I am in a hurry to leave to go with Jody to a doctor appointment, so just one pic right now. I love torties. This is Moon Bat.

I have 3, but this guy has my heart for sure.

He was born with a missing hind leg. I bottled fed and and nurtured him with so much love and attention he has returned it 10-fold.
I even made a sling pouch to carry him around when he's sick. He loves to be held like a baby in my arms.
Lucky saved me when I went through my divorce.

I made this bed for him because he has trouble jumping to a chair or sofa.

LibbyLou....

Prissy, our grandkitty. She is a Scottish Fold Ear and she and her litter mates ended up at Animal Control. She has a good home now, and everyone wrapped around her little paw. :o)

And Tiger, the most loving cat ever. He is 16 now.

Tiger and Pumpkin.

Petra, I love me a senior kitty. I've had them live a long time as well (18-1/2 and 21).

Here's the "youngster". He's a little over 18 months now. Big old mama's boy. He's trying to be the life of the party here. Silly boy.

Dees, our current oldest is 19. Hope he'll make it to 20! I love the indignant look on your "youngster's" face. :o)

Here's Teddy, this was last year and he has since declined a lot. He is mere shadow of his former self. :( He is 17.

And Peanut, who is 19, at his birthday party. :o) He did NOT like his hat.
.

This is Maggie the calico. She is also known as Magpie, Maggiemoo, Mishka Maggie Moo, Queen of the Cushions... but mostly, just my sweet girl. While Murphy, my son's cat is a kitten who lost his mom (he's also a rescue), she is a mom who had her kittens taken away. Maggie, like Moshi, was a rescue that was incredibly skittish. She took a good couple of years to come out of her shell, but now, she's fully secure and will talk your head off, begging to be petted. Only in the morning or late at night will she let me carry her around like my big baby that she is. My son calls her two face, but not because she has two personalities, just the coloring. We spoil her because we assume she's gone through enough for several lifetimes. Living on the streets is hard on cats like Moshi and Maggie.

My Whiskers...

Petite Phoebe and her 25 pound boy friend Henry.

this is one of my past Kitties, she was so beautiful. Her eyes were the prettiest blue. I got her from a friend who could no longer keep her. She passed away of kidney failure also that dreadful disease.
Her name was Tigger apparently someone loved Winnie the Pooh LOL.

Raven, Peanut the 19 year old has kidney failure. We have to give him fluids at home and he is doing okay, so far. Tigger was gorgeous.

Such beautiful cats, all of them!

The ones we have now, in addition to Peachy and Rocky (the oranges):

Annie, whom we rescued from a horse barn next door.

Annie's son, Pogo, who was still nursing when we took them.

and Bonesy, Peachy's mother. Bonesy gave birth to Peachy and two others (a black and a dark calico) in my ice house. Kept Peachy as an inside cat, got Bonesy spayed + shots, etc., and kept her as an outside cat. Fiercely protective of her kittens, she has been at war with my indoor cats through the windows. Letting her in is not an option, but she's happy outside. Lots of mousing activity, and in the winter she has a heated dog house on the porch.

{{!gwi}}

All four in a row above our woodstove. Henry, Phoebe, Annie, her mom, Nellie

Oooo! You could make one of those "body pillows" outta them lily! I sometimes lie my head on the ol' gal and she purrs, but wow! you could really stay warm and happy.

This is Rocket. He is a Bengals' fan. I got him from a co-worker over 11 years ago.

This is Shadow. Someone found her dumped out on the highway and brought her to me. Her mother was there too, but they were afraid to pick her up. I went up there and got her, but after a few weeks, she disappeared and I think a coyote got her. I gave Shadow away....something I very seldom do, because so many cats need homes, and mine all have a home, but the woman really wanted her. A couple of months later, she brought her back. I had her spayed and then a couple of weeks later, the woman wanted her back again, and I said no. I wouldn't give her away again. I call her Shadow because she follows me everywhere I go....all over the pasture even.

This is Bindi. The shelter asked me to take her when she was a tiny kitten. Someone brought her to the shelter but they wouldn't tell me what happened to her mother. They said I really didn't want to know. So I raised her on a bottle.
She is sleeping on a bunch of feed sacks, left over from feeding the horses and raccoons.

This is Tit. He was one of my all time favorite cats....and he also disappeared. He was found, left in a box in Challenger Park, near NASA. Someone found him and brought him to me, and I also raised him on a bottle. He was so loving and laid back. He liked to ride in the truck and be held. He nursed the bottle for a long time after he could have been weaned...which is why I called him Tit.

This is Jo Jo. She was found in a dumpster behind a Mexican restaurant with a couple of siblings. She is the only one that survived. Someone wanted her, and I gave her away, and then they moved off and left her. I found out and I went and got her.

This is City Kitty....one of my several neutered ferals. Someone in Galveston trapped him, had him neutered and vaccinated and sent him to me. I have never touched him, but he does know his name.

"Purrrr-fect" beautiful furbabies, all of them. Thanks to all who have posted pictures and for those yet to post.God sure has made beautiful creations for us to love and enjoy.

While I am watching the news....a few more. They all have a story.

This is Beauty. When Jo Jo came home, she was pregnant, and this is one of her kittens. I have since had her spayed and all of her kittens were spayed and neutered.

This is Cleo, a beautiful brown tabby that looks very much like a Maine Coon Cat. She came from my daughter's apartment building. Her owners moved off an left her. She was also pregnant....spayed now, as are her kittens.

This is Gabby, who was a feral at a fancy town home addition in Houston. A kind lady trapped her, had her spayed and asked me if I would take her. She is one of my favorites. So beautiful, but shortly after coming here, she broke out with mange. I had a hard time treating her because she was so wild. I was able to sneak up on her one time and grab her and put her in a crate and fed her a concoction to treat the mange. She needed a second and third treatment but I could never catch her again, but she was cured and that has been two years ago, and never broke out with it again. She is considerably tamer now. I can't pet her but she will let me get very close to her.

This is Lydia. She came from the same town home community in Houston that Gabby came from, but was trapped and spayed by another lady, whose name was Lydia. Lydia kitty will sometimes let me pet her now....just once in awhile. The ferals all come here with a tip of their ear cup off, or in City Kitty's case, a notch cut in his ear.

Rose, it is scary how much your kitty looks like my Ara!!!!

My crew
Ara (14), brown tabby, tolerates Elmo, hates Stewie and Bugsy

Stewie (7), black and white with his back to the camera. We sum him up as "he is an a$$" lol. But he does have an Internet love affair with Flamingo.

Bugsy (2), giant gray & white fluff butt. Never seen a cat with "britches" but his fluffy fur looks just like pants. He weighs at least 18 pounds and reminds me of a Maine Coon. He also has the most adorable knees (I have no idea but they make me laugh).

Elmo (11), Black and White with the pink nose. He loves a nap more than life itself.... would be great at a nursing home. He is as dumb as a stump but is a lover boy. He is the one that escaped a few years ago and was missing for a week. No idea how he survived that long!

This post was edited by janie_ga on Wed, Apr 17, 13 at 8:53

All beautiful cats..love the expressions on cats faces..I swear my Whiskers knows every thing I say to her....by her expression...and eyes...

This is a picture of Camille (the larger cat) and Molly. They were not related, but acted like mother and daughter. Both have passed on now.

This is Alba, our only furbaby. We got her when she was 3 years old. She is a rescue from Tennessee - apparently lots of kill shelters there :-0 via a rescue shelter and our local Petsmart, and is now 4 1/2. She naps with DH every afternoon and allows me to rock her in the evening, sometimes, if she is in the mood.

Love all the pictures...yes wantoretire....lots of kill shelters in TN. Not too many work with cats because there are just so many ferals. We try our best (I work with several rescue groups). It's pretty sad how people treat animals.

Our Parker (previously pictured under the lampshade) was found by my husband wandering on the side of the road. Happy, purring little guy. Took him to the vet the next day; 6 wks old weighed 1 pound. Vet didn't think he had a chance. Here's what he looked like when we found him. This was after a bath and some cutting to get mats, sticks and such out of his fur. He staggered around and wanted to play but was pretty week. Took me a couple days of eyedropper feeding to get him to remember what food was but after that, he was good to go. He's probably about 18 pounds right not but he's a large cat (body from nose to butt is 18 inches long. Tail is another 10-12 inches). Hard to believe this is how he started out.

Janie, your Ara is beautiful! I can see by all these wonderful cat pictures how they are loved and cared for. They are a lucky bunch of good-looking cats, and for those who have lost their kitties, I'm sure they were well loved and are missed.

Dee, you kitty makes me think of the one I got to foster a couple of years ago from Happy Tails. Bijou, later adopted by a forever home. Yay for Bijou!

So cute - I love them all!!

This is Speckles. I lost her in a brutal attack from a neighbor's dog just over a year ago. She was about 16 years old.

this is my precious girl...aka Puddy Kitty...she's my little hunter...bats...snakes..birds..gheckos...i've rescued toads, and even a baby turtle!

What an enjoyable post!

Thanks for sharing your kitties - all 'calendar' cats for sure!

I love your 'country' decor, lily! Do you do anything with the rag balls or are they for the cats??? LOL!

nola anne

Here is our Piper, 17 going on 2!

Love ALL the cat pictures. I'd say KT is a cat lover's forum.

Nola...I collected all these all rag balls from country sales and antique shows. Cats don't bother them.

Basil (tuxedo) and Sally (calico): 12 year old siblings:

I just want to put all of them in my lap and give them loving. Such beautiful kitties! I come back to this thread a couple times a day just to see everyone's cats. I've had dogs and cats for all but 10 years of my life and love every one.

I also have a 22 year old cockatiel (they generally don't live past 15 in captivity). That bird has seen four cats in the house. When I lost the 18-1/2 year old almost 2 years ago, Bird got depressed and was acting funny. Three months later when my husband brought Parker home, Bird started acting normal again. He also likes having cats!!

Marilyn, can we just come sit in your yard with your cats?

Want to retire..our Mini looks just like your Alba. She was recently diagnosed with hyperthroidism and now we are waiting on results of bloodwork to see how her kidneys are functioning. She has been sick and we are holding out hope that her kidneys are not failing, otherwise I will be making that awful decision in the very near future. Everyone give your kitties an extra hug..

I am sorry, Deamn. Fingers crossed Mini's kidneys are fine. We had to take one of ours in to be euthanized this morning. He was 17 and completely went downhill since last night. It is so hard.

((((((Petra)))))) My sympathy is with you. Have had to do that soooooo many times, but it is the last act of love and kindness we can do for our furkids to end their suffering.

Petra, I'm so sorry.. Like Linda said....that is the last kindness we can do for our pets. It's never easy though.

So sorry to hear Petra. It is so hard. Mini's kidneys were fine, thank goodness. Again my sympathy Petra.

Thank you, Linda and Marilyn and Deanm. We first met Teddy when he was just a few days old, his eyes weren't even open yet. He was the offspring of one of the cats my awful mother in law refused to spay/neuter. I put him on my shoulder and he started sucking on my shirt.

We took the whole litter as soon as they were weaned. Through our vet clinic, we were able to find homes for 3 of his siblings who were gorgeous white kittens. But we kept him and his sister, Baby, because the vet clinic said being black and black/white, they'd be hard to place.

They both had life long chronic upper respiratory infections which Baby succumbed to 4 years ago. Teddy was doing okay for quite a while, but the URI got worse and worse and he got thinner and thinner. I am sure his age didn't help either.

It feels so strange to not have to tend to him. He needed lots of daily care and cleaning up after. It will take a while to get used to his absence, we both miss him very much.

Edited to add a photo, he was very large, and a big baby too.

This post was edited by petra on Wed, Apr 17, 13 at 23:53

I'm so sorry for your loss, Petra.

Teddy sure was a beautiful boy. Thanks for giving him a good life, Petra.

(((petra)))

I am sorry. He's so sweet looking.

He was beautiful, and like Linda said, thanks for giving him such a caring home.

Petra, I'm so sorry. All I can say is he may be gone but he will always be in your heart. He had a loving home and that's more than many animals can say. When the time is right, another cat will find their way into your home and help fill the void. Give more love to the rest of your fur babies; you will help them grieve as they will help you grieve.

Thank you, I know you guys understand so well!! It was so strange and sad to not have him greet us along with the other cats this morning. Even as feeble as he was, he would always be there with everyone else in the morning and wait for his pets and breakfast.

Dees, we still have 6 kitties and one wonderful dog. All but 2 are seniors and we are hoping no others try to adopt us cause vet and food expenses are through the roof already. :o)

Both of mine are rescues. Both were abused, one more than the other but both needed a home.

Sunny, my little guy died a few years back. Had thyroid issues. Scrawny little guy who didn't stand much of a chance when "Mad Manx" tried to beat him up, but he quickly learned to get under the futon where she couldn't jump him and he had reach on her (long legs) and that would really frustrate her. They did get along quite well all in all, once they got used to each other. Both were used to being the lone cat so it took some adaptation to get used to things. I had him a couple years.

KC (short for Krazy Cat) is a Manx who needed a home. We recently celebrated our 7th anniversary together and although she keeps bulking up for the winter she doesn't lose the weight during the summer but she's active, healthy and enjoys running and playing. Nothin' better than chasing that red dot! Was abused at the last place so she's suspicious of anyone but has gotten better. Most of it was by a woman so she's particularly suspicious of women. She's coming out much more lately but does it on her terms. She watches from the next room, then moves into the room, then she'll walk up to the person if she's OK with them and sniff. Often they can pet her then but don't try to pick her up. If she approves of the person she'll usually come and sit in my lap so she can be properly adored. She has declared herself the High Overlord of the place and in deference, I call her "Her Wideness".