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n00b intro
Hey all! I just figured I'd introduce myself since I've been lurking here for a couple weeks. I'm having issues uploading photos... I have photobucket but when I click on the picture icon on this page it won't let me upload my pics! GRRR
So anyways, my name is Sara, I'm 25, and I have had various animals my whole life. Right now, I have four fur kids. I have a 4.5 year old crested himalayan guinea pig, who I rescued from a family member with hoarding tendencies....after she "just HAD to 'rescue' him from a pet store because some smart-a$$ said he was going to feed him and his cage mate to his snake." (can't pick your family!!! smh) ... And I have an amazing rockstar piggie named Sammy (the shelter said he was 3 years old when I rescued him almost 3 years ago, so that makes him my oldest pig I've ever had!) I'm not exactly sure of his breed--he's got longish straight hair but has a few random rosettes all over him so it's not smooth and straight like a peruvian. If I could upload a pic I could show you guys! *ahem* but I digress. LOL. You'll have to take my word for it. 
In May 2010, I adopted my first rescue cat! I had a 12 y/o declawed persian, so I was looking for an already declawed cat who was a little bit older. I didn't think my 12 y/o wanted to deal with the bounding energy of a kitten. That's when I saw this handsome brown and black striped DSH with the biggest, sweetest eyes I've ever seen. He was 6 years old. I sat down and he climbed right up on my lap. (plus) He was good with other cats (plus), and he peed in the litter box while I was there (Housetrained. huge plus!) I reached down and felt his front paws and no claws! (HUGE PLUS!) So I took him home with me. He's such a sweet boy. He had some ridiculous name, but DH and I renamed him Eastwood. (Long story short: he didn't want a second cat. After much convincing and passive aggressive fighting, I finally said that if he let me get a second cat, I would let him name him. And DH has a huge huge huge huge mancrush on Clint Eastwood. [can ya blame him!?])
So, a few months after we adopted Eastwood, Jackie (my persian mentioned above) was diagnosed with Lymphoma. It was a rough couple of months, and he was put on steroids which bought us a couple more months together. He started to really decline in late September of last year, and I had to make the hardest decision that I've ever had to make in my adult life. I had to euthanize my best friend since I was 12, on October 5th, 2011.
I met Josey 2 weeks after Jackie passed. I didn't want another cat, but I fell in love. Josey (another Eastwood reference, lol) is half persian and half ragdoll (but looks like a purebred ragdoll) and reminds me SO. MUCH. of Jackie. He's such a good kitten. Seriously. As soon as I got him home, I took him to the cat box and he peed. Then I took him to the cat tree and scratched my nails on it. He followed suit and did the same. Training, DONE. I was going to have him declawed, but since he's SO. GOOD. with his nails I'm not going to. I don't want to put him through an unnecessary surgery. Besides he's a dream when it comes to cutting his nails and putting the soft paws on. (best invention, ever!) So anyways, Josey was my last addition for a while. He's such a silly cat. He's about 5 months old now, and just lost his final baby tooth. He loves to climb on the cat tree and he loves to climb into the guinea pig cage and hang out. (He started this as soon as we brought him home--when the guinea pigs were bigger than he was!) and now that he's a whole lot bigger, he just lays with them and watches them. He never tries to harm them or anything. The pigs don't even mind it anymore. (When we first got Josey the pigs would corner him and freak him out, until he jumped out of their cage.) It's really funny. Now they just sit and look at each other. I can only imagine the pigs saying "Boy, now that's a funny looking piggie!" and Josey thinking "Man, those are funny looking cats."
This got really long and rambly! I'm sorry!! LOL. I'm pretty much a crazy animal lady and my life revolves around my fur-kids! haha. So anyways, I'm looking forward to posting here more often! 
Re: n00b intro
Welcome! Sounds like you have a great little family
I'm glad you didn't declaw Josey. You should research the procedure more before making the decision for any future cats, it is really invasive and can cause behavioral problems and pain. Plus, it is unnecessary as you see with Josey.
Ps- also glad you decided not to declaw :-)
Welcome welcome! Your post was quite entertaining!
I'll add to the thanks for letting Josey keep his claws! We took a 1-y/o kitty from a friend several years ago; her mother had already front declawed her. When we rescued a second kitten a few months later, there was no doubt in my mind we would NOT be declawing her, despite the difference in playing/fighting advantage this might give. We've pretty much never had a problem with S2 having her claws and S1 not; S2 scratches where she's supposed to and doesn't rough up S1 any extra. The only issue we have is with claw trimming, because S2 is a TOTAL spaz when it comes to that, but oh well! We do what we need to!
Can't wait until you can finally upload some pics! Maybe if your Photobucket album is public you can share the link?! (if you're comfy with that, of course)
B/w 1/8: betas 17,345, progesterone 25.6