Hello fellow cat lovers,

I am a relatively new poster, here.  However my cat loving credentials
are sound.  I am the servant/human mother of Panther, a sixteen-year
old neutered male, and recently of Francesca, a seven month old brown
classic tabby female, soon to be spayed. Until late this March, I was
the slave of Isadora, a black and white spotted domestic short haired
female, now residing on the far side of the rainbow bridge.

So I've been wondering, when each of you went in search of your past
or present cats or cat family, what was it about the cat or kitten
that "clicked" the first time you met? How did you make the decision
about whom to adopt?

Briefly, my stories are as follows. Isadora was this little frightened
eight week old ball of fluff when I first met her at the animal
shelter in my town.  She was so determined to get away from me, she
climbed the chain-link fence of the little play enclosure, and managed
to get herself wedged between the ceiling and the top of the fence,
and began to cry for help.  When the shelter volunteer got her down
(they had to get the ladder), she handed Izzy to me and said, "now you
have to take that one." They were joking, but I actually did adopt her
a few days later, as I was afraid nobody else would. She repaid my
decision with fifteen years of excellent companionship, fun and love,
and was always a supberb cat, full of charm and personality. I still
miss her very much, although there's no doubt in my mind letting her
go was the merciful thing to do.

Pan, whom I adopted on the same day also at eight weeks old, was very
different--he climbed right into my lap and began to purr. <G> I
figured this was a kitten who knew what side his bread was buttered
on, so I took him. While Izzy was a little cobby persian type, Pan is
more of a long, elegant Siamese-Burmese type cat. He has the great big
Siamese ears, and he definitely has the voice. NOBODY can ignore this
cat when he's hungry. He's more shy and retiring  with strangers,
although he's become braver and mellower with age.

After I had mourned Isadora for a while, I found myself thinking of
getting someone new. I know Pan won't live forever and I didn't want
to be left catless when the time comes to say goodbye to him. A friend
of mine owns a retired American Shorthaired classic brown tabby
showcat, who is a great friend of mine in his own right, as he has a
lot of charm and personality. Not to mention that he's a gorgeous,
gorgeous animal.  Let me be clear, I definitely advocate finding and
adopting cats from the pound--That's how I've come by all three of my
cats in my adult life. However, I also think any show cat deserves a
happy, normal retirement as a beloved house cat. The life of a show
cat seems to be a very unnatural, unpleasant life for cats, as it
involves lots of traveling, being shut in cages,being poked and
prodded by judges and stared at by strangers in big, unfamiliar places
that must look and sound pretty scary to them.

To get back on track, I had secretly wanted a tabby of my own, so I
went to a few shelters, looking around for possible candidates.  About
a month ago, I found Francesca, as pretty a classic tabby as you could
hope to find anywhere.  She has a very sweet, gently pointy
aristocratic little face, and a beautifully marked coat.  I do not
think she's a purebred anything, but I'm pretty sure she has
Abyssynian blood in her from somewhere. She is very affectionate and
will tolerate being held, although she prefers to be her own cat most
of the time.

So what are some other stories of finding the perfect cat?

Melissa