Dealing with ignorance re spaying/neutering

16 years ago

I was buying food at Petsmart and stopped in to see the rescue kitties. They were all kittens and were going crazy over the feather toy I was using with them. A teenage girl came in and we began to talk.

She mentioned that one of the kittens looked just like her cat did when she found it in a park. Then she said her cat had kittens and none of them looked anything like eachother, blah blah blah. I remarked how amazing it is that siblings can look so different. Then she says her cat is pregnant again.

So, I say, how come you didn't have her spayed? She said that cat usually goes outside but they decided her keep her inside "so she wouldn't get pregnant again." But... you guessed it, she got out. Then she says "I can't believe that no one has adopted these kittens, they are all so cute." So, I tried to tell her that there are way more kittens in the rescue than available homes but I don't think she got it.

I did ask her what she did with the kittens -- a few went to a pet store (and got bought right away) and they gave the others away. Then she said "I don't know what we are going to do with these new ones."

Ugh -- it makes me so mad. I can see one "accident" (maybe the cat even was pregnant when they found her) -- but twice??? The store is in a very nice area where you would think people would be smart enough (and able to afford) to spay/neuter their pets.

PS: that is the second time I have had a conversation with someone while looking at the rescue cats and they have told me their cat had kittens.

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Comments (8)

plasticgarden
16 years ago
I dont know how people can stand to have a pet (especially cat) who isnt spayed or neutered.I HATE the smell of cat spray and females in heat are a pain and too loud! I guess they just "throw them outside" so they dont have to deal with it.
What's worse then someone who doesnt spay her cat that keeps having kittens? Someone who doesnt spay/neuter their cat because they are lazy,but cant stand how they act when they reach sexual maturity~so they dump them off.
I'm like,"Get your cat fixed!!!!" It doesnt even cost that much if you go though the county.Thirty dollars.
User
16 years ago
One of my friends is an aging hippie who believes that her cats should know the "joys" of motherhood. Give me a freaking break. It's a combination of not wanting to lay out money for a spay, plus assigning human emotions to animals like my friend does.
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sally2_gw
16 years ago
I wonder how joyful your friend would be if she had 3 or 4 or 5 kids at one birthing, have to nurse them all at once, then get pregnant again with quintuplets or whatever in another 4 or 5 months?

It's the logic thing, or the lack thereof. People don't think they can afford ot have their cats spayed, so they don't, but they end up with more cats that need spaying, but they can't afford it, so they end up with even more cats that need spaying, all this not to mention neutering the males.

But I think this is all preaching to the choir.

Sally
trekaren
16 years ago
Tell them: go to my neighbor's house, during spring, when she is fostering dumped 4 day old kittens. Sit with her while she hand feeds them every four hours round the clock. Help her manually express their 'pee/poop' since that's something the momma cat normally does. Then you won't think 'how great it is for my cat to know the joys of motherhood'. Go to the local no-kill shelter and volunteer for a day. Then skip spaying and neutering.

There is no reason and no excuse. Your cat is no more special or cute than any of the thousands of cats of all ages, sitting in shelters.

My daughter is only 9 and she gets it. Two litters in two days of 5 day old dumped kittens dumped at a vet in a very affluent part of town. These are not feral, they obviously come from domestic cats.

I have posted this before. My vet tells the story of calls she gets.
Cat Owner: "I need to get my cat spayed."
Vet: "Has she recently given birth?"
Cat Owner: "yes, this week."
Vet: "we cant spay until the kittens are weaned."
Cat Owner: dumps kittens, and then shows up with cat to be spayed.
quirkyquercus
16 years ago
You know what liivy's mom. I sometimes find myself trying to have a conversation if a 5 year old then after 20 or so minutes realize that what the heck am I doing... I'm talking to a a 5 year old when I should be talking to their parents!

I know you said teenage but it's wierd how they can say such intelligent things and get you wound up for discussion then it doesn't quite pan out. Once I was trying to tell a very young little girl (while standing in the middle of the street with her dog) how her dog needs to be in a fenced area and also have a name tag on it. She was telling me that the reason they don't have a tag on the dog or use a fence is because the dog always comes when called and never runs away. Did I mention that we were standing in the middle of the street?
User
16 years ago
You can't fix stupid. Some people are just ignorant and are going to do what they want, or they just don't give a damn.

There are free spay/neuter clinics in our area, and some people still can't be bothered to have their animals fixed. Last time we trapped some ferals, I was returning the traps we borrowed to animal control and this old guy (probably in his 70's, old enough to know better) was dropping off a cardboard box full of kittens.

The lady who works there told me he does this several times a year, he refuses to get his cats spayed. They've even offered him vouchers through the Humane Society, and he turned them down. Morons like him are the main reason for pet overpopulation. The lady said she told him several times most of the kittens who are dropped off are gassed to death, but he just shrugged. I guess it's not his problem as long as he can dump the kittens on someone else.
petaloid
16 years ago
A college-educated work friend gave me a hard time for having all of my pets neutered. Like Junebug's aging hippy friend (joys of motherhood), but with a different anthropomorphic delusion.

She said I was cheating them out of a s*x life, for pete's sake! I told her they didn't know the difference, and in response she accused me of being a prude.

I started to tell her about all the homeless kittens and puppies in this state alone and that I wouldn't want to add to their numbers, but she wouldn't listen.

Livvysmom -- thanks for trying to explain things to that youngster.

Petra -- that's too true, "no cure for stupid."

One of my friends does cat rescue and she has spent almost three months at adoption shows trying to find indoor homes for five of the sweetest, friendliest tamest kittens you ever saw. We finally took one ourselves and he is a joy, but she still has one left.

Imagine how impossible it is to find homes for most strays. They end up being destroyed. If we claim to love animals, is that what we want for them?

Cheap to spay/neuter and they are healthier and make better pets.
sally2_gw
16 years ago
Petaloid, your college educated work friend obviously has never seen cats mate before. It's almost like saying it's cheating them out of being r@ped!

Sally

Dealing with ignorance re spaying/neutering

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