I'm like BW; most of my cats have been rescues. My first was from the Humane Society, and it took quite a few visits to find the perfect first cat. He was a four month old kitten, and I realised later what a mistake that was. He was absolutly adorable, but that energy level! I later realised that he needed a companion for company. He thought he was the king of the universe, so I thought a female would be no threat to his autonomy, and took in a female that had showed up at a friend's house. She put him in his place and settled in as power behind the throne. He died suddenly and unexpectedly at 6 and she seemed lonely so I got her a new boyfriend from the humane Soc. They spent the next twelve years arguing who was top cat. She died at 19. I had taken in a teenage mother with a litter of four from the alley, and I had found homes for the kittens and decided to keep her. He died at 16 and I decided to keep a 15 year old cat I'd been trying to find a home for. They eventually agreed to ignore each other. Then a Maine Coon type showed up in my yard and invited himself in. After i couldn't find the owners I tried adopting him out, and ended up keeping him. He got along great with the girls, and they ignored him. The old girl died at 18 and a half, and I decided to keep a female I had taken from a rescue up north to find a home for. I thought she would be the perfect therapy pet. I had been doing TNR in the yard as well as re-homing strays, and a feral showed up acting like he had once been a pet. Over a spring and summer he remembered what being a housecat was like, and I took him in to find him a home. He got out of the room I had him in and he and the Maine Coon hit it off like long lost buddies, so I couldn't split them up. So that's how i currently have four cats; eight over all, two from the humane soc, one from a want ad, one from another rescue, and the rest showed up on their own.