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Is it possible to make some of the changes you want to without giving up your pets? Maybe someone who is good with training cats can help you figure out a way ?
Not really. I want to simplify my living situation and would also like the freedom to just go somewhere without making plans for their care. They don't have any major behavioral issues.
I have been told that is is very difficult to find homes for adult cats and that most end up being euthenized is that true?
It's certainly true for older cats. Let's face it, not many people want to adopt an elderly animal that may have severe health problems and will be dying soon. They want a young, healthy animal whose company they will be able to enjoy for many, many years.
And unfortunately, cats left to their own devices breed like rabbits. (Or maybe we should say that rabbits breed like cats?). A small number of unfixed ferals or a handful of negligent owners can quickly produce a kitten tsunami. As a result, most shelters are bursting at the seams with unwanted cats.
As I've written before, apart from being older, their personalities don't seem different from when they were younger. They're much less active (esp the 17 yo), but other than that no less content. They're cats: unless I treat them differently (I don't), they seem to have no perception of my attitude at all.
If you read some of the comments, some posters do consider cats better or more significant than other people; at least some of them are serious. Evidence indicates that cats, like the vast majority of other animals, have no self-awareness. All they are doing is autocratically responding to external stimuli. Again, this doesn't mean they aren't worthy of decent treatment, but to canonize them to the degree many posters do is just ridiculous. Evidence indicates pigs are smarter than cats (and dogs), yet we eat the former while beatifying the latter two. Our attitudes towards most animals are nothing more than culturally relative psychological constructs; it's more about us than it is about them.
You keep repeating what is an incorrect assumption on your part, and that's what many posters here are having an issue with. After reading your posts, I'm sure most of us here know that you don't feel the same towards your cats as we do, and that's fine as long as you're caring for them properly. But accusing other posters of caring more about their cats than they do other people is something you can't possibly know, and is insulting and unnecessary. We can't expect you to love your cats in the same way we might, and you can't criticize us for loving them more than you do. Works both ways.
You keep repeating what is an incorrect assumption on your part, and that's what many posters here are having an issue with. After reading your posts, I'm sure most of us here know that you don't feel the same towards your cats as we do, and that's fine as long as you're caring for them properly. But accusing other posters of caring more about their cats than they do other people is something you can't possibly know, and is insulting and unnecessary. We can't expect you to love your cats in the same way we might, and you can't criticize us for loving them more than you do. Works both ways.
Go back and read some of the responses to this thread. I know people who have stated outright they think their cats are better than other people. So either they're lying or they're completely effed up; neither is defensible.
I've restrained myself from posting on this thread up until now but how can you call your mother selfish when you claim you'd rather get rid of your own cats who are also old and not likely to be adopted? I'm not trying to defend your mom's choice to own that many cats, but whether it's 2 or 12, when you sign up for owning a pet, it is a lifelong obligation. I would be more sympathetic to you if you had some major issue in your life such as the unexpected loss of a job or a home, but you just want to upgrade your lifestyle. I personally think in your mom's case she didn't think things through enough or just ignored the reality of her situation. And maybe you didn't think things through enough when you decided to adopt cats either. Which, in either case, both of you should have known better especially because you said you were in your 30s when you got them.
My mom got rid of our family cat after my brother dumped his siberian husky on her. The husky terrorized the cat to the extent she couldn't even leave my old bedroom and was under an extreme amount of stress on top of her advanced age. I wanted to take her but I lived on the other side of the country in a place that didn't allow pets. She finally found a home for her with an old lady who had just lost her own cat. My cat lived out the rest of her days in peace with her but exiled from her family and home of 17 years. I still somewhat resent my mom for her choosing the dog over the cat, but I understand the difficulty of her position. The husky was problematic, difficult to train, difficult to re-home, and probably would have been put down. I don't understand your position, at all.
Huskies can be horrible to cats.
One of my very favorite cats as a child was attacked by the neighbor's husky under our own house. I remember the sight of my cat in that awful dog's jaws. By the time they got her extracted, the stupid dog had broken both of her hind legs. Compound fractures at that. I remember her lying on her side, hyperventilating as I stared in horror at the bone sticking out of her leg.
My beloved cat had to be put down because of that dog. I was only 7 years old...so the news was CRUSHING for me at the time.
About a year later, the dog died. The neighbors got no sympathy from me lol.
I can understand why the cat in your mom's situation was rehomed, although had it been me I'd have kept the cat and rehomed the dog if at all possible.
Just not a fan of most dogs. The story I gave is part of the reason why.
Last edited by rhiannon67; 02-23-2015 at 12:47 AM..
As I've written before, apart from being older, their personalities don't seem different from when they were younger. They're much less active (esp the 17 yo), but other than that no less content. They're cats: unless I treat them differently (I don't), they seem to have no perception of my attitude at all.
If you read some of the comments, some posters do consider cats better or more significant than other people; at least some of them are serious. Evidence indicates that cats, like the vast majority of other animals, have no self-awareness. All they are doing is autocratically responding to external stimuli. Again, this doesn't mean they aren't worthy of decent treatment, but to canonize them to the degree many posters do is just ridiculous. Evidence indicates pigs are smarter than cats (and dogs), yet we eat the former while beatifying the latter two. Our attitudes towards most animals are nothing more than culturally relative psychological constructs; it's more about us than it is about them.
Of course, you are free to continue to milk your original provocative post. However, I'm tired of it.
Evidence indicates that cats, like the vast majority of other animals, have no self-awareness. All they are doing is autocratically responding to external stimuli.
This describes a number of people I've run across during my lifetime.
My Siamese used to throw himself between me and anything he perceived as a threat, screaming and hissing. He attacked several people (all of who he knew very well) who had the bad luck to poke their heads into my room while I was sleeping.
a commitment is made when you invite an animal into your home. they, like children, are completely dependant on you. please do animals a favor and don't ever adopt another one. i hope your human friends and relations will be kinder to you when you get old and aren't so attractive or have become less interesting after 14 years of knowing you. i don't mean to be overly harsh but what you state in your post is so sad. you are breaking my heart for those poor cats. your chances of finding a loving home for them in the twilight of their lives is very slim. i hope you are treated kinder when you approach your end.
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