Oh no, another dumped kitten

Maximus · Post by **Maximus** » Mon Aug 08, 2016 7:45 am

Killerbunny wrote:QR_BBPOST Where we used to live (Orillia) people would get a kitten for the kids at the cottage for the summer and leave it there in the fall because as Ross says they can live off the land fine. Sadly the poor things would slowly fade away.

My parents are jerks too, they tamed wild kittens and then left for Florida for 6 weeks in the winter and couldn't understand why he wasn't there when they got back. I gave them a good talking too. Thankfully they ARE NOT pet/animal people. They would be the worst!

ross · Post by **ross** » Mon Aug 08, 2016 8:09 am

My thoughts ...& then the rest of us just muddling along .

Post by **WLLady** » Mon Aug 08, 2016 8:27 am

I too know a couple of farms that are overrun and it's just too expensive for them to spay/neuter....and they do what cats do. the one place tries to find good homes, but it's just out of financial reach to vet them. and we have never had a low cost program here we have to drive to either chatham or london, not a small time invest (at least an hour each way)....plus the low cost have quotas and barn cats are never high on the priority list...sigh. it's just too much work for a struggling financially family-especially when they can't afford to feed themselves all the time let alone spay a cat. (family dynamics, nothing more). anyhoo. most of us farm type folks end up caring for the dump offs....unfortunately, although some of the dump offs make great animals! They mouse like crazy, they're friendly, but not so friendly as to drive you bonkers LOL. i love my 2....and the other 1 that adopted me....LOL. we did have a black cat hanging around, best buddies with my one kitten, and another huge orange thing that had run from glencoe made it all the way to our place with a bell on in the middle of winter, still alive and hunting-we found his home...they were happy to get him back. now there's another little grey stripy one that comes and goes but i suspect is a stray, but only drops in every few days. i refuse to feed the coons so cats don't get fed outside, but if he's a stray then we'll figure something out.

ross · Post by **ross** » Mon Aug 08, 2016 8:42 am

One or two once in awhile not bad but 40 in 2 yrs . The pounds or rescues wont touch um & the feed mills round here are full up . Personally Im tired of being the grim reaper while everyone muddles around trying to blame the other & really only doing lip service . Ive had some real heated talks with post turtles in my municipality to no avail so guess ill keep on doing what I feel I have to . If you got room for feral or tame cats free send me your names & I'll start a list the season is coming . Luck to all

goatgal35 · Post by **goatgal35** » Mon Aug 08, 2016 9:05 am

We have 9 Kats currently. Every single one has just shown up thin and hungry. We have gotten them all fixed and UTD on shots. Sometimes one shows up that needs more vet care than I am willing to give it and we deal with that as well. I truly wish people would be responsible for their cats. If I had wanted to spend money fixing and caring for 9 Kitties I would have gone and gotten them myself! Knock on wood, we haven't had any dropped off this year.

windwalkingwolf · Post by **windwalkingwolf** » Mon Aug 08, 2016 3:40 pm

What's the age a female cat can get spayed at nowadays? The last time I owned a female cat, I was told by the vet that she couldn't be fixed until 6 months old. Well, she had first heat at 4 months and was nursing 7 kittens at 6 months. She was fixed in a hurry once weaned. Only have had male cats since her, she died at 19 after surviving being rolled over in the laneway, skin cancer and a stroke...except for a pregnant drop-off a couple years ago and the female cat (thankfully spayed) that came with our house. But you figure, if a cat that can live 19 years or more has just ONE litter, and they all live to a good age and the girls all have just one litter, we'd have a cat problem! Now figure that most Queens have 3 or more litters before they're spayed or die, and the numbers become staggering. Starvation, distempers, parasite infestations help keepthe feral population down, but there's always well-meaning people who feed them or rescue one, not neuter, and that healthier animal pops out even more kittens. Despite the HUMAN overpopulation problem, there are only so many cats that can be rescued. If every person in Ontario owned 3 cats, the shelters would still be full because of people who don't or can't neuter, or who want their queen to have'just one' litter of kittens. Cold hard fact is that many don't realize how quickly one cat can become 20, and destruction is loads cheaper than neutering, but neither option is exercised often enough. Kudos to the fellow people who neuter their cats...in my opinion, people should either get their cats fixed, or get fixed themselves (at least that's free still I think lol) so they don't reproduce and pass on their thoughtlessness. I like most cats before I like most people, and they're certainly cuter, but I see no reason why humane destruction should be off the table. I can't afford to keep paying for other people's mistakes, be they cute kittens or grateful strays. At some point you have to throw up your hands and either kill the stupid people or kill their inbred, sickly mistakes. My point came when the stray pregnant cat had her kittens (vet refused to spay while pregnant) and most of those kittens very promptly went about destroying my baby birds. I couldn't get my hands on the person that dumped her lol, so I took option 2. There wasn't an option 3. Btw, I kept one of those kittens, the one of the bunch that laid there snoozing while the rest gleefully tore the scalps off my poults and ducklings. He brings me rodents but has never dropped a bird of any kind at my door, in fact chicks will climb all over him and he'll groom them. He's fixed, and I have no interest in cat breeding, but that brings me to another point... selective breeding...why isn't it done more??!! Why, when people want'just one litter', aren't they being more choosy? Like selecting for smaller litter sizes lol

ross · Post by **ross** » Mon Aug 08, 2016 5:50 pm

farmers & those who care have cats for pest control to fight decease & rodents that eat their feed which cuts into dollars to pay bills . Not like some others who just have them to be fuzzy little foot warmers than turn um loose when bored of . Luck
PS the odd farmer likes foot warming too

Robbie · Post by **Robbie** » Mon Aug 08, 2016 6:37 pm

Well I took the unfortunate little kitten to the pound. I thought about it, agonized over it, got sick over it, and this time I decided not to feel guilty for passing the problem on to someone else. For once decided that I will be selfish, I need a break from taking in unwanted animals that other people couldn't be bothered with. The last fifteen years I have looked after and loved so many unwanted dogs I couldn't begin to count them, go through our house, and now we have only four left. Four dogs is lots. And one cat, dumped off 2 years ago. The feed and vet bills probably could have paid for the mortgage. I have no regrets but enough is enough. The only animals that have been "on purpose" in recent memory have been the chickens.
I could take in a hundred dogs and cats a day and that wouldn't make a dent in the problem.
By the way there were plenty of free, spayed and neutered cats posted on the ads board at the pound.

ross · Post by **ross** » Mon Aug 08, 2016 6:49 pm

Good deed Robbie . Thats their job .Lucky you have someone to take um . Luck

Post by **Killerbunny** » Mon Aug 08, 2016 7:22 pm

Good decision!