Only once in my life have I gotten a cat on purpose.
That being said, the Tortie Mishka was a feral who helped herself into my husband's car on the coldest winter day 5 years ago, as a tiny kitten. He had his door hanging open while trying to get it jumped. He went to remove her and she tried to eat him, so he drove around with her under the seat for errands and called me when he got back home. I told him to throw a towel over her and stick her in a dog crate until I came home from work. She was SO sick! Crusted over and weak. She's turned out to be the sweetest and easiest cat ever, a mouse murdering machine. She loves on everyone/anyone... human, dog, pig... doesn't matter. Except mice. The driveway always has a trail of trophies.
Last Spring I heard birds screaming bloody murder, Blue Jays. She had a baby one. I yelled "Kitty NO!" and she dropped it like it was suddenly on fire. She hadn't hurt it yet and I was able to reunite it with the parents. She doesn't get after birds much at all anymore, not since she gets praised so much for rodents and scorned for anything with feathers. She's so willing to please, at any rate.
Then there is Sylvester, he's new this year. Born feral. He was part of a litter of 8 I brought home from work, the "kittens of aisle 5" out of my garden department. I found a home for all but him, no one wanted him because he was anti social. Fixed that after 7 weeks of bribes and forced snuggles. LOL His eventual return of my affections ended up with him staying on. His litter mates were all friendly in under a week of care. He was a total hold out.
He's proven to be skeptical, shy, ridiculously silly once he opened up. Now he's quite brazen. He's just now come around to nose kisses with the dogs at 6 months old. He's going to be huge!
Mishka took to him, but she's never taken to any foundling kitten before. For some reason she picked him too. Fine, he can stay then.
He tries to follow her outside but he's a big chicken. She invites him on hunts to the barn but I end up finding him on the roof of the house. No idea how he gets up there. At his rate of getting used to new things, he might be ready for the barn in another 6 months. Haha
Mishka is calm, cool and collected. Sylvester runs into the bathroom after you and then throws himself down on the rug with his belly in the air. You're to pet it, when he shows it. He'll stretch out totally to be sure you see his belly. When I get home from work he greets me at the door better than the dogs do.
Over the years I think about 10 or so foundlings have stayed on temporarily until moving on to new homes... these two stuck.
Sylvester is also proving to be willing to follow the rules, since I'm a dog person the cats get trained too.
I've come around to the thinking that if a person says they hate cats, they just haven't yet met their kind of cat. My dad hates cats. His cat "Tip" was a foundling who showed up hungry. She gets top shelf expensive kibble, a warm room on cold nights... complete with a litter box he detests. Plus routine vet care. They sort of... exist together... which I find hilarious. Just his type of cat, they're perfect for each other. He hates cats and she hates people... besides him. He's the only human she'll give attention to.
