abandon their unwanted cats or dogs. These friends just took in the abandoned pets. Even then I was in awe of their humanity, their willingness to do that.

I have no idea what I would do in the same circumstances.

I can only hope I'd be as good and compassionate and loving.

[chowder66]

30. Yes. Feral, abandoned, etc and have loving memories of all that I've had the good

fortune to call my friends.
One was a newborn kitten alone in a dumpster and I lost her about 3 years ago due to old age. She lived to be 20.
One was found in the basement of a house I rented with friend - she unfortunately died about a month later, I'll never know why but I stayed on the floor with her through the night when she was acting strange and after I fell asleep she crawled under the bed and passed away. I rescued about 6 cats that lived under another apartment building placing all of them in good homes. A friend found a kitten walking down Hollywood Blvd and brought him to me. He lived to be 13 and I was devastated when he suddenly got ill and died.
Then there was a truly feral cat that was desperate living under the cars out back of the apartment I live in now. She was a white cat that was emaciated and dirty. I would sit on the steps after putting some food and water out and talk to her. It took about a week and she finally came up to me reluctantly. I had a friend help me catch her and tried to place her for a couple of years when I finally gave up and kept her myself. She wasn't easy and never lost her predator side. She became very loving but would suddenly attack my face and spent every day trying to bite my hand. Amazingly she never got my hand. The bond we created was worth every moment of terror she threw my way. She was pregnant when I rescued her but I didn't know it. I woke up one morning to 3 kittens, a healthy boy, a disabled girl and an very premature kitten which was not fully developed and was stillborn. I had to place the kittens as I had 2 other cats. The 20 year old and the Hollywood Blvd cat. I had to keep them separate for years. It was tough going but we all managed.

Today I have one of two cats that were orphaned when their person passed away suddenly. One passed away one year in due to cancer and the other one is typing up all of this. Okay, he's not but he's trying to help.

[Curtis]

31. Yes. A great dog

I was out with a couple of my other dogs at a local creek letting them swim one hot Sacramento Valley day. On the way home (we're out in farm country), I see something in the roadside ditch. I backed my truck up and saw it was a little puppy. I got out and saw the poor think cowering in the ditch scared to death. I reached down to pick her up when i realized she had mange very badly. My dogs were kept in the back of the SUV%truck by a barrier so I put the puppy at my feet. (My dogs were going nuts). I drove right to the veterinarian and took the dog inside and asked one of the techs to get my other dogs out of the hot SUV.

Poor pup had to stay at the vet for a week and I had to build a fenced area with a na-mans land between it and the rest of the yard (double fence) so the dogs wouldn't come into contact. The vet gave me a huge break on the price after hearing the story. And, the pup just broke my heart every time I saw her fenced off wanting to play with the other dogs. Had to keep her like that for 6 weeks while giving her daily treatments. Ugh.

Eventually, she became part of the pack and grew into the cutest bull dog/something mixed ever. She did have health problems that required medication the last 4 years of her life (she only made it to 7). But, the vet hooked me up with someone in New Zealand to buy the meds at 20% the cost here.

Oh, and in tribute I had named her Amadou. She was such a good and innocent being that the name fit.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

45. What a wonderful story.

And what a wonderful vet to give you a huge break on the price of caring for her.

Okay, so I am personally not much of a dog person, far more of a cat person. But I cannot begin to imagine abandoning a dog you've take responsibility for, and just leaving it out to die. Same for a cat.

I do realize that sometimes a dog or cat simply goes astray. There are lots of reasons this might occur. But still.

In post 21 above I talked about the cat who showed up in my front yard. She had clearly been a well loved and taken care of cat before whatever happened to make her show up in our front yard. Over time I realized that she'd lived in a home with guys. In our house, I was the only female. Other than me there was my husband, my two sons, and my brother who lived in our basement. This cat, who I named Gracie, clearly preferred any of the guys to me.

Her previous home must have included dogs. Large dogs. She had a habit of sprawling at the intersection between two rooms, just like a large dog. And in a much earlier version of my life large dogs were a factor, and so I know that behavior.

Also, she liked to go on walks. Initially my brother who lived in the basement would take her for walks in the hope of losing her. (This was while I was out of town, before I returned and assesed what was going on.)Nope. She'd follow like a good dog. Later, when I was there (when Gracid originally showed up I was out of town) I'd also go on walks with her. What struck me the most was how she'd alert to dogs along the way. It was clear she was very interested in them and wanted them to connect with her. Alas, for her, we were a cat only household. She did eventually adjust and live out the final two or three years of her life with us. I will say that she was a wonderful cat and I'm extremely grateful she was in my life if only for a short while.

I sincerely hope everyone who reads this will feel the same way. It's not that cats are better than dogs or vice versa. It's that both cats and dogs have been part of our human heritage for a very long time. It's okay to prefer one to the other. But NEVER forget how closely we are connected.

[pazzyanne]

32. I'm not called the neighborhood cat lady without cause.

Over the 7 years that I have lived in my present home, I have fed and taken care of many cats. Presently I have added a feral kitten to my household and I am feeding a Mom cat and her two grown kittens who live in my garage. I also have a half dozen ferals who show up from time to time to be fed. My family historically are "cat people. All of my siblings have one or more cats in their homes. We learned to care for cats from my Mom. At age 90, she was still feeding feral cats who visited her at her cabin.

[Skittles]

33. this latest one has hung around for 15 years

[ProudLib72]

62. That looks like my old cat!

Did yours have a white stripe down its back? Mine did, and she looked like a skunk. All the other animals left her alone.

[Skittles]

69. no white stripe on the back

just the face, long bib and all four feet

picture trivia: he had been in a fight an got bit on the face-----vet treated the wound and as it was healing, all the whiskers on that side fell out - which is why he is only semi-whiskered in that picture.....I remember telling my cat, YOU LOOK RIDICULOUS

[TreasonousBastard]

34. Twice. A kitten found me during a stop on a highway. She was in good shape, but...

it seemed like nothing around for miles.

Years later a few of us were feeding some cats left out here by summer people. Summer people came back and the cats left.

All but one, who begged to come inside my place.

[patricia92243]

35. A baby mole. It was on the side of the street, I took it home and fed it worms from

my worm farm. Unfortunately, it died after a few hours.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

38. About ten years ago my son was walking in his neighborhood.

If I recall the story correctly, he was approached by a couple of women who told him about a cat apparently trapped in a nearby storm sewer. He did locate the cat, but then walked away. The first time he told me the story, at this point I cringed, unable to believe he'd walk away from a cat who needed him.

The next day he went back to the park where the encounter with the ladies and the cat had occurred. He had to think a bit, try to figure out where the cat might have gone, and it worked. He located the cat. Picked it up and brought it home. It was about a year old, had been declawed, so someone had been a reasonable owner, aside from the declawing.

Anyway, he took the cat in, named it Falafel, and it has done very well in the years since.

[Doreen]

39. When I was a kid we found this Golden Retriever

Wondering in front of our house. We took him in and placed a found add in the paper and a week later these ladies came over to get him. That dog was all over them. You could tell he was their dog. I also trained him basic obedience and when they got there they were amazed at how well he listened. I ran them through the commands and let them know his strong and weak points in training. They were very happy to get their dog back.


I was living in a cottage 4 years ago and one night this long hair cat who was about 8 months old started wondering around the property. Well, after 2 days I sat down and said hello and pet her when she came up to me. After that she would not leave. I went around to all of the houses around me which was not easy as I lived out of town almost in the country. I also reported her to the animal shelter and took her in to get scanned for a chip. I asked my husband if we could not find her home if we could keep her. He said yes and I brought her inside and she is still with me.

[Rhiannon12866]

41. Yes, two of the four cats I've had in my life.

I eventually found out the first cat I rescued had belonged to a neighbor who moved - and since she had several cats, this poor kitty must have somehow gotten away from her. I wish that she'd told me. This poor kitty also kept her distance, but I knew she wasn't feral since she let me talk to her when I fed her outside. When the weather got bad I borrowed a have-a-heart trap from the animal hospital so I could bring her in. Turns out she was a spayed female and I hate to think what she went through on her own.

And my present cat, Felix, I discovered as a little kitten in a supermarket parking lot when I happened to stop one night on my way home. They were doing construction and I couldn't just leave him there, but he was determined not to be caught and it took a young guy who worked at the store and his wife who came to pick him up helping me. He had gloves and she had a basket and they were both just terrific!

When I took him to my vet the next day, he said the little guy was about 7 weeks old. That was in 2014 and his name is Felix and he's grown up to be a beautiful cat!

[spinbaby]

43. I'm working on one now

A scraggly tomcat showed up on the back patio Friday, so I put out dinner for him. He returned for dinner Saturday and Sunday, too. If I can get my hands on him, he’ll go to the vet for the works.

[MFM008]

46. 3 stray cats

Made themselves at home.
😻

[pansypoo53219]

47. caught a mom & 3 kittens, a few strays, friendly + pettable. 1 liked the car ride.

duckling from a sewer. dumbass duck waddled over it. at least 1 plopped down. had to get it out. i speak duck. a few nestlings from my porch nest. tho crap birds.

we grow kickass nip. cat magnet.

[Number9Dream]

48. Yes, several cats & kittens over the years

Three years ago, we had an orange female have five kittens under one of our hemlocks. She was friendly toward us, and when I made an outdoor shelter for the kittens (our indoor cats wouldn't accept them), she made use of it. We found homes for all five kittens, had mom spayed, and found a home for her too.
Found homes for several others too.

[sinkingfeeling]

49. Yes, 5 cats and 3 dogs. And I stopped traffic yesterday to

get a wild turkey across a highway and through a McDonald's parking lot.

[Cold War Spook]

50. Yes, over the last 19 years we have taken in 14 stray dogs and 3 stray cats.

When we are driving down the street and see a stray we will stop. If they get in the car they are ours. Every one of the dogs had heartworm and had not been fixed. On average, each dog had about $2,000 in medical bills which also included complete blood work and medications. All the cats were healthy. We have a pet door going to the fenced backyard so they can go outside whenever they want. They all live in the house. We still have 8 dogs and 2 cats. Biggest outlay now is heartworm and flea and tick prevention. The dogs' diet is half Pure Balance dog food and half what we eat. We also have 2 hens and a turkey but they are not strays. They are our neighbors, but they like living in our back yard. One of the hens eats breakfast and supper in the house. No, our dogs and cats do not bother them.

[FM123]

51. Oh yes.

There were many stray dogs that joined our family and found a home with us when I was a child.

[Freddie]

52. Our first house

The sellers left behind their cat. He was a sweet tuxedo outdoor cat. We fed him on the porch and when we moved the neighbors promised to keep feeding him. Next house we started feeding a neighborhood stray but sadly he was hit by a car (I hate that people make cats live outside!) And our sweet late tortie Samantha was one of many kittens from my daughter’s friend’s cat that the parents never got fixed

[Liberal Veteran]

54. Several times.

Logan. Xantha. Nugget. Sybil. Tonka. Chatter.

Other than Logan, who died with kidney failure after a couple of years, all of them lived long lives. Nugget and Chatter are still with me.

[Kashkakat v.2.0]

55. Yep, I always take care of thelost or stray cats that cross my path - eithere find their home or

find them a new one.

Best story was a tortoiseshell female, not neutered, who showed up at our house and hung around. I took her in while trying to find her home - a woman replied and came to get the cat. She said the cat kept jumping out her 2nd floor window and escaping. At the time I didn't know she was not neutered, but now that I know, Im sure that's partly the reason she kept escaping.

That and probably hunger. As this woman left with the cat she asked if I had any food or litter cos she didn't have any in her house. I gave her some, she left but I had a BAD feeling - if this was her cat, then wh didn't she have that stuff in her house already??????????

Someone later told me they know who this woman was, that she had had her children taken away from her because of neglect. My guilt kicked in big time. How STUPID of me to have given her the cat.

Two weeks passed. I had a vivid dream that the cat came back and I had another chance to do the right thing by this cat.

Guess what happened. I woke up one a.m. went downstairs to front porch and someone told me - the cat is back! Sure enough, she was hanging around in the bushes and came out when I talked to her.

So of course Ik brought her in - poor thing starving. I just went ahead and asked around and found her a GOOD home with people I knew. She was pregnant, had kittens, then spayed. Went on to live a long happy life with these people. Happy ending - due in no small part to the intelligence and resourcefulness of this smart animal who knew what she wanted and how to get it.... and who would help her get it!

[TuxedoKat]

56. Yes

Several cats over the years. Not sure exactly how many.

[WhiteTara]

57. Every animal I have ever had as an adult

has been a stray. I rescued my dog a year ago from a rescue site. My two cats are both strays.

Picabo was dumped in the country and lived in the woods for probably 7 or 8 month behind our house. He let me catch him one morning when it was about 2 degrees and he would have frozen to death if he hadn't come inside. He was so feral he had to stay in the basement for 2 weeks by himself before he could bear to have people near him. Now he is a real furry purr motor. Picasso was dumped at my factory about 18 years ago as a kitten and he is our most normal animal.

Tashi is my rescue dog. She is still very skittish and will only be petted when she is ready. I'll never worry about anyone stealing her, she runs like the wind. She was badly abused because she didn't want to be a goat guardian before they dumped her at the rescue. She was taken by 2 different families and returned before us. She was pretty crushed when she came to live with us and she is slowly learning doggie things; playing in mud puddles and rolling in the grass and freedom to run. She has one flaw and that is that she barks, a lot. And of course, only in the middle of the night. Mr Tara is not amused or impressed. It's almost a problem in our relationship and I'm open to suggestions about how to stop the night noise.

[Karadeniz]

58. Several hundred. All tested, wormed, sterilized, vaccinated. Costs a fortune to do it right, but

helping is why we're here.❤

[yewberry]

59. *raises hand* Cockatiel.

My husband found a cockatiel walking down the street. He still lives with us.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x6457070

[mopinko]

60. a scrawny little german shepherd.

she wandered onto a construction site where i was working.
the plumbers saw her, and took her into their trailer. they tried to find her owner, but couldnt. none of them could take her home.

she was a great dog, but i did learn the reason not to pick up a stray.
she was a stray, cuz she had itchy feet. i suspect if she hadnt been "rescued" she would have found her way back home.
i had her for about 6 years, and she ran away about a thousand times.
she jumped out of second story windows, jumped off porch roofs that she reached by jumping through window, learned how to open screen doors, and climbed 6' fences just for the chance to take a little jog.
she taught my next 2 dogs the joy of escaping.

she always came back, so that was good. the bad part was when i didnt notice her right away, and she would hang around the house and guard it. i bought a couple pairs of pants for neighbors that bumped into her.

the best bad dog i ever had.

[catbyte]

63. My late husband & I rescued about 100 cats & 1 dog in 30 years.

Every one was as rewarding as the next.

[Amaryllis]

64. My little sister brought a stray dog home from school one day and she became our family pet for

years until she died. SHe cowered when we first got her so probably had been mistreated. We were surprised my dad let us keep her but he had a soft spot for my little sister and didn't want to break her heart. That was back in the day when we had baskets on our bikes and i used to go on bike rides with her in the basket. She was just the right size to fit; any bigger and she wouldn't have fit. Her name was Cinnamon because that's what color she was. SHe was a very sweet dog.

[ProudLib72]

71. Oh Amaryllis, you paint a lovely picture of a dog enjoying a bike ride in a basket

And I do recall those baskets. My sister's bike had one. My parents got her a miniature Schnauzer that would have been a perfect fit, but I don't think she ever put it in her bike basket. That dog would probably have jumped out!

[rurallib]

65. Well, my daughter did at her home 150 miles away

and that little stray is still with us 12 years later.
A little girl kitty.

[IrishEyes]

66. Yes, two tiny, sick, scared kittens. I rescued them in different places two days apart.

One was hiding under a porch. The other was sleeping in the engine of a Mercedes because it was warm. They were both a month old. I adopted them both. They are now very healthy, sweet and beautiful cats. I hadn't planned on adopting one cat must less two cats until they just showed up. Keeping them was the best decision ever.

[csziggy]

67. Yes, several kittens and a puppy

It used to be that once or twice a year kittens would appear on the dirt road in front of our farm. We'd usually adopt one of the litter and find homes for the rest. They had to have been house kittens at some point - they were always clean, well fed, and usually knew how to use a litter box. I think it was a total of about five kittens we kept of the couple of dozen that showed up over the years.

One kitten showed up when a client was riding her horse. She'd stopped to adjust her girth and heard a "Meow!" She looked down and there was a tiny kitten standing with his front paws on the horse's fetlock - this massive 17.2 hand warmblood horse refused to move at all with that kitten under foot. My client brought the kitten to me and he became one of our barn cats. He always loved horses and when some neighborhood dogs were running all over the farm, he'd go hang out with the broodmares that hated canines - he knew that they would run down any dog that came into their pasture so he was safe there.

One kitten we adopted was found on the side of a road in a neighboring county by a friend. She brought him here so we could wash the fleas off and then tried to talk her mother into adopting him. When her mother couldn't take him in, she brought him back and he became my husband's cat.

The puppy was found living off of road kill on a four lane highway. I was hauling a horse back from a show and had to come to a stop so I didn't hit him. He was close to a river with several fishermen and I asked if he was theirs. They told me he'd been around a few weeks and they'd throw him their fish heads and guts. So I loaded him up and brought him home. Our vet thought he was about four months old but other than being skinny and needed de-worming and vaccinations in pretty good health.

He was a great dog - self trained herding dog - and the smartest dog I ever know. He refused to play fetch, thought it was a fool's game. He fetched once then when my husband threw the stick again, the dog just stared at him for a minute and walked off. We put him to sleep at about seventeen years old. He had cataracts, was deaf, and had a big tumor on one hip. We put three horses to sleep the same day and buried him with the horses. That day sucked.

[TomSlick]

68. I'm not sure I get credit for them,

but we have a house full of strays Herself has taken in - currently at one dog and four cats that were truly strays - plus another dog and cat from shelters.

She insists that I'm just the first stray she took in.

[Laurelin]

70. So many strays...

A couple of dogs, a dozen or so cats, and a rabbit. That is not counting all the ex strays I got from pounds, some to keep and more to foster. Atm I have seven pets, only one of whom was actually a planned adoption.

[area51]

72. Yes.

The most recent was a Maine Coon mix kitten that was dumped in the neighborhood in 2014.