Where did you get your cat(s) Did you buy from a breeder,adopt from a shelter, or rescue them

My Tika was adopted from a local shelter. I had always wanted a 'Tortie' colored cat because most of the ones I met were pretty friendly and intelligent. And the local shelter had a Tortie kitten who was not shy.That's Tika. My first cat, Sylvester(rest in peace), was given to me as a kitten in 1986, I had him until he died in 1999.

How did you get your cats?

I got my first two kittens from an ad in the paper. They were not littermates and had been fostered together since weaning from their mothers. One was an orange tabby and one was a Siamese. Everyone wanted the Siamese kitten and not the orange tabby. I thought it would be wonderful to have both such different kitties and they were great buddies. The orange tabby was a couple of weeks older and the leader. So the people let me have them both.

Then I started volunteering in shelters in my area. At the first place I found my Sylvie who had an upper respiratory infection. She was located in "warm cats" and I cleaned her cage daily before adopting her. She turned out to be a bossy dominant female and the "boys" didn't like her at all.

Then I was volunteering at another shelter (I wanted to see what was going on in various places in my area) and little Mincho came in, found on a street corner in a very small town. He was only five weeks old. I fell in love immediately - he was so darling. I cleaned the cages every day and saved his for last so I could spend more time with him. He would wait patiently with his little paws crossed in front of him. He first tested positive for feline leukemia and then subsequently tested negative. I was able to take him home when he was about eight weeks old.