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This guy showed up a couple of weeks ago. He's about 1-2 years old, very friendy, and not neutered (of course). We think that someone on my street moved out and left him behind. He's very vocal, and yowls for food and attention. He's already been picking on another cat, has a few cuts to show for it, and he doesn't need to stay here as a stray.
Next week, I'm going to take him to the shelter (it's a no-kill shelter), where he'll get neutered, and be put up for adoption. He's already a big cat, and I'm sure that after he gets neutered and fills out, he's going to be a really big boy.
I'm hoping that when he goes to adoption events, he'll get a home fast, since he's friendly, and kitten season isn't here yet.
Yes, he's very friendly and spends a lot of time (when he's not roaming) on my side porch. He was already here this morning. And he's WAY overdue to be neutered........
HOW can people just LEAVE a family member behind like this?!!!
He is very cute and looks friendly too -- I hope he gets a new home soon!
It is terrible and sad...I did this once and my heart is still broken and I feel horribly guilty about it. I know I was in a sad state and times were desperate, nevermind that I was young and scared and clueless and it was a long time ago...but it's a guilt that will haunt me forever. And probably it should. I don't think I'd like myself much if I could shrug it off like it was no big thing.
In the last neighborhood I lived in, someone had moved away and left a VERY large dog behind. She was maybe a mastiff or mix...huge. She scared me at first, she would patrol the neighborhood nightly. Then I talked to the neighbors about her, she was not dangerous just very afraid of people and would let no one approach her. People put food out for her. No one could get her trapped long enough to call a shelter or rescue to get her. She lived out in the fields unless she was patrolling for her dinner. This went on a long time, until last fall someone managed to lure her into a fenced area and shut her in, and called a rescue to come get her. But after a year on her own and as afraid of people as she was, I'm not sure if they'd be able to socialize her enough to be adopted. Sad...
It is terrible and sad...I did this once and my heart is still broken and I feel horribly guilty about it. I know I was in a sad state and times were desperate, nevermind that I was young and scared and clueless and it was a long time ago...but it's a guilt that will haunt me forever. And probably it should. I don't think I'd like myself much if I could shrug it off like it was no big thing.
I really, really don't get it. I've lived in many college towns and every spring there are a ton of animals who are left behind by departing students who lived in apartments. It makes me crazy.
The day I was leaving Ann Arbor to start the drive to New Hampshire, I couldn't find one of my two cats and was going INSANE thinking she might have gotten out when I was moving the last stuff out to the car. I was really on the verge of hysteria and there was no way in hell I was going to drive off without her. I finally found her ... inside a kitchen base cabinet, calmly grooming herself.
I'm not trying to say that I'm special for not leaving without her ... most people I know with pets would never dream of leaving without them. So these stories of people who DO just make me so, so sad.
I really, really don't get it. I've lived in many college towns and every spring there are a ton of animals who are left behind by departing students who lived in apartments. It makes me crazy.
The day I was leaving Ann Arbor to start the drive to New Hampshire, I couldn't find one of my two cats and was going INSANE thinking she might have gotten out when I was moving the last stuff out to the car. I was really on the verge of hysteria and there was no way in hell I was going to drive off without her. I finally found her ... inside a kitchen base cabinet, calmly grooming herself.
I'm not trying to say that I'm special for not leaving without her ... most people I know with pets would never dream of leaving without them. So these stories of people who DO just make me so, so sad.
*Nods* In my case and I'm sure, some few others, the issue is that a person who has a great likelihood of becoming homeless, no stability, not enough money coming in to guarantee tomorrow's meals...people who are poor enough that catastrophe lurks on the doorstep, or people who just haven't got things figured out yet...really do not need to have a pet! There is no universal law that says that each human is entitled to an animal companion(s). But unfortunately some of us in that stage of life were also not wise enough to know that, and assumed it would work out OK and got an animal we had no business having. I wasn't ready to stand behind a commitment to provide a forever home. I couldn't even provide something like that for myself at that point.
People do a lot of unwise things.
And then there are those who have the means and resources to keep their animal but for some reason don't...and people who leave animals with a boyfriend/girlfriend who simply doesn't care as much...every scenario under the sun.
At least I learned. I waited 12+ years to make sure I was completely stable before taking in another animal. No way I'd ever fail that trust again.
Are you 100% sure someone left it behind? I think you should run an ad or put some notices in the local stores and notify the police in case someone is looking for it. I briefly lost my cat in California while I was moving. It delayed my departure for a day until I found her. I would have been heartbroken if I hadn't. I just hope someone else feels that way about the cat and it wasn't just dumped.
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