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Okay so first I'd like to say hi, I'm Shelbie. This is my first post.
Alright, so I just experienced getting denied to adopt a pet.
I also noticed someone saying that young couples let their animals go to rescues. I must say I'm so sorry for the rest of my generation. I honestly believe they keep getting more and more ignorant by the years.
So a year ago on October 28th 2010 I got in a car accident and was in rehab for about a month. My nurse had found a kitten and was all shook up about taking her to the aspca. So I asked to see her and I immediately fell in love. Now that my now cat is older (5weeks when I found her and shes a year now) I decided to start looking for my cat, Skila, a pal. So I found a siamese mix (same as ski) that I absolutly love. He's gorgous. So I emailed the woman asking to set up an appointment to come meet the cat (simon). He was already neutured so that was perfect due to I'm not looking to breed and Skila is not spayed. She denied me within one email saying they won't adopt to people who have "intact" animals. Is that even legal? I mean I could offer him so much love and affection and he's sitting in a crate just waiting and hoping someone will come pick him. It just breaks my heart.
I know a lot of people arnt fans of mine due to my age but if you knew me in real life for a day you would know I'm one of the more successful young couples of this generation. I would never put my cat in a rescue home. (I can't have children so she's all ill ever have.) But anyways... I really hate the rescue groups. They arnt trying to save animals. They just want to keep them locked up and make them crazy. its so sad.
So I found a siamese mix (same as ski) that I absolutly love. He's gorgous. So I emailed the woman asking to set up an appointment to come meet the cat (simon). He was already neutured so that was perfect due to I'm not looking to breed and Skila is not spayed. She denied me within one email saying they won't adopt to people who have "intact" animals. Is that even legal?
Of course it's legal. She could deny you because she didn't like your hairstyle or just had a weird feeling about you.
The real answer here, if you really want this cat, is to get Skila spayed. If you don't plan to breed her, why go through the hassle of her going into heat? She might get out some day and manage to get herself impregnated and then what? If you are really in love with the male, why not talk to the rescuer and see if she would reconsider you if got your female spayed?
I think it's great that you want to adopt another cat, but I agree that it would make sense to get Skila spayed. Additional heat cycles increase her chance of breast cancer among other possible issues, not to mention that being in heat increases her chance of escaping and getting pregnant.
Regardless of whether you get the other cat or not, it would be better for everyone concerned to have her spayed. And yes it's possible the rescuer would reconsider if you had this done.
Sorry if this feels like piling on, not my intention at all. I just think it's worth reiterating the importance of spaying and neutering.
guess you told him 20 years. But some folks just DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT AND WILL CONTINUE TO SAY YOU CAN'T MAKE AN OUTSIDE CAT INTO AN INSIDE CAT ....BUT... YOU AND I KNOW BETTER.
This bears repeating. I've done it several times. It is especially easy when winter comes in and the cat is trying to stay warm.
Most outside cats I have known, once they come in, snuggle down in a bed with a down comforter, and electric blanket, cruise over the food dish, with Fancy Feast, and some dry food for crunchy, and can hang in the sun window, are perfectly happy never going outside again. That is cats, who have been on the streets, lost, hungry, they have no desire to be back out there.
Don't forget that if you bring a outside cat in, don;t expect it to suddenly become a indoor house cat over night. I think many take HABIT to mean they will only live a certain way. If they are use to being outside, of course they have no understanding of what your saying to them about staying indoors. It takes animals time to adjust to the change. To expect a 180 change overnight or to expect that they won't be following habit of going outside is unrealistic. I have seen stray ferals converted to indoor windowsill potatoes, it just takes time for them to adjust.
True, we had a feral, he became the "garage kitty". He hung in the garage, the patio, patrolled the yard. He never left the yard though. He was fixed, and while not an indoor cat, and continued to be feral, at least he never wanted to roam. He was always on the patio, or in the garage. No more mice out there. His name was "Mouser".
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jasper12
Most outside cats I have known, once they come in, snuggle down in a bed with a down comforter, and electric blanket, cruise over the food dish, with Fancy Feast, and some dry food for crunchy, and can hang in the sun window, are perfectly happy never going outside again. That is cats, who have been on the streets, lost, hungry, they have no desire to be back out there.
I completely agree with this. I have done several times, they adjust to the inside life and since they know what's out there, do not care to go out again.
You know, I'm a pretty reasonable person. I know that animal rescue programs have all kinds of restrictions about who can and who can't adopt animals because they want to make sure the animal gets the perfect home. But sometimes I think these restrictions are ridiculous.
I tried to do a humanitarian thing, it backfired and I need to vent. Also I hope that if some of you work in rescue programs you will think about whether your own attitudes may result in animals being euthanized.
When we bought out house last year, it came with a cat. "Hammy" is an outdoor cat who likes being outdoors. The vet thinks he's about 5-7 years old. We've taken him to the vet, gotten him his shots, and even taught him to let us brush him. He's a very sweet animal and we've never seen him fighting--he's friendly, but he'll never be a house cat. He likes his independence. We've managed to teach him to come in at night, which I consider a major victory. But there is no way we could ever make him an indoor cat. But because we take care of an animal that came with our house, we are apparently scum who are prohibited from adoping another animal. Does this make sense? Not to me.
We see stories on CNN and in the local news that due to the economy, a huge number of pets are now being abandoned and will have to be euthanized because there's just too many. So we decided to do something about it. We like cats, so we went to the animal adoption fair looking for a cat. They had dozens and dozens, all in cages--most of them pretty unhappy.
We picked the one who had been waiting for adoption the longest, on the theory that she was closest to being euthanized. She was 3 years old, and not especially pretty. But she was very sweet and thrilled to be held. I have a feeling she was starved for attention (easy to believe with all the kittens there).
We spent more than an hour with her, and the lady running the fair seemed happy with us. She said she could tell we loved the cat, and we said yes, we wanted to adopt her.
Then the trouble started. She asked if we had a history with a local vet who could vouch for us. We said in fact we did, because we were also caring for the cat that came with the house. At that moment, the lady running the fair started looking at us like we were scum and she asked us to leave.
She said she would never let a person who had an outdoor cat adopt one of her precious kitties. She said if we "really want a cat, we would have to buy one from a pet store because no shelter will help people like you." We tried to explain, and fix the problem, but it was no good. We asked her to check with the vet, who would tell her we are good pet owners. She didn't care, apparently she had already passed judgement that we were scum.
Sadly, I put the cat back in the cage, realizing that the poor thing probably won't find another home. There were just too many cute kittens. Maybe I didn't have the "perfect ideal" home for her but it's better than being in a cage for months, and certainly better than being euthanized.
Should I have lied about having Hammy? Should I bring "Hammy" to the rescue group and give him up so that I can have the other cat?
I know so many people who have homes full of pets. Some are indoor, some are outdoor--the animals learn how to get along. If rescue groups are really this picky, then no wonder their services are overflowing.
OK, I'm done venting. Opinions? Comments?
This BREAKS my heart. I hope those folks rot in hell.
I know this thread is old, but if anyone is reading this and getting discouraged against adopting, don't. If for some reason, the local animal shelter "rejects" you just cruise on down to The Humane Society. We adopted a cat within a couple hours of meeting her and just had to fill out an application.
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its so sad.
