Gotta share with ya'll!

[TheWho4Life]

well, for a couple days now there has been this cat hangin around(he's so cute!) and he's grey tiger colored and awww!!!!!! I love him! But I can't feed him or anything cause my dad wants him to go away But I went to put my dog on the chain tonight and the cat was up on th garage roof meowin at me and I told him to hang ona nd I would get him down and then I put my dog on his chain and the cat dissapeared I wanted to pet him, he's so sweet! AAWW
I wish I could have him

 

[U2Kitten]

Once again, yourf family SUCKS! I knew as soon as you got that dog they'd find a way to ditch the cat That cat came to you and he wants to stay. I know when you are living on your own you will be nice to all animals!

 

[TheWho4Life]

I hope he doesnt go awaym I should secretly feed him He's so cute though!! BIG! but cute I wanna name him somethin but I don't know what.... He needs a name.

 

[Liesje]

That's cool you found a cat. However, if your dad can't afford to feed him and take him to the vet for shots and neutering, you shouldn't feed him behind your dad's back. In a lot of places, once you feed a stray animal, they become legally yours. I'm not sure about where you live, but we have pretty strict leash and vaccination laws here in Grand Rapids (a "leash law" means no animal can be on a lead shorter than 8 ft. outside of the owner's property). If something were to happen to the cat or if the cat were to do something to someone else's pet or make someone sick, you could get into a lot of trouble even though your intentions were good. If the cat is friendly, he may just be a stray that is lost. I found a tabby like that once and my friend still has her, but it took a lot of convincing until her parents were sure we'd be able to pay for the vet bills. Take him to a shelter and maybe his owner will find him or they can find a new owner. If you do decide to care for him, remember you can't just go halfway. He'll need to see a vet and have shots especially if he's outdoors.

I don't think it's fair to say her family sucks b/c she can't have the cat. It sounds like Lindsay has lots of pets (a dog, hamsters, another cat?). My parents never let me have a cat when I was little b/c the rule was "you can keep it as long as YOU can pay for the food, care, vet bills, a pet-sitter for vacations, etc. Now that I'm on my own and can afford the time and money, I'm allowed to have cats. I know my parents would've liked me to have cats and dogs, but they could hardly afford kids, let alone being able to properly care for more "needy" animals. Getting another pet and getting it used to all the other pets would be a lot of time and energy, not to mention a lot of money since the stray cat probably needs all his shots and to be neutered.

 

[U2Kitten]

NEVER take them to a shelter unless it's no kill. Cats who enter shelters have only a 30% chance of being adopted. A cat who has been on his own and is skittish around people is most often labeled as 'unadoptable' and put down immediately. Don't believe the fairy tale that they're going to find him a good home, it's not usually the case for full grown animals who are not purebread. If everyone turned away an animal because they thought they might not have all the money, most of the pets in this country would be dead. I say they all deserve a chance. Let him move on and hopefully a nice person will feed him and let him hang around. No I don't think it's a terrible thing not to put out oodles of money on the pet. A lot of humans in the world are living worse than most pets in America. Also no offense to Who4life herself, but from a lot of her posts it seems like her family is one of those who just ditches an animal when they get sick of it, or trades in one for the other anyway, and that's sad.

 

[U2Kitten]

These are the facts put out by a city shelter in my area. It goes for most pounds in general and not just theirs.

About 60% of dogs and about 70% of cats who enter shelters end up being put down.

If they are full grown or not purebread, they can have as little as a 4% chance of finding a home.

While more dogs are adopted than cats, more dogs are more likely to be returned to the shelter because they 'didn't work out.'

While owners who don't spay and neuter continue to be a problem, the shelters are still full of pets who were given up just because the owners got tired of them, wanted to get a different kind of animal, or were moving. Many of these ARE spayed or neutered and have all their shots, but are put down anyway because no home is found in time.

Well, those are the facts. We need to get beyond the fairy tale of ' a nice home in the country' because a stray animal turned over to the pound has about as much chance of finding that good home as you do of winning the lottery.

You don't have to turn the animal over to the pound for an owner to come looking for it (if it had an owner) You can just leave a report and description with your phone number at the pound office, and if anyone comes asking about that animal, they will always check that list. You can also advertise in the 'lost and found' in the newspaper. Also many cities have animal rescue organizations who do not kill and can help if they can, but as you can image most of them are swamped and have more than they can handle already, but it's worth a try.

 

[TheWho4Life]

Well, about the leash thing, that gos for dogs here, really. Lots of people just leave there cats out or have them be inside outside cats, that's what we've always done. The only animal we get in trouble for lettin run around was our dog Suzy ( we don't do it with Lucas cause we're affraid of him gettin hit by a car ) But we still didn't put Suzy on a chain because all the complaining started when she 10 yrs old, and before that, we never made her know the chain. We tried to put her on it, but then people complained about her wining and barking so we just said "Screw it" and did what we wanted . I mean, we were fined too but we loved her so much we kept her (YAY!)
But I want the cat I mean, I don't see what the problem is, if he just stays outside. It's not like he's gonna take up any room.
OH GOD! The other night I thought somebody was killing him, I swear! I was laying in bed and I heard a cat screaming like he was dieing man! So I got up and told my dad, and he said that the cat was peobably mating... so the question now is... Am I sure is a guy? Oh well, he/she is cute and a little sweety!
Alright, I could go on forever with this so I'll just stop for a bit lol.

 

[U2Kitten]

There's no leash law on cats in my city either. Good luck Who4life you and the kitty.

(look under the tail and see if you see 'balls' to tell if it's a he or a she, also most male cats have much bigger heads and feet than females.)

 

[TheWho4Life]

Oh! Yea, my dad won't take animals to shelters either cause he knows they'll be killed, he just doesn't think it's right. He would rather go drop the cat off in some neighborhood or take to the woods where he is sure people live(so it doesn't get hit by a car or somethin) rather then take it to a shelter, and I might agree with him on that... but I would much rather keep an animal.
Oh, he only says that about cats, he wouldn't do it to a dog, cause he knows they couldn't stay out there on there own, and a cat has a much better chance of serviving.
But, he's never done it, he's found homes for the ones of ours he's got rid of.

 

[TheWho4Life]

There's no leash law on cats in my city either. Good luck Who4life you and the kitty.

(look under the tail and see if you see 'balls' to tell if it's a he or a she, also most male cats have much bigger heads and feet than females.)

Oh cool I didn't know that about the heads and feet thing, learn somethin new everyday!

 

[U2democrat]

i wuv keeties

my cat is so darn cute she's turned cat haters into cat lovers.

 

[Liesje]

Well, about the leash thing, that gos for dogs here, really. Lots of people just leave there cats out or have them be inside outside cats, that's what we've always done.

It may be what you and most people do, but often times it's not legal. Many people don't realize that there are leash laws pertaining to cats as well as dogs in certain areas (usually large cities). Also, outdoor cats, especially ones not fixed and vaccinated have a much greater chance of getting injured in a fight, injuring someone else's animal in a fight, or getting a deadly disease. If you feed the cat and become legally responsible for it and it bites someone or someone else's cat or dog and you can't prove it's had a rabies shot within the right amount of time, they'll be forced to put the cat down. At the very least, the cat should have a rabies shot. Indoor cats need them too even though there's hardly any risk of being exposed to rabies. For example, if my kitty bit me hard and I had to get stitches, even if I didn't really care, they would require me to prove the cat did not have rabies and if I couldn't prove it, they'd require the cat to be "tested" for rabies, which actually involves removing a section of the brain and cannot be done without euthanizing the cat.

OH GOD! The other night I thought somebody was killing him, I swear! I was laying in bed and I heard a cat screaming like he was dieing man! So I got up and told my dad, and he said that the cat was peobably mating...

Probably mating or fighting. The male cats in my parents' neighborhood, even though they're neutered and vaccinated, fight EVERY single night. It's the worst sound you can imagine waking you up at 4am every night. Then in the morning, there've sprayed on everyone's porches and there's huge gobs of cat fur all over the lawns. I just don't understand why some people think it's better for the cat to subject them to that

And not only do they fight, but they kill so many birds and baby squirrels, it's just sick. Also, they used to go after my pets that I kept properly penned in my yard. Every morning I'd be carrying cats across the street back to their houses by the scruff of their necks until they started to get the point. It's just not fair for the cat who is an instinctual hunter and people who are careful with their pets and keep them properly secured. The same lady whos cats attacked my pets used to have this beautiful dog but she wasn't very careful with him either and he got hit by a car. I just think if you're going to go through all the trouble of raising a purebred dog and keep it healthy, why stop when it comes to keeping the dog safe on your own property?

 

[U2Kitten]

I also don't like to see animals 'dumped' far from home, alone, hungry and wondering what happened

 

[TheWho4Life]

Me either, I just said I agree I would RATHER do that then give them to a pound and have them be dead
But like I said, my dad finds homes so that's a plus, oh my mom finds homes too, like when we had the kittens, tehy found homes for them

 

[U2Kitten]

I do believe as long as there is life there is hope, and a lot of times a sad pitiful homeless animal wandering into someone's yard has a better chance of being taken in than one at the pound. I mean, if a kid asks their dad to take them to the pound to pick out a pet, he's most likely to say NO NO NO! But if one comes up to the door where they can see it, it's awwww let's keep him. I have seen this happen with a lot of people I have known. There aren't always happy endings for strays, but most pounds are death traps. Most of them can't even keep them more than a few days, there are so many being turned in by people who just don't care, or believe they will get a home they most likely won't. Sorry to rant, I get so emotional about animals.

Here are some great organizations:

http://www.petsalive.com

http://www.bestfriends.org

 

[Liesje]

Part of the reason I got my cats from where I did was b/c I support the organizations. Beckham came from the lab. The lab actually gets their cats from shelters. I was told that they've NEVER euthanized a single animal. If for some reason they get a cat that isn't adopted, they know a lady that has sort of a cat sanctuary and she'll take in the unwanted cat. When I got Posh, she was on the expensive side for just a plain kitten, but the money goes to an organization maintained and run by a lady and some of her friends (Vicki's Pet Connection). They had VERY extensive adoption procedures which I thought was a great way of ruling out an impulse buy (I had to provide information about my residence, landlord, lease agreement, they called my Grandma as a reference, and I had to sign documents stating what I would do with the cat if I ever had to get rid of it, that it will never be front and back declawed, that it will always remain indoors, etc). I was surprised I passed as a college student living on rented property since my friend who's had many cats failed (b/c she couldn't prove the cat would stay inside since she has two outdoor cats). It was a pain, but I think a very good way of going about the adoption, especially since the kittens live at Petsmart and get so much attention from people not even interested in seriously owning a cat. I was willing to pay what they asked since they'd taken such good care of her and will bring her back in to verify that she's been to the vet within a certain time frame for her next shot (they're also going to help me trim Beckham's back claws).

Anyway, what I really wanted to say was that can we really blame the pounds and humane societies? I mean, they gets hundreds of animals a week and most of them are so underfunded they have no choice but to operate on a utliltarian principle and just try to save as many as possible. Maybe what we need is license requirements. Don't you need a license to own a dog? So maybe everyone should have to have a lisence to get a cat too. That way people aren't taking kittens from their friends and then realizing they can't handle them. If you have to apply for and pay for a lisence, you gotta think about what you're getting yourself into. Shoot, I'd even pay a few extra city/state tax dollars to help fund SPCA or similar organizations. I mean, think of how many people are against euthanizing animals jst b/c there's no room for them....and then wonder how many of those people have actually donated time or money to that cause. The ladies that helped me pick Posh were encouraging me to volunteer with them and I said I'd love to sooooo much but it's hard being a full time student and barely making enough money to feed yourself and they lady said "I know, it took me 42 years to get into a financial position where I could foster cats". So like I told my mom, SOMEDAY I will have fostered a cat for everytime my mom said "no you can't have a cat" lol. I would foster cats now but I can't since I don't own the property and I'm not sure how much more the housemates can deal with! Anyway, this is getting long but my point was, we can't be angry at the pound unless we have a way to solve the problem....... (please suggest)

 

[TheWho4Life]

Ok, this could be a bad thing or a good thing... the cat is female, and she' pregnant
Is this bad or good? I'm happy but sad cause these kittens arent gonna be taken care of inside of a house or anything... and my dad wont let me take the cat in... I WANT IT! I seen it tonight just now I wanna name her! I like Minky. I'm gonna call her that, yep! MINKY!

 

[Liesje]

Aw, how cute! You know, it's OK they can't be inside b/c my friends who have lots of outdoor/barn cats used to take the kittens inside and the mom would just move them right back out into a barn b/c she wasn't used to being a housecat. Maybe you've got an old plastic or wooden box or dog house you could show her and if she likes it, she'll use it. Just make sure it's away from foot traffic and away from your dogs (I've seen perfectly nice dogs do horrible things to young kittens all in good fun). It's not cold here yet so as long as SHE'S healthy, they should be OK.

 

[Liesje]

Also, once she has the kittens, I'd check around and see if there's a local shelter that will spay her for free so it doesn't happen again.

 

[TheWho4Life]

OK
I'll find her somethin to have them little buggers in

 

[U2Kitten]

Mama cats are very resourceful in taking care of their babies, she'll fnd a safe place. They will be so cute to watch, it's sweet how she plays with them and teaches them. You probably won't see them for about 3-4 weeks after you see her belly go down and know she had them. Once they start to walk and she brings them out, try to make friends with them- please don't let the great big dog eat them. If you are nice to them (and nobody else is mean to them) they will be friendly to people and tame so they can find homes! If they go wild, they will never find homes. If that happens they are better to end up as ferals (like the ones Sicy feeds) But I hope they will be okay and can all find homes Check in with us!

 

[Liesje]

Yeah, like kitten said, once they're old enough and mom lets you, you should play with them and try to socialize them so it will be easier for them to be placed in homes.

If you find something for the mom, just show it to her a few times and let her stake it out. If you force her or hang around too much, she'll be paranoid and fine another place.