If only more people adopted in general instead of spending money on designer pets.
this post was submitted on 14 Aug 2024
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Why not both? We rescued an abandoned Scottish fold, and now we spend plenty of money on her. She's a sweetie!
Creating designer pets is immoral. Creating a side channel market for abandoned designer pets is immoral because it increases demand for designer pets (people can abandon their pets knowing they will be cared for).
Sure, if they're abandoned.
The issue is that we have so, so many stray cats. So, so many cats left in shelters. We do not need people to breed more cats just so people can have their very expensive and very specifically bred designer furbaby. We need people to take care of the ones that already exist and are already struggling.
breeding should be outlawed until all cats have a home. same with human children
Giving old cat a cuddle and loving the old cat.
My family has had some of the best cats this way. My mom would always go to the shelter and adopt the oldest one they had and we had so many truly wonderful sweet cats over the years.
He is so cute either with those big ol’ paws. ❤️❤️❤️
And the non kitten fellows! We wanted a third cat after adopting two kittens years ago. We were so over the erratic nature combined with the roll the dice luck of whether they were floor pissers, plant eaters, etc, so we decided to look for adult cats. The only one the shelter had was this mongy manky stray who was estimated to be 5 years old. When we went in the adoption room with her, she looked at us and did a massive wet shit that made us all evacuate the room. Her adoption photos make her look mangy, aloof, old, dirty, and distant, not to mention smelly.
Later, when the poo particles had settled, we went back in and picked her up. She sank into my arms and I just knew... I cried and couldn't bear to let her go.
Four years on, her shaggy fur has became soft, her distant eyes started slow blinking and showing emotion, her little frame filled out and she became an absolute hellhound for dinner time. When you walk in the door, no matter who you are (literally, you could be a burglar), she will run up to you and do this silent meow asking to be picked up. When you hold her, she purrs so much her body shakes and she drools until her face is dripping. She will climb into bed and play little spoon at night, and she loves laps all times of the day.
We've had her 4 years and she no longer does wet shits, but is the same loving cat that melted when someone held her and showed her love. She converted me to older cats.
When we went in the adoption room with her, she looked at us and did a massive wet shit that made us all evacuate the room.
I laughed so hard at this single sentence that I couldn't stop even while writing this. Bravo!
She sounds wonderful, I'm so happy she found a home with you!
I would always adopt an adult rather than a kitten. We've had a kitten and he was hard work!
Our orange cat was 2 when we had him from the shelter. He was found on the street with cat flu. They treated this, but he was still very skinny when we adopted him, with rough fur and cracked paw pads.
We've had him just over a year and he gained a lot of weight at first, but now he trusts that there's always going to be dinner for him. His fur is glossy and bright, and his paws are healthy. He's incredibly loving, even with children, and loves sitting near us when we're working.
I'm glad we got him. Even our other cat (also adopted, but from a friend) is slowly warming to him!
Gawd, between your story and the OP I'm just an emotional wreck right now. 😭😭 I have a 20yo cat and it breaks my heart so much to think of him in a shelter with nobody to hold him. Thank you for giving love to these old kitties.
Dumb question, but is it common for cats to end up in shelters? As I understand, they tend to fare not too badly as stray cats.
Do they get put in shelters when they're too old/sickly to hunt? Or are cats raised as housecats not good enough at it? Or do we generally put cats into shelters, because we don't want them to hunt and obliterate the local wildlife?
Where I am, strays are usually catch, sterilize, release. But if you caught a cat who was sick they'd treat it, and lots of cats end up at the shelter because people don't fix their pet cat in time, and they get pregnant (even if you are responsible - we had a brother sister pair and I asked the vet what she would he fix them, he said "6 months", I asked but when can they get pregnant? "4 months". Thankfully it didn't happen, they were fixed and lived long kitten free lives).
And pets, if someone gets sick and can't care for them they get surrendered.
Totally not a dumb question tbh - the answer probably also highly depends on where you’re from.
In Germany (also highly depends on county/city) yes, they do normally fare pretty well and shelters often operate multiple feeding stations where there are a lot of strays. So they get to know the „local strays“ and can keep an eye on them via volunteers and cams.
When a cat is visibly sick, they catch them at this station, treat them and if the cat is alright, oftentimes release them again - shelters are notoriously full and money ist scarce for these organisations unfortunately…
However, if there are conditions that make life for this cat (or others - e.g. FIV) dangerous, they are normally kept in the shelter and then opened for adoption as a „only indoors cat“.
Also, older cats often end up in shelters because they often belonged to older people - and when they can’t care for the cats anymore, have to move or die one day, the cats have to go somewhere too.
These are the best people on earth.
I wish i had the capacity to adopt animals. I've always wanted to do this. Older animals being in shelters makes me sad.
the only reason I only have one dog is my tiny apartment. I am moving to TX so I can live in a house with a yard soon. when my boy passes I plan to get an elderly dog and spoil it until it dies, then rinse and repeat until I die
I see so much suffering in this world. I am exhausted from being depressed and anxious about it. I just want to help a tiny bit if I can, I can't just wallow. that wont save any animals from dying alone on a cold floor. action will
Reminds me of the time my wife and her friend when to an adoption event. She said she might come back with one. I told her to pick out the dog least likely to get adopted. She came back home with a 20 pound mutt that’s blind and deaf. He was rescued from a hoarder and had a bunch of open sores. Real pitiful. The before and after pics are crazy. He looks great now. Total asshole and fits right in with the family.
bro how you gonna NOT share pics?? :)
I adore pits, lets see that PUP!
My bad, you’re totally right. Here’s a before/after. He isn’t a pitty though. So I’ve also included a pic of our pitty for you too.
I love them 😍
My boy also sticks his tongue out in his sleep😂
New to me that cats can live 20 years!
my grandmothers cat lived into it's mid 20s. it was so active until the end, you really couldnt tell it was that old
They can live longer than that. One of mine lived to 21 years and the worlds oldest cat is almost unbelievable
Yea, they can live pretty long. It’s mostly the dangers out there (cars, people, poison, other animals) that shorten the lifespan drastically.
That’s why indoor cats have a longer lifespan on average.
Also, the kidneys… keep an eye on them and your cat should do pretty well for a long time
A lot of cats will make it to 20. Its the upper end of average, even. The oldest confirmed living cat is like 27.
The real unbelievable one is that according to guineas records, the oldest cat ever was a whopping 38 years old, out of Austin Texas. 1967 to 2005.
Good to hear. We have a pair of sisters pushing 14 and still going strong. They're part Maine coin and fluffy as hell so we joke that they're too majestic to ever die.
No cats are immortal you can't convince me otherwise
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