Here is a live and current example of how, if we are honest, the wrong people can end up looking after domestic cats. Quality of cat care really depends of the quality of the person.
Three years ago, a woman split up with her husband. An ordinary day-to-day occurrence. As is typical in divorces, the spouses had to find new homes and the daughter says she had to rent an apartment and her mother agreed to look after her three cats. Perhaps the landlord forbade cats. I suppose the arrangement was meant to be temporary.
The mother doesn’t like cats but she looked after them and she says, “These cats are good cats and have grown on me…”. She took care of them but hates cat hair all over the house and the fact that they “wrecked the carpet on my steps…”.
The mother wants to renovate her house and at the same time wants her daughter to take the cats back. Her daughter refuses and says:
“How are you going to explain it to the grandkids that you got rid of their pets?”
Emotional blackmail? Mother is fed up. The cats have become a “problem” because neither the daughter nor her mother wants them. It is clear to me that the daughter was unsuitable as a cat caretaker in the first place because she willingly allowed her mother to care for her cats for three years. That indicates to me that the daughter is happy to let someone else do the work of cat caring but, I suppose, from time to time she enjoys some of the fun of being around domestic cats when she visits.
Her mother has done the best she can and admits she is unsuited to the responsibilities of cat guardianship. The wrong people are involved in caring for cats. What can be done?
The cats need a new home. Taking the cats to a shelter does not guarantee a new home in the USA (this is a USA story). It can lead to death.
I would not advertise them on Facebook or anywhere else because the wrong sort of person (again) may con them out of their cats. If the three cats are close friends they should be taken together, which makes it harder to rehome them. Perhaps the best solution is to find a home locally by asking neighbours and friends.
People should be cautious and thoughtful before adopting a domestic cat and even more thoughtful when adding to the family with more cats.
There is one last possibility, which is that the mother learns to deal with a bit of damage and cat hairs. After all, she does say they have grown on her. There is potential there: something to build on. Perhaps a bit of cat behavior education and a rethink may resolve the problem.
Photo: an abandoned cat but not one of the cats referred to in this article. The photo is a direct embed from Flickr and may disappear in the future. Photo by Stefan Tell.
i think with the cat hair i know its a pain, but can be fixed easily. here we wash our carpets with a carpet cleaner and vaccum regularly. I guess the same is with dogs when they malt their fur. I know of people that have alergic reactions to cats. a friend will prob have to say goodbye to his cat when he gets married as apparently his new wife is scared of cats which i dont really understand as how can u be afraid of a cat?? I wish we could take her but im at my limit now. So hopefully be able to find her a loving home shes just like my cassy.
Ruth, you know what I am thinking? Their intellect is as keen. we may have a few more brain cells, but so what. What crosses over our synapses is more important? 😉
No Kattaddorra lets their child, whether pitbull, german shepherd, himmie, hairless, ginger, or whatever, be rehomed unless THAT home is unsuitable for that individual. And here on PoC’s site, I highly doubt that any one of us would not be alert to such a vulnerable situation.
-ATTENTION: DO NOT DECLAW YOUR CATs________
_______THEY HAVE NO WAY TO DEFEND THEMSELVEs__
_______CANT JUMP___WALK BALANCED__CLIMB TREEs___
_____SCRATCH A VICIOUS ANIMAL ATTACKING THEM__OR
MENTALLY & PHYSICALLY COPE WITH THE TRAUMA &
UNBEARABLE PAIN!!!!!!WHICH CAN LAST THE ENTIRE LIFESPAN OF YOUR BELOVED PET ____________ps-go to a Dr. & ask him to CUT OFF ALL OF YOUR FINGERs HALF-WAY__BECAUSE YOU CAN”T STOP BITING YOUR NAILS !! THEN JUSTIFY THIS BY ADDING THAT YOUR CATS HAD THIS PROCEDURE DONE-AND WITHOUT A CLEAN CUT & PROPER PAIN MEDS* THEY WERE REAL TROOPERs DOC * & I SaVeD My “PRECIOUS FURNITURE TOO” PSS> InVeSt In A ScRAtChInG PoSt_________
-It is Very imperative that if you have to be away for even a day or a week to make sure your cats are well Before you Go! A cat can expire from an undiagnosed infection within as little as 24-hours___even an irresponsible sitter could open the door & let nasty flies inside -which lay eggs on your cats infected wounds & inside litter boxes & on cat food.[Your Pet can be attacked by a SILENT KiLLeR called FLYSTRIKE__Look It Up.HORRIBLE Trauma & PAIN ____
-Or suffer Long term damages due to indifference, & neglect By placing trust in someone else-whom isn’t knowledgeable about what to check or do in case there is a change in your cats behavior ect..With the Loving owner-the cats will do things they have been taught are not good manners-{THIS IS TO GET YOUR ATTENTION THAT THE PET NEEDs’ {UrGeNt HeLp NoW___Motto is Pet Your Pet But iF You LOVE Them _Check Your PETs_PLEASE
Good advise. Thanks. Personally, I wouldn’t have let my mother look after my cat when she was alive. That sounds horrible but I wouldn’t have trusted her. All cat owners should set the highest of standards as a cat is a family member and a feeling, thinking being.
Good, soothing advice. I think that Ruth, our Ruth, is correct . I know that she is.
Poor little cats, no one thinks of the trauma they will face being rehomed yet again. The daughter is certainly not a good cat caretaker and the mother surely could deal with the cat hair, does she not groom the cats? How have they ‘wrecked’ the carpet, do they not have scratching posts?
I hate it when cats are passed from pillar to post like unwanted possessions!
Amen, Kattaddorra! You are right.