We got our two cats from a listing on Craigslist. The woman who had them adopted them from the shelter two months prior, then learned that her adoption request for a baby had come through so she couldn’t keep them. She was going to return them to the shelter but put them on craigslist in the hope that someone would take both of them together. We took them both!
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We don’t have a pet now, but all our cats over the years were strays needing a home.
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Well, the bonded pair that gave me the idea for this thread has been adopted 
so we will likely stay a 2 cat household (when we find the right new one).
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Our first two we got from an ad in one of the throwaway papers , think it was Easy Ad. We went to look planning on one puppy, we left with two. If any of you have been to the Getty Center our pups lived in the canyon where the parking garage now sits. An older gentleman was living in the abandoned buildings. He strangely had a phone. He got by on scavenging behind grocery stores. He had a litter of puppies. The mom looked like a lab. The dad a malamute mix he thought. One of the pups looked like a white lab the other like a malamute. They were much loved puppies and much loved dogs.i think we paid $50 for each.
Our next was a purebred chocolate lab that we got from a family nearby who had bred their dog. My in-laws took the sibling. She was a great dog with few health issues. Our next was a golden bought from a small breeder about an hour north. He was a big boy but he was very protective of us. He never bit anyone but he scared a few. No stranger would make it into our house. We rarely took him anywhere as he was unpredictable. Next was a black lab we got from a family we knew. My daughter picked him when he was just a few days old. He was great with kids. His only issue was he didn’t like going anywhere so camping was always hard with him.
Our latest is another lab that my daughter knew the owner of the mom. She carefully breed her dog and the puppies are all great temperaments. My daughter knows of four of the litter. He is the sweetest best dog we have ever had. People who meet him love him and all want to take him home. He is a big boy and many people ask his breed. His muscle definition is like a race horse.
My kids all have adopted. They are sweet dogs but they all have scars and have “issues”. One is sweet but gets so anxious. They also have cats they randomly picked up at the feed store. One of the cats came with the house purchase. The seller wrote it in the contract.
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Shelter, Craigslist, and trainer/breeder/broker. And I foster and volunteer for local rescues.
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We have had four flat-coated retrievers and one field spaniel. We have always gotten them from respectable breeders who do health check and are members in good standing of the national club. Our old cat who almost made 20 years came from a farm. The farmer said we probably saved him from being eaten by a coyote.
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My first “adult” dog was a black lab from a local breeder. We tried very hard to adopt. We felt like we were being very responsible by picking out a doggie daycare ahead of time and yet still couldn’t get any of our area rescues to give us a dog. Their excuse was that one person needed to be home, but they also wouldn’t adopt to families with young children (We didn’t have any yet, but our question was, “who stays home if they don’t have young children?”. We also didn’t have a fence because we were waiting to figure out what kind of fencing would be required as we didn’t want to over/ under plan. We live in an area with more demand than supply and even our vet was turned down because he wasn’t home enough.Eventually I gave up and found a breeder through a friend. I went with that breeder for the timing (wanted to give my husband a puppy as a wedding present). I found out I was pregnant the day we picked him up from the breeder on our return from our honeymoon. My dog turned out to be exactly like his father. A high energy field lab that was a bit neurotic. The neighbors referred to him as the Woody Allen of dogs. He was an exceptional athlete (until he blew out his knee) and was the best swimmer at our local lake. But he was so high energy and stubborn as a puppy (even our vet said he was the first dog he couldn’t flip over) that I wondered how I was ever going to train him. Turns out he just needed a job and as soon as we bought DD home (followed by DS one year later) he found it. He was the absolute best with my kids, although he always preferred my daughter and she never left his sight. He prevented her from getting to the stairs, let her pull herself up on him when she was learning to walk, chased away a coyote, and never let anyone between him and the stroller. We even came home one night to our (adult) babysitter sitting at the kitchen table exactly where we left her, because every time she tried to stand up to check on the kids he would growl at her. I should add that he was 112 lbs of pure muscle. He passed away from heart failure due to laryngeal paralysis at 12.
Our second dog (to keep the first company because he was so high energy) came 4 years later. We decided to take a chance and adopt from a breed-specific rescue based in the Midwest. It was a lab rescue but she was a Golden. From what we could gather, she was adopted with her brother from a back yard breeder and never socialized. We think they were Christmas pups and they were given up at around 8 months. She was wild when we got her, but turned into the sweetest dog ever. The whole neighborhood loved her. Despite no formal training, she learned all the boundaries of our electric fence from our lab and never even needed the collar. I could just talk to her like a person and she did whatever I told her. She wasn’t particularly smart, but she was so eager to please. She passed away from cancer at 12.
After our lab died, the Golden seemed lonely. My husband was very against having two dogs again, but eventually I wore him down and we contacted a rescue with a request for a large low energy lab. They matched us to one that was a bit rough around the edges but we fell in love with on paper. We went up to meet him and really liked him, but couldn’t take him right away as it was in another state and they needed to quarantine him for a few more days. That afternoon, he started growling at men and we all agreed that it was best for us not to go through with the adoption as my son was 12 and we had a lot of teenage boys going in and out of our house. They did know my background and preference for large dogs and asked if I’d take a Pyr mix they got a call about from a Southern shelter. I have always wanted a Pyr, but knew the work involved and that they can be tough to have in a home, so I got more information and thought it would work out. We got a call a few weeks later that he was on his way, so we went up to get him the next day. When the kids and I pulled up and saw him and just started laughing, as did the woman who had taken him off the rescue bus. What looked like and 80 lb 2 year old mix in the pictures was, in fact, a small horse/full Pyr that was over 100 lbs and still a gangly puppy. Thank God we brought the big SUV to pick him up. I called my husband about 6 times on the way home to warn him about how big he was and he was still shocked when I pulled. in. For almost a year we’d laugh every morning because it seemed like he grew over night and he was just so ridiculously big. I don’t think anyone that saw him for the first time ever failed to mention his size. He topped out at 150 lbs. Unfortunately, we was never healthy. No vet ever figured out what was wrong with him, besides a hypothyroid issue. There was obviously an adrenal issue but nothing they could diagnose. Last month, at 8 1/2, he developed diabetes on top of everything else, and although it is usually manageable in dogs, with all of his other problems, it was just insurmountable. He was a very sweet dog, but his health issues just took so much out of us.
This is the first time in my life I’ve ever not had a dog, but we’ve decided to enjoy our empty, drool free, nest for a bit. I never realized how clean my house could be with minimal effort. And although walking through the door and not having a dog to greet me has been an adjustment, it has also been a whole new world to not have to worry about being on “dog time”. As we always had one older dog in the home, I never realized how anxious I was about their health concerns. Despite having a great dog sitter, we even put off a lot of travel because it felt like we were always on “death watch”.
I’ve had to take all of the rescue organization pages I follow off of my FB feed to keep from tempting myself. While I fantasized about a retirement dog, I think at this point, if it happens, it will be a dog that finds us. I keep having a dream about a dog wandering into our backyard, so I think it will be that type of situation. In the meantime, I’m fantasizing about a “grand dog” the way most people fantasize about grand kids. As soon as he graduates and gets settled, my S23 plans on flying to Germany to get a Bavarian Mountain Hound. He fell in love with our friend’s dog while we were there. They are a very specialized breed that will be useful for the type of work he plans on doing.
A picture of the giant dog (before he was done growing) standing over our full-size 76 lb Golden.
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My cats have usually been rescues. Siamese rescues, not that I needed a Siamese specifically, but those are the cats we have found. My best friend’s family growing up bred Siamese and I have always adored their quirks.
I grew up in the sort of wild 1960’s household where the family cat had 2 litters per year, and the excess cats and kittens would be rounded up and taken to the SPCA every year or two as we cried. That mama cat did eventurally get fixed. So irresponsible, yet so fun. But I was mama cats midwife-she would fetch me when the time came. I adored watching kittens be born and grow. Nothing is better than a kitten circus. I wanted my kids to share that experience. I could be a Siamese breeder, right? So I bought a female kitten and tried hard to find a male to service her when the time came. But in the '90s the internet was not what it has become and local leads fizzled. She went outside a bit, and found a hubba hubba big orange boyfriend and had a single litter. But unlike my childhood sweet cat, Athena was intrinically fearful of people aside from me. Even my kids could rarely pet her. Socializing those kittens proved a nightmare. I’d bring them down to meet guests or my kids friends, and she’d haul them back upstairs, hiding them in a place hard to reach under my bed. Multiple times per day as necessary. Neighbors and friends took the kittens and Athena had surgery. But years after the surgery, if she saw that orange boy wander in our yard, she would yowl with desire.
Cat generations come and go. After she and another Siamese (found on CL, from someone who had gotten her as a kitten but then feared for her safety with the family dog) died pre pandemic, I figured I was cat free for retirement travel.
But-pandemic. My D was evacuated home from Peace Corps and had the time to peruse rescues endlessly online. She found the most beautiful ragdoll cat and talked me into applying. Cats were at a premium at that point in the pandemic. I wrote to the rescue, and was chosen over many others as this cat has some medical issues, mostly overblown, though the rescue saw her through a very rough patch. As a Covid RN, unable to hug or touch anyone for months, her long fur and affection were a lovely addition to life. We adore each other, but my long periods of travel make care for her always a concern.
D, due to allergies and a deep love of cats ended up spending some good money on Siberians from a breeder. They are hypoallergenic, as is my ragdoll, despite long fur. But they are lovely boys.
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Parking lots. We have two cats. One we captured when he was a kitten in a bank parking lot. He had a broken femur. The other I caught a few years later in a supermarket lot. He seemed to have a crushed pelvis but was temporarily paralyzed.
I couldn’t leave them. In the beginning, I thought both might be put down during that initial vet visit. I fell in love nursing them back to health. Now they are both old men.
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You are a saint.
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I’m hoping my next cat comes into my life this way! My H would be against actively searching for a new cat, but a stray could worm its way into our house.
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I didn’t have pets growing up except a couple of parakeets which I do not count. 
As a family now we have rescued 2 dogs. I would not do it any other way. One rescued at about age 4, ours now rescued at about age 2.
I understand some people like to have a certain breed or look or size or whatever but you can “shop” rescue as well. Unless you’re looking for something more fru-fru you (with patience and maybe a little travel) can find a certain breed or blend.
I know someone who has rescued several senior Goldens (not all at the same time but often 2 at the same time). That is a special calling, giving a senior dog some shining last years. 
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Our dogs’ breeder with his championship dog this weekend. It’s been fun to connect with his Facebook friends who bought dogs from him. I like the photos. Louie’s brother is a working farm dog and the two are almost identical.
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Absolutely gorgeous. Magnificent.
But, to me at least, the most beautiful dog is wet, muddy, and affectionate.
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Very true. Our dog Jazz is not the most handsome, but he is a cuddly doll.
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What a wonderful photo of your dear Wilson. It makes me smile. I just love his expression; it’s so very “Cat”!
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The gray kitty has a vey serious expression. Is he a Russian Blue?
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