No, this is not the typical polish and/or pigments posting but seeing as how there are a lot of cat ladies in the blog-world, this is a good a place as any.
Who doesn't see the Humane Society or animal shelter/cruelty commercials on TV? You know the ones, where they show all the poor abused and abandoned cats and dogs no one gives a crap about? Personally, when I pay attention to these, I cry because it breaks my heart, it makes me want to go donate every dime I have because these places are criminally under-funded. It makes me want to run straight to the shelter and adopt every one, particularly the cats.
On average, animals are given 7-14 days in a shelter to be adopted before being euthanized but did you know that while dogs may get several days, cats get far less, are lucky to get two days? This is something my vet told me when he checked out my last cat. And just like people wanting to adopt babies over older children, animals over one year old are almost impossible to place in homes, regardless of good behavior. If the animal is sick or otherwise ill, forget it.
Every pet we ever had when I was growing up, all dogs, were strays found on the road that some other *** decided to dump, even a litter of puppies one time. A family member was once one of these ***, deciding to dump a dog and a cat off in the middle of nowhere (might I point out that they had two other cats that were kept). As an adult, I now have three cats in an 1000 square foot apartment, 1 cat over the technical limit but I have a decent manager who allows it. All three of my cats were abandoned strays, my oldest male and little female found abandoned in my complex and the second male found as a 12 week old kitten outside my husband's work. Each one was vet-checked, fixed and is now a fat and happy cat.
There are strays everywhere and every time you see one, providing it is not feral and is catch-able, you have a choice you make whether you consciously recognize it or not: ignore the animal because it's not your problem, call animal control and perhaps give it a death sentence or take the animal in, love it and give it a life. No, it's not possible to save every single one but it's entirely possible to save at least one. What are you waiting for? -MK
Who doesn't see the Humane Society or animal shelter/cruelty commercials on TV? You know the ones, where they show all the poor abused and abandoned cats and dogs no one gives a crap about? Personally, when I pay attention to these, I cry because it breaks my heart, it makes me want to go donate every dime I have because these places are criminally under-funded. It makes me want to run straight to the shelter and adopt every one, particularly the cats.
On average, animals are given 7-14 days in a shelter to be adopted before being euthanized but did you know that while dogs may get several days, cats get far less, are lucky to get two days? This is something my vet told me when he checked out my last cat. And just like people wanting to adopt babies over older children, animals over one year old are almost impossible to place in homes, regardless of good behavior. If the animal is sick or otherwise ill, forget it.
Every pet we ever had when I was growing up, all dogs, were strays found on the road that some other *** decided to dump, even a litter of puppies one time. A family member was once one of these ***, deciding to dump a dog and a cat off in the middle of nowhere (might I point out that they had two other cats that were kept). As an adult, I now have three cats in an 1000 square foot apartment, 1 cat over the technical limit but I have a decent manager who allows it. All three of my cats were abandoned strays, my oldest male and little female found abandoned in my complex and the second male found as a 12 week old kitten outside my husband's work. Each one was vet-checked, fixed and is now a fat and happy cat.
There are strays everywhere and every time you see one, providing it is not feral and is catch-able, you have a choice you make whether you consciously recognize it or not: ignore the animal because it's not your problem, call animal control and perhaps give it a death sentence or take the animal in, love it and give it a life. No, it's not possible to save every single one but it's entirely possible to save at least one. What are you waiting for? -MK
You are a very kind person. I also love all animals, especially cats. I adopted a cat 7yrs ago and it also breaks my heart to see stray cats suffering but I live in a small apartment and I cannot take in more cats. One time, the manager at the previous apartment I lived, told me to get rid of my cat or I would get an eviction notice. I did the right thing and every time the manager came to check my apt. I would hide my cat or take it to my boyfriend's place until the inspection was over. My boyfriend also adopted a 1yr male cat who was declawed. His previous owners declawed him, only to dump him later? I told my boyfriend that the cat was old and had few chances to be adopted. He made the decision to adopt him. I cannot forget the day my boyfriend adopted Jeeter (that is his name), Jeeter reached out with his paw out of his cage and touched my shoulder as if telling me not to leave him behind and I told him it was OK, we would take him home. My bf was not planning to adopt that day but his heart told him that jeeter needed help.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the long comment. My point is that we should give a cat or dog a chance and adopt or take care of a stray cat. I would also recommend to neuter or spay your cat or dog, it is the responsible thing to do if one cannot take care of more animals and in the long run it is better for your pets because they live longer.
Hi, Love your post! I cant watch those commercials, so sad! I help out when I can with money/food/supplies and in my state I have Humane Society licence plates on my car so every year when I renew $30 goes to them from my renewal. I have 3 cats I adopted and 2 years ago when the economy tanked really bad someone left a cute little kitten (6 months)in my neighborhood. We fed her because she was always around and soon she let my husband pet her. We took her to the vet and ended up keeping her. She was tough and couldnt get along but we couldnt find anyone to take her but we couldnt take her to a shelter, too hard! We never gave up on her and now she gets along, still fights sometimes though with the other 3. She is the sweetest thing and we couldnt live without her! Just had to share!
ReplyDeleteWe're up to five now, all rescues :) My oldest boy was born under our couch, after his very-pregnant mama walked in the door one day; the others are combo of strays, trapped ferals, 'crap I gotta get rid of my cat, who'll take him?'s, and one little girl who was born in a city dump, and found hiding in a soup can. They're the snuggliest bunch of hobos I've ever taken in!
ReplyDeleteI thank you for this post and so do our two shelter kitties!
ReplyDelete-finished10dnails
It's funny how you get a feeling about some people and you just know that they are kind and wonderful people. I got that feeling about you a long time ago, and this post really brings home that truth.
ReplyDeleteWe have six cats, all strays found in the area near our house, some nearly wild which we have tamed. My mum also has five adopted the same way.
We don't have ads here in Australia like the ones your talking about. I wish we did so it would raise the awareness here more too!
Thank you to you, and all the other kind people that save unwanted animals.