People who abandon pets

[Flying Crane]

I've come to realize that I've got this soft spot for the critters, I generally like them more than I like most people. It really rubs me the wrong way when I hear about people being cruel to them.

 

[Nomad]

I've come to realize that I've got this soft spot for the critters, I generally like them more than I like most people. It really rubs me the wrong way when I hear about people being cruel to them.

Agreed. Dogs are amazing animals. A little care, and they will absolutely love you forever, warts and all. Nothing can cheer you up as well or as quickly after a bad day as spending a little time with our four-legged friends.

Cats are ok too once you acknowledge the fact that you are not now, nor ever likely to be in the future, in charge.

We currently have two great dogs, both rescues (one from a local animal shelter, another through a fostering program who managed to get her up from the streets of Tijuana as a puppy... yes, it's true, my dog is an illegal alien... no green card. Please don't tell the INS.)

 

[sfs982000]

Agreed. Dogs are amazing animals. A little care, and they will absolutely love you forever, warts and all. Nothing can cheer you up as well or as quickly after a bad day as spending a little time with our four-legged friends.

Cats are ok too once you acknowledge the fact that you are not now, nor ever likely to be in the future, in charge.

We currently have two great dogs, both rescues (one from a local animal shelter, another through a fostering program who managed to get her up from the streets of Tijuana as a puppy... yes, it's true, my dog is an illegal alien... no green card. Please don't tell the INS.)

Dogs have owners, cat's have staff

That is best thing about pets is that unconditional love that they give you. They don't care if you don't fit the typical mold that society expects of you. They just want to be loved and to be able to give that love back.

I had to put down my cat this past August, she developed cancer and there was nothing they could do for her. I still haven't gotten over it completly since she was such big part of our family. After a couple of months and much begging from my kids we decided to adopt a couple of kittens from the Humane Society. Our male kitten Eddie was born missing the lower part of his rear leg on his right side, most folks probably past by him not wanting to take the chance on a "defective" cat. I've found out their loss was certainly our gain. That little guy has more love in him than most cats I've ever owned and talk about spunk, you would never know that he was missing part of his leg the way he tears around the house
The female we adopted was abandoned with some litter mates and was very tiny and malnourished when she was dropped off. She had gained some weight back before we adopted her, but she was still so thin. Fast forward to now (about 5 months later) and she is going to be a pretty good chunk of a cat LOL.

Enough rambling on my part, just felt sharing my story.

 

[granfire]

Animals with special needs can teach us a lot:

"I have never seen a wild thing feeling sorry for itself"

And I know you smart people will know who said it for us all to repeat

 

[Flying Crane]

Our male kitten Eddie was born missing the lower part of his rear leg on his right side, most folks probably past by him not wanting to take the chance on a "defective" cat. I've found out their loss was certainly our gain. That little guy has more love in him than most cats I've ever owned and talk about spunk, you would never know that he was missing part of his leg the way he tears around the house

aye, our Beowulf was born to a feral mother, was weaned sooner than he should have been by a crazy cat lady, was raised for the first few weeks of his life in her apartment with about 40 other semi-feral kittens she was trying to socialize and adopt out (bless her heart for her intentions, but she was nuts). We did not know the issues he had, he was just this little ball of fur that kept following us around, climbed into my lap, grabbed me by the shirt, shook me around and said, "GET ME THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!" so we took him home.

Turns out he has asthma, his steroid treatment for the asthma triggered diabetes (which has gone into remission, thank the gods), he has a chronically sensitive stomach so he often has diarrhea no matter what food we try feeding him, he's terribly overweight because of the prednisone he was on for the asthma so he cannot clean himself properly and he scoots around the floor to clean his booty after using the litter box. Talk about special needs... But that little guy is one bundle of love, he is an amazing little critter.

 

[Blade96]

Cats are ok too once you acknowledge the fact that you are not now, nor ever likely to be in the future, in charge.

My control freak ex once said to me, I see why you love cats....they're just like you. I think Why thank you! I am glad I am such an independent mind.

My family is known for taking in animals they find. My aunt Diane's cat is named Dumpster....after the place where she rescued him from.

 

[Carol]

My kitty is a rescue from animal control. The guess was that he was someone's pet that was left behind after the people moved out. I remember the first time I saw him, he gave me a happy meow and he started purring as I picked him out of his pen...even though he had some medical issues from the neglect. Best guess was that he was someone's pet, and someone moved away.

It pains me so much that someone would abandon such a gentle companion out for neglect or worse...

 

[girlbug2]

Oh yes all of my family's cats are rescues and former strays. I grew up with nothing but happy, healthy "mutts" who thought they were royalty, they were treated so well. Many fond childhood memories are due to these creatures who were cast off by somebody.

It makes me so angry that people can do the horrible things that they do to cats, dogs, and other pets. These are beings with feelings after all, who were bred to live in close companionship with people and depend on us for everything. I wish that jerks who abuse and abandon their pets to starve would magically be rendered sterile, because let's face it, if that's how they treat animals, they certainly don't deserve to have kids.

 

[girlbug2]

Oh yes all of my family's cats are rescues and former strays. I grew up with nothing but happy, healthy "mutts" who thought they were royalty, they were treated so well. Many fond childhood memories are due to these creatures who were cast off by somebody.

It makes me so angry that people can do the horrible things that they do to cats, dogs, and other pets. These are beings with feelings after all, who were bred to live in close companionship with people and depend on us for everything. I wish that jerks who abuse and abandon their pets to starve would magically be rendered sterile, because let's face it, if that's how they treat animals, they certainly don't deserve to have kids.

 

[granfire]

My in-laws, while they don't abandon animals, don't have any connection to the ones they do own.

Sister-in-law and her worthless husband (other reasons, lots of them) bred dachshunds at one time...had about 8 bitches, bred twice a year each...then thankfully they realized that even with minimal care they were a lot of work, so first the winter breeding fell away, then they got rid of the operation.

The she bought one of her kids a ferret...now, those little guys are adorable, but not a a household with a million smelly candles, air fresheners and laundry detergent that smells a month after you buried the clothes in the hamper. They sold it...

At one time one of her kids ask me 'you still got that Dalmatian' who was at the time maybe 6 or so years old...

I have not much use for people who go through animals like other people do socks...

 

[granfire]

My kitty is a rescue from animal control. The guess was that he was someone's pet that was left behind after the people moved out. I remember the first time I saw him, he gave me a happy meow and he started purring as I picked him out of his pen...even though he had some medical issues from the neglect. Best guess was that he was someone's pet, and someone moved away.

It pains me so much that someone would abandon such a gentle companion out for neglect or worse...

(Orange kitties talk to anybody....)

 

[RandomPhantom700]

I think we all can agree that people who abandon pets to die deserve to be neutered/spayed without aneasthesia. I mean, my sister had to get rid of her labrador puppy because she didn't have room or time for him, but she took the time to find him a new home.

Anyway, this thread is now a competition for cutest MT member pets! Too bad I'm at work, will have to wait to post a pic of my german shepard.

 

[Flying Crane]

(Orange kitties talk to anybody....)

yup, my previously mentioned Beowulf is an orange tabbie and he's not just a talker, he's a shouter. I come home from work and he's hanging out in the garage looking thru the grating in the garage door and I can hear him shouting at me when I'm still across the street. Then I come in and he races me up stairs and shouts at me all evening. When we first brought him home he rarely made a sound. Now he doesn't shut up.

 

[sfs982000]

yup, my previously mentioned Beowulf is an orange tabbie and he's not just a talker, he's a shouter. I come home from work and he's hanging out in the garage looking thru the grating in the garage door and I can hear him shouting at me when I'm still across the street. Then I come in and he races me up stairs and shouts at me all evening. When we first brought him home he rarely made a sound. Now he doesn't shut up.

I love it! The 3-legged kitten we adopted "Eddie" is almost dog-like. He is the first one to greet me when I get home from work in the evening. He does it with my wife and kids as well, I just love that little guy to death. He doesn't talk to me much, but he'll yell at my wife all night long

 

[Flying Crane]

I love it! The 3-legged kitten we adopted "Eddie" is almost dog-like. He is the first one to greet me when I get home from work in the evening. He does it with my wife and kids as well, I just love that little guy to death. He doesn't talk to me much, but he'll yell at my wife all night long

yup, Beowulf does that too. I usually get home first, then when my wife pulls up in the driveway he will hear the engine and run back downstairs to the garage and shout at her until she comes in.

Then when we sit down to do something he comes over to hang out. He's a complete attention-whore and he'll park his body nearby and wait for us to pet him. If we fail to respond he will start to grunt at us until we do so. It's really funny, and he's got us completely wrapped around his little paw.

 

[granfire]

I call this my 'raid setup' (yes, I know, my nerd is showing...)

#3....she now prefers the back of my dino monitor (I killed the one in the top photo)

 

[RandomPhantom700]

I call this my 'raid setup' (yes, I know, my nerd is showing...)

What server? And is that a troll I see?

 

[granfire]

What server? And is that a troll I see?

Aye, Troll hunter, Lightning's Blade

 

[sfs982000]

yup, Beowulf does that too. I usually get home first, then when my wife pulls up in the driveway he will hear the engine and run back downstairs to the garage and shout at her until she comes in.

Then when we sit down to do something he comes over to hang out. He's a complete attention-whore and he'll park his body nearby and wait for us to pet him. If we fail to respond he will start to grunt at us until we do so. It's really funny, and he's got us completely wrapped around his little paw.

I can completly sypathize with having an "attention whore" LOL. Eddie doesn't care who he gets attention from as long as he's getting it.
Our other cat, Boot's, likes attention as long as she's getting it on her terms.

I'm so glad that I'm at least able to provide a decent, loving home to these 2 cats, cause I know that there are so many other pets that get abandoned, neglected, abused, etc....

 

[Flying Crane]

I can completly sypathize with having an "attention whore" LOL. Eddie doesn't care who he gets attention from as long as he's getting it.
Our other cat, Boot's, likes attention as long as she's getting it on her terms.

I'm so glad that I'm at least able to provide a decent, loving home to these 2 cats, cause I know that there are so many other pets that get abandoned, neglected, abused, etc....

That's funny, our other cat Grendel is also female and also likes attention on her terms. Maybe that's a difference between males and females.

Grendel is also very talkative and very affectionate when she wants to be. Funny thing is, one of her regular attention times is when papa needs to spend some time in the bathroom. Then she INSISTS on coming in and talking to me, like I need some guidance or something.

We inherited a colony of feral cats when we bought our house a couple years ago. I've been working with the local SPCA chapter who runs a free feral spay/neuter clinic with basic shots and health assessment, and I've had 7 of the ferals taken care of so far (one had to be euthanized, he was advanced FIV and had serious health problems). I'm not the only one in the neighborhood doing it, some other cats have already been fixed, and I know of at least a half dozen more that I haven't caught yet. It's an ongoing project.

One of the ferals is actually friendly, the others are quite wild and will run and hide and are definitely not handleable.. He comes out when I feed them and chatters with me and lets me pet him. He had a serious case of earmites, it was so bad he was literally trying to dig a hole thru the back of his head scratching at them. He had a huge, bloody ripped gash on the back of his head, big enough that I could see it from across the yard, and he had it for several months. That is what actually inspired me to get active and start trapping these cats. I was so happy when I finally caught this one and had him taken care of, he just looked so miserable. He's doing much better now, the wound is healed and he's in good spirits.