Hey Pandas, Tell Us Your Pet’s Backstory (Ended)

I've always wanted a dog from when I was a little girl. To keep me quiet, my dad had a method where he would take me to breeders or shelters or anything that sold pets and let me look around before heading home without a puppy just so I would be somewhat satisfied without getting an actual pet. He hated dogs. Now, I was 13 when he tried doing the same. There was a breeder (honestly, I was too young to realize just how screwed up and sketchy that place was) and they sold cockapoos. My mom was pushing for the idea that maybe in the end we could get one and this breed would be great considering they don't shed. She was looking for a male, blonde, big dog. We show up, and there are only dark brown females. Just as we were going to leave, they mentioned that they have a blonde one, but we have to wait outside. So we did and then they let us in and on the floor was this blonde little puff ball with three dark spots (her eyes and nose). I couldn't even see her legs. I fell in love with her instantly, but my dad said no and we left in the car. I was visibly depressed the whole ride... down the street... before my dad stopped at the stop sign for a whole minute before saying "f*ck it" and hit the car in reverse. We got her that day. 11 years later, on this day, I'm looking as my dad is cuddling next to her. He's sick, been told he has only six months left after his tumor spread. She hasn't left his side. He loves the sh*t out of her. The same guy who went to sleep on the couch because my mom let the dog sleep on the bed 11 years ago. He tells everyone to get a dog, because it was the best thing that happened to him.

We went to a shelter just to look at cats. Yeah. About 10 minutes after we got there a woman came in, saying she’d just moved in with a guy who had dogs and didn’t like cats so she was looking for a place to PUT THE CAT DOWN. We were shocked and jumped in and said whoa, we’ll take her. So the woman went out to her car and brought in the most gorgeous, shaded silver Persian. The poor cat was filthy, underweight, and terrified, and cling to me. I managed to get her age, 4, and her name, Tessa, before the woman was out the door. We gave her a bath, which was a horror show. We had to teach her that her food was hers, and she could eat whenever she wanted. We had to teach her how to play with string. And it took months before she stopped flinching if she made noise. Then she became our sassy, obstinate, wonderful little Tessa we were grateful to have for the last 14 years. She died this past January, and left a hole as big as her attitude. Miss you Tessie.

Our little Lhasa Apso/Chichuahua cross was born just after Christmas 2013. Commonly known as a Chi-Apso we tell everybody he's a Lhasa-Huahua as it fits his personality better. We didn't intend to get a dog but one of our neighbours dogs had just had a four-strong litter, so she invited us in to see the puppies - who says no to that?! 30 minutes later we had agreed to buy the only male - Henry - and returned to pick up later. All was well until he was a few months old and he had a little 'wobble' where he looked like he might fall over. More severe wobbles followed and so we got him checked out by the vet who confirmed that our little man had a Porto-Systemic Shunt and wasn't expected to live for long. We pampered him and bought the best treatment we could find (he only sees the surgeon at our vets and he is her 'special case') and in the end... he's just celebrated hitting 7 and a half!

My husband and I were leaving a small, rural, cemetery in Georgia after burying his mother. His best friend was also being buried that same day after succumbing to cancer, so it was an incredibly sad and stressful day. Suddenly, my husband braked hard and swerved. We heard a thump. We'd hit a small dog who was chasing our car. He was still alive so we cradled him in a towel in my lap and headed to the nearest town. We managed to find a very kind vet who came in to his office after hours. The vet examined him and said that while he was cautiously optimistic he would need to watch him overnight. He said he would call if necessary. If we didn't hear from him by 9 the next morning we could call his office. We found a motel room and waited. That was a long sleepless night for us. I called the next morning and the vet said he was going to be okay. He had a concussion, a split lip and a skinned weenie, but was otherwise unharmed. We decided to adopt him. And that's the story of John Wayne!

My family wanted a cat, so we went and looked for a cat. The cat wouldn't get out of the doll pram she was sleeping it. We own both the cat and the doll pram now.

Our first cat came out of a horder house with a few other cats. She was super afraid of humans so the rescuers said it was impossible for her to get adopted unless someone would take time and patience to socialize her to people.
We took her in and she hated my brother and me (we were kids back then) deeply because we were super loud and anoying. But she loved my mum from the first moment. So we kept her (= foster fail) and she started to tolerate my brother when he got older. on some days she would try to kill me and on others she loved me. never really understood her, but she taught me how to act around cats. My mum and her were a dreamteam and nobody else could cuddle her but my mum.
The second cat was a stray that appeared suddenly at our doortstep a few years later and I found her and we fell in love with each other immediately. I asked my mum if it was ok to feed her. Yes it was okay. then i asked mum if it was okay to let her in our foyer just for this one very cold snowy night. Yes it was okay and she never left our home again after that night.
The first cat hated her as much as she hated me. But we didn't care. we were a heart and a soul and whenever i came home from school i would spent the rest of the day with her!
I miss them so much now, because of their unique personalities and everything they taught me over the years. And i hope they're happy wherever they are up there.

Currently I live with Gracie(dog) and Chief(cat) both former strays.
Gracie was begging outside of a doughnut shop.
Chief was a kitten in the mall parking lot.
Over the years, 9 of my dogs and cats have come from the street. They have all been wonderful pets. I wish that I could take in more.
Please help prevent stray animals.
Spay and neuter.
Adopt don’t shop.

my whole life i have wanted a cat, me and my sisters would alwayss ask our parents, unfortunately they were against it as we were to young, and my dad didnt rlly like cats. this year in the summer my parents finally agreed. but my mom wanted to BUY a cat, i was very against it. i told her again and again that buying a cat was wrong! my siblings also were with me, so finally my mom agreed. we signed up for adoption, i was rlly happy, though we had to wait a bit. finally we got a call saying they just discovered a hoarder house ☹. and that there were many kittens, we got 2 little kittens, they were both siblings and had recently been treated for tapeworms and fleas, they had also just been spayed and neutered. we went to get them the next day, they were quite scared when they first came, but in the course of the next 2 weeks lemon and june became healthy happy kittens😊. I am so happy i was able to convince my mom that buying a cat was very wrong, remember adopt dont shop!

My husband and I were looking to adopt a cat. All the cats had their backstory on a card in front of the cages. One read that she was an outdoor cat who got pregnant. The owner didn’t want to deal with it and told the rescue that they were going to “throw” the cat out. The kittens had all been adopted. We adopted this girl without even playing with her. We lucked into the best lap warmer in the world!

mine is about my stock horse Syrup

its hard to explain but i'll try. sometimes racehorses reject their valuable babies so breeders breed another normal horse so if a racehorse does reject a babies they can give the racehorse baby to the normal horse but then you have an extra baby that no on wants. syrup was this baby and he was dumped on the road at one day old and my friend saw him and knocked on the owners door, they said they would kill him so we took him home and he was so small he sat on the seat with the seat warmers. he was bottle fed and raised and now he is a healthy 3 year old.

I had a friend who was going through a divorce and ended up homeless and needed a place to stay. I took him in to help him get back on his feet. After a couple months I gently told him he need to head out into the world and figure stuff out. He soon got a call from the ex stating that she no longer could care for his cat. He asked me if I would take in Scarface. Scarface is a very large 3 legged all black cat. I said HELL YEAH and he has been with me about 3 years now. He is 15 yrs old and weighs 18 lbs and completely rules the roost! He got hit by a car when he was 2 and my friend loved him enough to save him with the amputation as opposed to having him put down. I love Scarface to pieces. Unfortunately, my friend never did get his life back on track and died of a drug overdose last year. But he lives on in Scarface.

This is my friends puppy. Her mom was on a walk and decided they should get a dog because their 14 year old dog had just died. Anyway, her mom opened Kregs-list and there was a little golden retriever. They picked her up the same day at a creepy Walmart. The puppy had lots of problems, it had worms, it got sick a lot. But now it’s a healthy little puppy.

When I turned 11, my parents finally said yea after years and years of begging for a dog. We went to hundreds of shelters, until one day on September 29, 2018, we went to pets in need. My baby Nimbus (then named Byron) was in an enclosure with an adorable little fluff ball named Muffy. She was very cute, but only liked my dad and had various health problems that us as first time pet owners were not ready to take care of. Nimbus came up to me and my mom, and he just looked at us with his big brown eyes and we knew we had to adopt him. He was five years old at that time, and supposedly very “calm”. The first time we took him on a walk he barked and literally tried to kill every dog he saw. He was super scared of my dad because - and here comes the sad part - he was abused before he came to the shelter. Pets in need rescued him from a shelter where he got an ear infection and chewed on the bars so much many of his teeth had to be removed. Before then we think he was probably abused and then dumped by a man, because he used to be terrified when we held up sticks or forks to his face. The saddest day was probably when he had an accident in the house, and then cowered in the corner because i had a fork in my hand and he thought I was going to hit him. We’re still working on helping him get over his fear after two years. Adopt don’t shop and NEVER hit your dog. It can scar them for life.

We adopted A cat from our local humane society, He was a little Tuxedo kitten that we named dragon. We named him this because the humane society found him after he was trapped in a car engine. His whisker were burnt off and his paws were so scorched that he could use his claws. He lived with us for a wile but then we noticed that he was having trouble breathing. We took him to the vet and they told us that he was becoming paralyzed. We had to put him down 2 weeks later.

My Mom would never allow for a pet in the house because she thinks that she will end up doing the work and we will only play with it. Once my cousin who was living in the same city got transferred and my Sister in law and her cute little daughter brought their two golden fishes and the tank to keep with us as they were unable to take the tank with them. It's been more than a year now, one of the gold fish died and now it's my Mom who wants me to buy more fishes for the remaining Gold Fish's company. We call her Sandy and tomorrow she will get her friends, only two due to the tank size.

I was dating this guy that worked as a technician at a secret lab where animals are being used for testing new medications (yes they exist, and they're hidden in plain sight) he needed help finding fosters for the cats of the study that had just ended; the cats had been brought in when they were newborns so they had been there for at least one year. He was so fond of them he couldn't let them be put down when the study concluded ( yes, pharma companies are that heartless) the last one left was this pretty gray big eyed female whom I had to sneak out inside a jumpsuit that I was provided because we were not supposed to take them out of the facilities since they were considered "federal property" I didn't want it because I was heartbroken over loosing my last cat.... fast forward 10 years; I am so glad I kept her; she's the most sweetest, beautiful soul I have ever encountered, she's my best friend and I swear; I believe in angels because of her

My cats story starts with a hawk. Found a beat up hawk near my front door in January. Nursed it to health in two weeks and let him go. Same day the hawk went free we found a scratched up pregnant tuxedo cat. We think they fought near our front door. She had three kit tens a few months ago.. The hawk would still come around. My husband would throw him freshly caught mice from the roof. Unfortunately we found the hawk run over in the street. And gizmo the squirrel is still in our trees.

I always wanted a black cat, and one day I went to volunteer at a pet shelter. There was a cat, and their cage said, BEING PUT DOWN IF NOT ADOPTED IN 3 DAYS, and I couldn't just let it die! I adopted her, and loved her so much. RIP Spirit. I miss you.

One of my first cats literally banged on the front door during one of the worst snowstorms we have veer had. I was watching TV went to the door opened it and there was this big grey cat 6 toes on each foot. He was covered in snow and so cold he went to the chair I was in I had been covered with a blanket. This guy we called bigfoot nestled down in the blanket. And became the best cat ever The cat I have now was from the humane society he was in a cage in a pet food store.When they let him out he would hide in the bags of food. He was adopted once but returned because he wasn't "sociable." They named him M.J. I saw him he saw me. it was love at first sight. I adopted him he's a big black and white chap. Fist thing I did was change his name he wouldn't come for MJ so I named him MoJo he liked it . He doesn't like men- so he's my baby. I love him so!

My cat saved my Dad's life.

A very fluffy black cat moved in under the neigbor's deck with her kittens. My Dad loved animals and started feeding her. She moved into the shed behind his house. She was very feral, would bite you if you tried to touch her. But my Dad loved that cat. (My Mom hated her after she bit my Mom hard enough to break the skin.)

The kittens disappeared except one who stuck around. That one was more friendly, but she was still feral. After another litter, the family rounded them all up, took them to a vet, and all but the two adults were adopted. The two remaining adults were deemed to be too feral by the vet to ever live with a family.

After a few years, my Mom died, and my Dad (at 82) was lost. He finally got the oldest/first cat to come into the house. She would come in, and he would always immediately open the door to let her out when she wanted to go out. One day, she hopped up on the couch and never went out again. The younger cat followed a day or so later. We called them Grandma Cat and Momma Cat.

Everyone was terrified of Grandma, but my Dad, brother, and son got her to calm down a little.

That cat and Momma Cat kept my Dad alive for two more years. He needed something to take care of. After he died, no one wanted Grandma, and I said I would take her temporarily. I'm allergic. I was really scared of her but managed to get her home without injury.

And within a month, there was no way it was going to be temporary anymore. Best damned cat I've ever had. My son got her to sit on his lap one day and soon after she sat on mine. As long as I didn't pet her too long, she wouldn't bite. But she was a very, very good cat. If told her no, she would not do the thing again, that was that. She was very smart. She would greet me at the door every day when I came home and bat at my legs gently as I walked around. (One time, I had bare legs and she batted and scratched me. I yelped and she made it very clear that she was sorry.)

She died two years later. Even more than me, my son was extremely sad about it, would find himself wandering the house looking for her months after she died. The vet said she was probably 14 or older by then. Best cat ever.