I remember when first joining SL I wandered around and was too scared to talk to anyone.
I remember stumbling on an event that had nothing to do with KC, but the topic of cats came up and that got me to actually say something: "I love cats!"
The lady running the event was a breeder and a new addict was born that day.
I remember she left me alone in her cattery and one kitty named Ethiopia kept following me. I bought her and a boy, Satsang, that day and went home thinking I'd let them have a few kittens just for fun.
I remember within a week I had 12 cats and I never looked back.
The early days were extra fun and special. The community was smaller then though never real small. But we were all in the same boat kinda.
I remember doing "box swaps" where one person would announce they were doing one and people would IM them to join in. They would then make a list putting their own name last and sent the list and a box to the first name, who did the same for the second name and so on. OH it was so much fun! There were ground rules for each one, like "at least 2 traits" or "must show a fur" hehe. In time people started making gift boxes and putting other stuff in like cat beds they had made etc.
I remember we used to get together and compare pedigree NOTECARDS too. Yup, we wrote out our own pedigrees on notecards because there was no online pedigree, and that's how we started to figure out recessiveness of traits. We were all pretty much in the dark when I started, other than knowing a gen trait would always be dominant to a non gen trait. So we helped each other. We also sent each other "girl vibes" or "boy vibes" when opening boxes because we didn't know the gender beforehand.
I remember times my cattery seemed to be on a roll and other times I couldn't seem to breed a cat that would sell at all. But I kept making boxes anyway! Then just when everything in both SL and RL seemed to be settling in to a nice happy place, the bottom fell out. My fiance became ill and lost his job, we lived on his severance a while, but things were looking grim. We were facing possible homelessness, but even worse, having to give up our two fur babies Pierre and Scrappy.
I remember when I shared this news with a few people I was close to the support was amazing. A few good friends saw that my pixel cats were re-homed when the internet was shut off. I was overwhelmed with gratitude and humility as a patron auction was organized and so many people came to help. Many of them didn't know the details of the situation, just that someone in the community needed help. It was because of that, I was able to have enough money to stay in our apartment for the time I needed to get us back on our feet again. It's because of that love and support that I still have Pierre and Scrappy with me and I think of that every day. OH, and my fiance is still here too
It's been through KittyCatS that I've formed some really close friendships that have stood the test of time. I too came out of my shell over a little fur ball in a box. Many of us old timers are gone now, and the community has grown and things do change. I'm happy to have gender on boxes and a pedigree page to stick my nose in. We've been through some rough patches and a little bad behavior, but we're good at heart as a whole. In the end, as I look at Pierre sound asleep in the most comfortable chair in the house I realize that nothing can corrupt the spirit of a cat.
Thank you for posting Dev, I felt your words touch my heart.
Blessings and Hugs,
Noc
I Remember When.....
