where did your pets come from

[hanhol]

my cat 'oscar' was found in my work , she was only a few days old , i thought when i picked her up she was a rag, she reminded me of 'oscar' from sesame street (the creature that lived in the bin)
my other cat 'molly' was rescued from a friend who couldnt have her anymore as her kid had asthma!
dont tell the hubby but im feeding 3 strays that come to my back door most mornings !!!

[shivvy]

I have had 4 dogs. The first was a family dog when I was a child and the other 3 were ones that I chose as an adult.
The first childhood dog was the runt of a litter born to a local dog. Nobody wanted him because he was the runt. We took him and he turned out to be the biggest and strongest of all the litter and lived to the ripe old age of 17.5!
All 3 of the dogs that I have had have come from rescue shelters and I wouldn't have it any other way. I am sure that you don't want me to use your thread to preach about rescue versus pedigree so I will refrain!! I just wish that people would at least consider rehoming a rescue dog that really needs help before they pay out fortunes for a pedigree.
Anyhow I have loved them all and wouldn't have changed a single one for the world!

[China Doll]

All my cats, current and past, came fromt the cat protection league. The mutt belonging to my mum and stepdad came from a breeder but she's a black and white jack russel. She's the only jack russel... well actually only dog thinking about it... that I like.

[hanhol]

my mums cats have lived past the age or 15 and the 2 she has now are reaching 16 and 2 years old.
we had a fab collie (tip) who never had a tin of dog food in his life (he had what we had) and he lived til he was 21 , then our jack russell (daisy) was 17 when she was put to sleep last year.
sniff sniff
all loved and adored animals!!! they really where..

[ruthann58]

all of our dogs and cats but one have been rescues strays or people moving abroard in total we have had 6 dogs and 19 cats dont think i have missed anyone the tortoise was my husbands aunts and several of our fish have been from other people as they had gotten to big for their ponds both my pony and my sons we bought mine is buried in the paddock and we have still got my sons , he is old so i dont suppose he will be here much longer we have lost 2 cat and a dog in the past 6 weeks and have vowed not to have anything else as it hurts so much to lose them but as a friend said if the ones who have gone could give me a reference i would have them queueing at the door so how can i not have any more

[scorpious321]

hi all, I have two dogs both came from a animal shelter.
All my over dogs i have had over the years i got from sheltered homes , i have never had any problems with them, and all have been xx breeds

[bigmamma]

My labrador came from a breeder in lincs. .I saw both parents and all the pups , as my son and I sat on the ground she was the one that came over to us twice to say hello , so she chose us and I am so pleased wth her. :-) x

[mirela]

our puppy boxer from breeder in newcastle. my frist cat was a girft from a friend, my sister is looking after him now, they found another abandoned cat from lift, my mum also has a dog who was abandoned outside in winter time, they all happily living with my family now.:)

[paddywak]

Che my first GSD came from a breeder who had both dog and bitch, and I swear to this day he picked me, as when we went to see the puppies (4wks old) he attacked the bottom of my jeans, and as soon as I looked down he looked at me as if to say I'm the one and I had him for nearly happy 15yrs. Max another GSD I got from a friend who let her bitch have a litter before she was spayed, he was the only boy and I''ve had him for 6yrs and hope I've ot him for many more

[dustypuss]

dustypuss my cat came from a pig farm and stank of pig for months no mater how often we bathed him .

all so he never meows he just makes a small grunting noise ( TRUE)

[Postdog]

Dogs R Us.

Alright, I'm lying - local rescue centre. Fell in love with one but they wouldn't split them, so I had the two.

[madboutcats]

my beloved old patch who died six years ago and still much missed came from an animal refuge, when my mum and were taken round the refuge they took us to a stable that had been converted into cages for cats to meet a small black and white cat that had been found as a stray. well the woman opened the pen and this cat came out and jumped into my arms then into my mums then back into mine and thats how patch picked us to take him home. a year or so before he went to cat heaven a ginger and white cat started hanging out in the garden eating the scraps my mum put out for the birds,so we befriended him and the day after patch died big ginge moved in. oh dustypuss patch had a best mate a tabby cat called pig cos his tail curled like a pigs.

[{Dakota}]

I have 3 rabbits.

I got Jack when he was 9 weeks old from a friend who was going to let him loose in the wild. My brother and sister in law got Jack's sister, whi they called Jessica.

Over time, my brother moved house, got a dog, they got pregnant and Jessica wasn't getting out of her hutch as much as she hould so I offered to take her.

The week I got Jessica I had Jack snipped, however, the vet didn't tell me that the 2 weren't allowed to be together for 5-7 weeks after his op.

On Boxing Day last year, I woke up to 5 baby rabbits in Jessica's hutch. After swearing a lot and pacing up and down wondering what to do, I embraced the babies since I had little else option.

I called them Willow, Blake, Blaire, Molly and Jynx. They all went to good homes and I kept Jynx.

[leelapops]

This is such a lovely thread (if a little bittersweet in some cases).
I was given a fish when I was 5 for Christmas, from the pet shop. He/she lived 'til I was 13.
When I moved out, I had 2 hamsters from the pet shop.
Jack, our Border Collie, was advertised in the pet shop window, he came from someone's home; we were misled about his history, age etc., but we know he was the runt of the litter. He was meant to be 14 weeks, but he was at least 30 weeks (oh the benefit of hindsight!). As my first dog, I was clueless-but any mistakes I made are cancelled out by the fact that he is the best thing that ever happened to me, and I am head over heels in love with my furry soulmate!
So that's me x

[bensmum]

Of the two cats I now have Florence came via Cats Protection nearly 16 years ago as the owners were moving to a flat and couldn't keep her & her sister. I took both but sadly Minnie died just over a year ago. Flossie is now nearly 18, nearly toothless and deaf!
Daisy & her brother Dylan came from a farm where a feral cat had had a litter. Daisie is now 11 but Dylan died as a result of an accident 6 years ago.
I have had several cats & a dog, all of whom came via an animal charity. Eric (cat) was feral and a scrawny little thing when I got him. He turned into a lovely tempered cat - the children could do anything with him. Jess (dog) came via RSPCA and I had her for 12 years.
My current guinea pig (Steve) was owned by someone who couldn't handle him so I inherited him. How can anyone not handle a guinea pig? He is a big softie.
I have fed stray cats which come up from the stables down the road - one even got confident enough to come in and sit on my knee but I have a shed they can get in to with warm bedding. i couldn't be without a cat.

[tigwig]

when I lived with my parents a local cat who had been left after his elderly owner died picked our house out of loads of others that were nearer to come to. He used to live in one of the bungalows in the nearby sheltered housing and when his owner died, the owners daughter didn't want to take him in so she carried on feeding him at the old house but other than that he was alone. My dad used to see him sitting at the top of the street in the rain waiting for his owner to come back which of course he never did. He then just started sitting on our path and we started feeding him and he very quickly moved himself into our house! He was quite old when we got him but we loved him for many years until the day came that he was so old he had gone almost blind and deaf with no quality of life and we sadly had to have him put him to sleep. I thought I would never get over it and swore never to get another pet again but of course we have and now own a cat called Tigger who we have had since a kitten. I still wonder to this day why he chose our house out of all the others.

[Kleiber]

What a bunch of softies we all are!! I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels like that about animals. I've had cats since I was 11 (I nagged my parents for a dog, but they wouldn't let me have one) - my Mum bought me a little black kitten from the local pet-shop for my birthday. She cost 2/6 (that's 12 & a half pence in today's money!). She had all sorts wrong with her when she was little, poor wee thing, but we got her through it all and she lived till she was 15. My first husband was allergic to cats, so I couldn't have one (he had an affair with a woman who bred Siamese, so I always knew when he'd been round there, but that's another story!!), but as soon as he went, I got 2 kittens from the RSPCA, Monty and Cleo. Sadly, little Monty died quite young, from meningitis, but I had dear old Cleo till she was 16. When she died, my hubby (the lovely, late, Mr K - much better than the first one!!) was heartbroken, so I went & got 2 tortie kittens again from the RSPCA. Romy & Cassie, who I've still got. They've moved house with us twice and are now nearly 11yrs old. 3 years ago, I took in Gavin, another tortie, who had been abandoned by her owners as she was pregnant. She had eight kittens and I homed 6 of them and kept 2 - I've called them Monty and Cleo after my previous ones and they're little devils (sweet, though!). I've got 2 dogs as well, Elsa, my GSD who I got from a friend who was a breeder, and Jake, a border collie, who was a rescue dog. They all get on really well. As I've got a small farm, I keep sheep too, and one, Molly is just a pet. I bottle fed her when her mum died and she's as tame as a dog.

[~max~]

Mine is going to be a much shorter story! I grew up with dogs, we had two boxers who took care of me since I was born, bless! The bitch wouldn't let anyone around her when she had her pups, except me, as she thought of me as a puppy too! :O)
Then my parents got divorced, and I went to live with my mum, and we took our little poodle Wenda with us, as the boxers never really liked her anyway. she lived with us until she was 13, and passed on. When Wenda was 10, we got a kitten, Lily, who at first was hissing and fighting with the poor dog. After two weeks though, they were best mates, and did everything together, so cute! I think Wenda thought of Lily as a baby, and took care of her. When Wenda passed away, my mum had already moved in with my step dad, and both pets had been having a great time there! Lily remained, until she was poisoned by someone, two days before I came home from Uni for my birthday. The day I came back, my mum didn't want to say anything, not to ruin my birthday, but I kept asking where Lily was, so she told me.
Birthday ruined, obviously. :O( I still miss her terribly.

Now I live by myself in Belfast (I'm French), I took on a kitten in September. Someone advertised in a free site, and I thought if I didn't take her, she'd end up either in a refuge, or dead. So I did. I've now had my wee monster Jessie for 7 months, and I wouldn't change her for the world, I'm in love! :O)
Sorry...long story after all! lol

[shaneystar2]

What a lovely thread ..In my umpteen years I have always had dogs .The fIrst one was an Old English sheep dog x muttley type of hound called Chummy .Always had a dog at home ...Sally (spaniel) Judy (Corgi ) Sue (spaniel)Topsy (Corgi )...then a gap until I got Mickey (Norfolk terrier ) who was originally my Mothers dog .She went to live in sheltered accomodation and couldn't take him so I got him and he lived to ripe old age of 17 and outlived Mum !
Then last but not least my beloved Shaney ( cross GS/lab )who I had put to sleep last year at the age of 13.He had been dumped in a builders yard and my neighbour who worked there asked if I would take him in . He was eighteen months old when I got him .Best days work I ever did ..Lovely faithful old boy .No more dogs at the moment though .. .....but I'm hovering !

[jedimistress]

My dog was "rescued" from my sister. In fact I have taken 2 dogs and a cat from her, and my parents took one dog too. She is a highly irresponsible person, and cannot even look after herself due to alcoholism and drug abuse, but she still takes animals on in a whim. She thinks she will be good with them and they are a novelty which turn to a neglected burden very quickly.

She came to live with me on Skye from London while she came off her latest drug addiction. She brought a puppy with her who was born on the site where she lived. I had little interest as my very special cat (who had also been taken from my sister) had been run over and killed only weeks earlier. He was so special I have not had a cat since.

She asked me to look after Shana the puppy while she popped to London for the week. She didn't return for 2 months with no word, and by that time I had gotten very attached and there was no way I was handing her back. Especially as I had her for her formative stage. Before she left, my sister would lie in bed until 2 in the afterrnoon while Shana the puppy pooed everywhere in the house. It was only when I began staying home and letting her out into the garden once an hour did she see she did not have to live like that and never pooed in the house again. She didn;t want to be doing that but she had no choice.

She is now 12 years old and in her twilight years. She has a lot of life left in her, but unfortunately has cancer which may eventually take her. Despite this, she is still incredibly young and active. I just know I will have another rescue dog again in the future as I am always looking at the dogs they have on their websites. There are so many I'd like to take in. I've alwasy been a sucker for animals and am always the person who gets involved if one is in distress.