Natal, thanks so much for posting the link to Cat Haven. I had so much fun reading all the stories about where the cats came from and their incredible journeys.

Here's the link to another great rescue organization, Save the Cats, Inc.

Here is a link that might be useful: www.savethecatsinc.com

Cats - one of my favorite things. I currently have three - one adopted stray and two adopted from shelters. I got all as adults not kittens. My first two cats were kittens - litter mates but the next one was an injured, stray adult cat who literally broke into my house. After that I always adopted adults vs. kittens. It sounds like you're set on kittens but the great thing about adult cats is that I think you can tell more about what their personalities are like.

My newest cat was a two year old Siamese - probably not purebred. He is absolutely the sweetest, lover boy. He doesn't yowl and he acts like a dog - comes when called, runs to the door to greet you, follows you around and even fetches.

All of our cats have had unique personalities but very sweet and loving to us - some friendlier to strangers than others. The biggest challenges I've had have been health problems when they get old - in our case around age 16-17. We typically treat their chronic health problems and this can be complicated and expensive.

Minor day to day things include cat hair every where and occasional cat barf here and there. Never had a litter box problem except with a couple health problems. None of my cats (who are indoors only) have front claws - which does not necessarily mean no damage to furniture, floors, etc. The Siamese maniac has still managed to tear up the back of one of my living room chairs when he tears across the living room and launches himself through the air and up the back of the chair with his rear claws. They also chase each other around the wood floors digging in their rear claws - which I think are best left unclipped because the thin fine ends of claws do less damage than the thicker short claws.

Cats have brought us great joy since we got the first two kittens 34 years ago right before we got married. DH didn't like cats and said it was cats or him. I quickly went out and got a kitten after we got engaged. That night he met the kitten and said let's get another one. We can't leave him home alone all day while we're at work.

Here are my current three.

That last picture is priceless, aren't they just wonderful creatures? I have my Grace who's four and the joy in my life as I have no one with me and she is company, sleeps next to me at night. I hope each of you love your cats as much as I do....just wish I would have gotten two back then. I am thinking maybe Grace would be a 'hisser' as she is with visitors and the cleaning gal if I got a sister for her now. It's just such an 'up in the air' thought!! I am loving your cat stories, I have tons of them.

jeane gallo, thank you for the pic above! We have one picked out that will grow up and look just like her, I think! We looked on Petfinders and the Hands Helping Paws organization had quite a few to pick from from Petsmart, has been spayed and tested negative on feluk. My DS gravitated toward a Siamese mix, which I thought was weird because DS didn't know I was even looking at them on craigslist! This one is very quiet and shy, which I didn't really want shy, because I wanted him to have one that would play right off, but, he has chosen her. I plan on getting another kitten REAL soon! When I look at cats on the internet with the same markings as hers, she looks like a Siamese lynx mix?? Although her paperwork shows a DMH Chocolate Point Himalayan. She doesn't even have medium hair to me, but, what do I know!

I will take a pic as soon as we get her home for you all to see, and you all can tell me what you think she is! I have Dr. appt this morning then will get her home (got everything for her, I think we needed, yesterday).

gibby, I LOVE all your cats! Every color, just about, huh?

judith, lynxe, and everyone else, thank you for all the good and bad input! I really do appreciate it. I just think that if we got a kitty, and loved it from the beginning, we would just have to put up with all the bad too, and it would be too late, since we love it already-can't give it back. Wouldn't do that to my son anyway! Once it's in our family, that's it, unless it is harmful in some way, which hopefully that won't happen!

I'm sure I will have more questions, once we get her (and another kitty) home. There are definately some cat experts on here!

Oh, I'm SO excited for you! What is her name?

Olliesmom, I am so happy and excited for you and your son!

Your baby girl sounds adorable. She may be shy now...but just wait! My tonkinese (siamese/burmese) was extremely shy and he became extremely outgoing and playful. He's 16 and going strong...knock wood.

We're bringing his new sister home in August so you and I can go through the kitten phase together. It's a very, um, interesting time :-) Kittens are very high energy and whatever their name, they think "No" is their middle name.

Pets will give you much more in love and pleasure than you can believe and after a while you will wonder how you ever managed to go so long without them! Your new fur baby will bring a whole new dimension to family life and lots of fun for you and your son.

Good luck and congratulations!

And as your initial post showed, you can ALWAYS come online and ask any question (even the ones you think are dumb) because GW'ers LOVE talking about pets :)

Gibby, can't see your pic for some reason. Apparently I'm not the only one. Did you post using the new GW upload feature?

This is from a poster on the cooking forum:

... on the decorating forum there are pictures that don't appear in threads that refer to them. I have Firefox set to automatically load images.

So I tried disabling AdBlock Plus, and that worked. Why would a .jpg uploaded to GardenWeb trigger AdBlock Plus?

I just checked using Safari (where I don't use add-ons like I do with Firefox) and the pic was visible. Love the color combo!

Jeane, I just saw your photo. Had to disable a filter. Hope that's not going to be a continuing issue on these forums.

Anyway, your kitty has beautiful blue eyes! They match your rug. ;)

Olliesmom, congrats!! Yes, we would all love to see her.

Gibby, that pic is fantastic. Our two only sleep together on the coldest nights.

olliesmom, I'm so happy for you and your family and the kitten you adopted. I can't wait to see photo's.

Ya, I used that new upload feature - must have a few bugs. It also loaded the photo upside down. I'll give it another try the old fashioned way. Olliesmom - can't wait to see pics of your new kitty!!

deee, I thought that was *all* cats. LOL All my purring babies(3)and one barking baby have been rescues.Isn't that how everyone comes to have animals in their life? ;o)

Wow - the photo thing just keeps getting more interesting. My original photo that was upside down (at least when I looked at it) is now right side up (that's the way it looks for me anyway)!!

gibby, that's the Mod Squad of cats: "one black, one white, one blonde" (o.k., orange : ))

So sorry I haven't posted a pic yet! I made all of our dr and dentist appts this week, plus ball games, haircuts etc. and I have literally run in an out of the house. Hubby is staying home tonight to play with "June" while I go to two late ballgames tonight and then he will go tomorrow night. Then there's Thursday night!!

Anyway, her name is "June". My DS named her, I said what about Junebug or Juniper, no it's "June". Ok, then.. it's "June".

She hides under the couch a lot, but comes out to play when we coax her with itty bitty shredded chicken bites, and also to play with the mouse on a string. We have been holding her a lot to get used to us.

I have a question about litter boxes, though. It seems that a lot of the litter is wasted that she kicks out, is that normal? Also, what is the best kitty litter, I was SO confused which to buy, which I know, people have their preferences, but would like to hear.

Gotta run and will post pics when I figure out how. Have more questions also!

Covered litter boxes help a lot. I've never had a cat refuse to use one, but I know some do. I like Tidy Cats scoopable litter.

June is cute. It'll soon morph into a lot of other names. It's funny how that happens. I'd be calling her Junie Moon before the week was out.

Charlie became Charlie Brown, Charlie B, Chuck, Chucky Cheese, Chucky Cheeseball ... it just happens.

Gibby, that's beautiful. Up or down.

I thought I should mention that I was never more shocked at a cat's behavior until I went over to my brother's house and one of his cats was in the kitchen cabinet (an Upper!!) He told me that the cat loved to crawl in there and could nudge the door open.
Could never happen at my house as my cabinets are quite full, but the idea!

Yucky, Yucky, Yucky or no worse than my dog sleeping next to me.

olliesmom, some of them do kick the litter around. Clean up will be easier if you set the litter box on a throw rug or large flat object like a flat tray. We have used the tray from the base of a large cage, it's plastic so it can be hosed down. Speaking of hosing down, do NOT use any household sprays like Windex or Fantastic on the litter box! The chemicals can harm the cat. Esp. if you are using a covered litter box...the fumes can really concentrate.

Since I don't use any chemical sprays, I just wash our cat's litter box by using the hose on a high pressure setting (I bring it into the yard). I'll put in a squirt of Dr. Bronners, an organic castile soap and let that sit a bit then I rinse it out really well and flip the litter box upside down to drain and dry in the sun. Another way to do it is to wipe it dry with paper towels or rags.

Whatever you do, make sure you rinse it really well. Also, you can but plastic litter box liners if you want. I felt they were an unnecessary expense and just made more landfill.

As for litter, if you have a kitten who is eating litter you have to be careful what you put in the litter box. You can't have the clumping kind. If they eat clumping litter they can get sick.

I use Johnny Cat for my adult cat. I dislike the heavily fragranced kind of litters and I've heard cats do to. If you sign on to the Petsmart page as a subscriber you'll get all kinds of coupons for discounts on pet supplies. I get 15% coupons from time to time and when that happens I stock up on basics like litter.

The litter box with a cover can be a good option to keep the litter in the box. Every cat I've had (I've fostered many) has had different toilet habits and litter-scraping habits. I'll spare you the details.

BUT The sides of those covered litter boxes are pretty high and if you have a little kitten I don't think she'll be able to get up into the box so easily. You may need to use something lower until she is bigger. Also, those have a swinging door. You don't have to use the door. I never have...my cats would rather sit in there with the "open" window for a view I guess.

As soon as I saw this, I thought, "I've gotta post this on GW!"

Here is a link that might be useful: Cats on the Counter

Olliesmom, also you will want to make certain your home is kitty safe. Make certain all strings are hidden (especially dental floss), electrical wires covered with protectors, etc. You might want to google how to safe proof your home for the kitten.

I use Dr. Elsey's litter. I had used World's Best Litter, but my new kitten's human mom, suggested Dr. Elsey's. I had one box with Dr. E and one box with WBL side by side, and my 16 year old chose Dr. E's after using WBL for years!

My favorite litters are World's Finest corn litter, Blue walnut litter and Tidy Cat with the blue cover, scoopable. All three are excellent on odor. When you see the corn or walnut litter getting powdery it's time to change out the entire box, otherwise they are very good scoopable litters. Same with the scoopable, at some point you'll need to throw it out and refill with fresh.

June is cute name.

When you start her with the covered box, leave the cover off at first to let her get use to the height. I don't know how small she is, it may be too tall for her right now. Put it next to the current box and then you'll know when she's ready to make that jump. Then when she's use to the height, put the cover on and see how she does. I have some cats who like the covered box and others who avoid it and use the one without the cover. They are all different.

That Cats on the Counter link is hysterical.....

I like Tidy Cat scoopable - not as dusty as others. Mine knock some litter out of the box but I've found using a larger box with higher sides minimizes that problem. Sides just need to be low enough for the cat to get in. I don't care if some litter goes outside - it's peeing over the edge that bothers me.

From what I've read, covered boxes and scented litters are for people as it were, not for cats. Cats generally prefer not to have a cover on, since they're vulnerable when using the box - hard-wired instinct thing kicking it, so they need to be able to see all around, and to get away from predators quickly. Or so their instinct tells them.;)

We use Dr. Elsey's. Yes there's always stuff to be swept up; I guess that often goes with the territory. I like the idea someone gave you of putting down a mat or towel to try to contain the litter. I haven't bothered since the boxes are in a currently unused bathroom.

Speaking of placement, try to place the boxes in a quiet, out-of-the-way place. Kittens apparently have to go very soon after eating, so a final placement may have to wait. For now, you probably should have the boxes relatively close to the food bowls.

Also, note that I said "boxes," plural. I believe the general rule is two boxes/cat.

And I agree that you'll want to carefully kitten-proof your home. Like marlene said: no string, no dental floss accessible. No twine, no thread, no tinsel. Go to a web site about cats/kittens for more things to look out for; off the top of my head, no small batteries, no coins (copper pennies!), no pins & needles. Etc.

Many plants are poisonous, some are highly poisonous = fatal. Again, off the top of my head, so there will be others - no philodendruns, no azaleas (not that most people grow them as house plants), no diffenbachia. HIGHLY toxic, ie, FATAL = true lilies,including the very popular Easter lily. I have read of one cat dying because it rubbed against its owner's clothes, which had the pollen on it, and subsequently licked it off while grooming. The scoop on true lilies as I understand it is that, once symptoms appear, it's too late to do anything about it.

More things to keep out of the way - pills of any sort. Small things that a kitten might pick up in its mouth, ie, almost anything. :) In fact, make sure that none of the cat toys you buy are small enough to be swallowed; thus, something safe for a kitten may become unsafe as the kitten grows in size. Come to think of it, do be careful of the toys you buy - I always avoided toys with bits & pieces that could be bitten or clawed off and swallowed, like decorative eyes on a toy mouse, etc. These days, I only buy "green" toys anyway; no more plastic ones or cheap things made in Cat Toy City, China.

Lynxe, I've been using covered boxes for 14 years with 3 different cats ... no problems.

I also disagree with your comment about placing the litter box next to the food bowls. Totally not necessary. As long as you show the kitten where each of them are they're good to go ... no pun intended. ;)

Eco-friendly toys are nice, but it's hard to beat those tiny mice.

catnip mice

Here is a link that might be useful: Eco-friendly toys

"I also disagree with your comment about placing the litter box next to the food bowls. Totally not necessary. As long as you show the kitten where each of them are they're good to go ... no pun intended. ;)"

Not next to - I suggested that it be "relatively close" to the food. I probably should have been clearer though: from what I have read, the box should be close enough to the bowl so that, when the kitten has to go, it can get to where it's going before it goes. If you know what I mean.;) As an example, in our former house, the litter boxes for the cats as adults/older kittens were in an unused bedroom on the third floor; the food & water bowls were on the 1st floor, in the kitchen. There was no way kittens would have been able to make it from the kitchen at the back of the house, to the front of the house to the stairs, up 2 sets of stairs, down the long (>25-foot-long) hall, and to the room at the front of the house (i.e, opposite end of the house from the kitchen). Instead, when they were kittens, we placed their food and water on the 3rd floor, but at the other end of the hall. Now, maybe this advice about relatively close proximity has changed since I used that arrangement and, if so, I stand corrected!

How are things with June? Any pics to share?

natal, thanks for asking, and you all have been in the back of my mind for awhile now, because I know I promised pics of her! I took a pic with my Blackberry and then couldn't get it downloaded onto computer for some reason and haven't had time to figure out what I was doing wrong. I really will post pic as soon as I can! May be after 4th since we have so much going on.

Anyway, she is doing great...now! She gave me a scare because she was sneezing, had bubbles coming out of her nose and she couldn't seem to open her eyes, and was lethargic. I took her to the vet and she had a temp and vet said she had an upper respiratory infection. So, she is on antibiotics now. She LOVES my husband, and is getting more friendly with my son. But, with me, I feel like I am the one always having to give her medicine, etc., so not sure she's inlove with me yet. She threw up twice, but, it was our fault. She ate these little rubber things that my son left on the floor, thought we had them all picked up and she found another one!

We love her though, and she is just now getting fun, especially since she feels better.

Haven't got another kitten yet, getting use to her and thought I'd learn a little more about cats first. I keep thinking though, times two, might be a little more work.

I really will post pic soon though!!

Olliesmom, here's a photo of Taji when she was a baby. Her points (ears and tail), and her stripes, darkened as she got older. She started out with a very fine coat, then it got coarse, and then it finally finished off short and smooth. She does match our bathroom, doesn't she? I would call her a lynx point Siamese mix. The ears and tail get dark because they aren't as warm as the rest of the body. Isn't that interesting? She is so personable and loving. Of our four, she is the most likely to come out and visit with company. Don't worry, one more really isn't that more trouble than the first one. You've already kitten-proofed the house and bought the toys, bowls, etc. As far as toys, a cardboard box with some holes cut out will keep them amused forever. I know you will love your new baby. And you should be sure she is over the respiratory infection before you bring another one in. For some reason, they catch them really easily.

olliesmom, can't wait to see the pics. A nice trick to get her closer to your son is to have him hand feed her.

I tried to post pic today and couldn't get it from Flikr to here! I am determined to figure it out at some point.

jeane, June looks just like your cat, but June is quite as "stripey". Boy, are there a lot of siamese mixes!

June is doing well! She is so friendly now and lays by us when we watch TV, etc. She's a playful little thing.

When I took her to the vet, she said June was going to be a small cat. She was only 2.08 pounds. Vet stated that she doesn't spay until they are 3 pounds. I should have asked her why, but didn't. No more throw ups for the time being, but, she does make these sounds like she is going to, but doesn't. My DS little friend said it's like she has a fur ball, but, when I asked vet about getting her on special food for fur balls, she said it was too early. She hasn't thrown up any fur balls. She does this about 10 times a day??? I took a video with my phone of her doing it, and am going to show the vet tomorrow, while we are there getting her booster shot.

I am still wanting to get another kitten, I feel sorry for her when we leave, like we did today, all day. I left the TV on, so she would at least hear people's voices.

Any advice on which gender kitten to go with our female June?

Glad to hear that June is doing so well! If she is retching a lot without actually throwing up - or sometimes only throwing up liquid - it could be that she has asthma. Our female, who is now 8, did that for most of her life with us. Every time I mentioned it to our vet, she said that it was a hairball. And if it wasn't, "it was the feeling of a hairball." She completely dismissed my concerns about asthma. Then about 3 months ago, our cat had a long spell, lasted off and on for 2 days, with a lot of coughing and spitting up. It was a Saturday night when we became really worried, and so we called an emergency vet (who by coincidence lives next door). She came right over, listened to the cat's lungs and said, "This is asthma." Long story short, she gave her a shot of prednisolone and kitty has not wheezed or coughed once since! She made some other very smart observations and so she is now our regular vet.

I do hope that you will get another kitten, so that June always has the company and comfort of her own kind. I suggest you get a kitten as close in age as possible to June, so that they'll be at the same developmental stage for play and bonding. I'd also do it soon, to enjoy that wild kitten play that is so entertaining (and good for them!). When we have two cats, we have a male and a female, but other people may have different opinions about this.

Good luck! Sounds as though you're an excellent "cat mother"!

I LOVE my cats - currently have 5.
Ditto, ditto, ditto getting at least 2, as they love playmates.
They def all have different personalities.
Please don't declaw.
I use wood pellets for cat litter, which never smell and are much cheaper than commercial cat litter. I stock up when they're on sale at Menard's, Farm & Fleet, or Fleet Farm. {{gwi:1512230}}
Looking forward to a pic of June, hopefully with your DS.
Here are some pics of mine:
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Here is a link that might be useful: Cats International

I've always had male/female combos. In your case, I would get a neutered male, as young as possible.

I think your kitty needs a doggie friend to grow up with hehehe.

Finally! Here's June! Hope it works!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/82318230@N07/7569690074/in/photostream

Ok, don't see pic, how do I get the pic on my post?

I can see her loud and clear when I open the url. She is adorable; she just needs a cuddle-mate... : > ) . I love Siamese cats. My girlhood cat was a sealpoint. They are great talkers, and active, too.

June looks most content atop her post.

She is sooooo cute, and her name fits her! Can't wait for more photos as she grows... How is she doing with your son?

Here is a link that might be useful: Click here to see June

Olliesmom, June is precious!

I've only had two cats, a male and female. I got them both when they were very young and close in age. They got along really, really well. I also found it just as easy to care for two cats as it is for one.

Congrats on your posting a pic. I've tried and tried to no avail, including through the browse function here. Oh well.

She's a beauty!

What did the vet say about the coughing sounds?

Thanks to you all for posting the pic for me!

natal, Thanks! I had to postpone the vet appt to Tuesday. My dryer quit working and had to get it fixed that day.

sable, I will definately ask the vet if it could possibly be asthma. She still does it a lot! Funny thing about her, I was ready for her to be a "talker" since she is a siamese mix, and she hardly talks! Maybe she will as she gets older?

bestyears, she is doing great with my son! She still loves my DH the best though. My son wants to carry her around, when she would rather be sleeping, I think. He sometimes picks her up when she's in her little post (in the pic), asleep.

tjerrilynn, that is the CUTEST thing I have ever seen! I love his (or her) haircut!

marlene, thank you and I am glad to hear about the male and female cats together. I am going to seriously start looking for another one.

betsyhac, your cats are so pretty and full-figured-LOL! June is on the skinny side now, and I'm guessing she will be until she gets out of the kitten stage. I wonder what she will look like when she's all mature!

She plays with us a lot now, and is very curious. She loves to lay on her back and let us rub her belly until she falls asleep, so cute!

I got a hooded kitty litter box and she likes it, thank goodness! It has been much easier to keep clean around the box now. I put one of those rubber (I think) kind of pads down in front of her box as she walks out and it has made such a difference, plus the hood on the box.

She has Softpaws on her nails right now, baby blue to match her eyes! We just love her!

What a beautiful kitty. Especially her eyes. I hope the vet can figure out what's up with the coughing. Also, what is that large reddish object hanging from her neck? Is it some kind of tag? It looks huge but maybe she needs to grow into it. Please make sure she has a breakaway collar. You don't want her to get caught on something...

Speaking of the tag ... I don't put the rabies tag on the cat's collars. Half the time they're sized for dogs not cats.

My choice is a breakaway collar with a personalized brass nameplate.

Here is a link that might be useful: brass nameplate

Thanks judithn! It is a rabies tag, it was on her when I got her. It is very light, but, I have been thinking about taking it off of her, but, sometimes, it's the only way I know where she is! It makes a little noise. I will take your advice though, and take it off. Didn't think about it getting caught on something.

I like the breakaway collar, natal. For some reason, I thought the rabies tag would be handy and had necessary info on it, during the time she got her boosters throughout the next couple of months.

Olliesmom - My experience with my "talker cats" (as opposed to those who have been mostly quiet) is that they accelerate as they age. My Siamese of long ago got louder as he got older. We lived on the third floor of an apartment building that had an elaborate staircase - iow, a large entry and general space. We would step through the inner locked door into the vestibule and in two seconds would hear him squawking away inside our door upstairs. He would do this no matter how long he'd been left alone.

Our present tabby is also increasingly vocal with the years. She will go out on our escape-proof deck, find a place in the sun to sit or lie, and then begin her chirps, peeps, and mews in conversation with the birds, dropped leaves, rose petals, whatever is interesting. If I call to her and chirp back, she'll come into the house to see me, talking all the way.

Our little tuxedo male cat only meows (and he does say "me-ow") when he's hungry or wants us to open the door to the linen closet. You will probably be learning eventually about cats and closed doors. In a cat's opinion, all doors are supposed to be open, just in case s/he wants to go through them. With our male, it's the linen closet that he needs to check, and he has a very specific meow that says "come and open this door right now". WIth our female, it's a closet in the den. If the door isn't slightly ajar she paws at it until we open it. Not that she has to enter the closet then, but the possibility must be there. lol.

jeanne gallo, is that Taji in the first pic you posted above?

sable, that is too funny about cat's wanting the doors left open! I already know what you mean!

Yes, that is Taji all grown up. Her stripes and dark points have darkened as she got older. She has always been a talker. When she was a tiny baby, she would cry to high heaven when she was hungry or upset. But I like the way she talks to me. I know she is talking TO me and I answer her sometimes in english, sometimes I mimic her back. She is attached to me but likes everyone. I've heard that the siamese type cats stay playful and she definitely has. Here's a photo of her when she was a tiny baby. Mom would hold her until she went to sleep after I fed her her bottle.