Why some people should not be allowed animals....

[JulesRules]

As we recently lost our little Tommy (see my other RIP Tommy thread) we have been looking for another cat.

I have contacted several charities (most of whom either seem uninterested or won't rehome to homes with dogs or near main roads) and have also been looking out for animals needing rehoming either on preloved, gumtree, facebook etc

Has anybody else been tempted to reply to some of these ads? Honestly some of them make my blood boil. I have had to stop looking at them . Poor animals :-(


Things like ...

Rehoming 6 year old cat. We got a puppy and the cat doesn't like it - well presuamably you got the cat first so why not rehome the puppy and leave the cat be?

Rehoming an 11 year old cat as we don't have the space for it - well how much space exactly does this poor kitty take up, and why does it take up more space now than it has done for the past 10 years?

Rehoming a cat 4 years old as the kids don't pay it any attention - okay then as the adult in the house why don't you pay it a bit more attention?

10 week old kitten needs a home as I have to go back to work - ok, so people's circumstances change, but you can't have had the poor thing more than a couple of weeks and you had no idea about this whatsoever before getting a kitten?

Please tell me I'm not the only one who gets upset by this?

 

[Equi]

I can't go on those sites, my blood boils too. I can't even be on FB ones that allow animal sales.

 

[SpringArising]

Please tell me I'm not the only one who gets upset by this?

As long as the animals aren't being mistreated I really don't care.

Seems like a waste of time and effort to moan about them. Not everyone is perfect or lives the perfect life. Live and let live.

 

[9tails]

Are you getting all 4, JulesRules? I've seen plenty worse, my own youngest is from CPL as she was returned for pooping on a kid's bed when he locked her in to play with her. She was 12 weeks old and adopted by a family with small unruly kids, she was 6 months old when I got her. Now she's the small unruly one.

 

[Patchworkpony]

I have contacted several charities (most of whom either seem uninterested or won't rehome to homes with dogs or near main roads).

The charities are a nightmare. Do you actually live on a busy road?

 

[JulesRules]

The charities are a nightmare. Do you actually live on a busy road?

We live on the main road through the village. It's a B road but can get busy at rush hour. The speed limit is 30mph and because we live on a bend, most people tend to slow down. Tommy lived there quite happily for the last 7 years and never went near the road though, and we have open fields at the back of the house and a big garden.

My Mum lives in a very quiet cul de sac and has had 2 cats killed outside as they had no road sense so I think there is a traffic risk wherever you live.


9tails - trust me if we weren't going on holiday in a week I would have rehomed about 10 cats by now! I want to take them all home and take care of them. Your small unruly friend sounds like she had a lucky escape and now has a much better home.

And Spring Arising - it's all very well to say live and let live but people shouldn't see animals as disposable. Anyone who takes on an animal should do their best to ensure they choose a pet suitable for their lifestyle that they can give a home for life. In my opinion giving away an older cat becuase you can't be bothered with it is mistreatment.

 

[highlandponygirl]

Nearly 3 years ago when I was looking for a cat to keep my older cat company when I moved house I trailed the animal charities with no luck. I had a lovely home waiting for one, was not fussed if it was young/old etc and saw some elderlies that I would have been happy to have, but I wasn't "suitable" for reasons mentioned above. I searched on gumtree/pre-loved for a few months before I bought a 10 wk old kitten. Her owners had her for a couple of weeks and wanted rid of her. I "think" they may have wanted rid of her in case she was really sick and didn't want to get lumbered with vet bills for her. When I got her home she was a bit sniffly, runny eyes and a bit icky looking. A quick trip to the vet and all was well and advice on getting the right nutrients in her as I was given a box of adult cat food on our departure from her old home :/ and my vet charged me nothing as they were running a new kitten/puppy scheme. She is as healthy as any other cat now.

What I found on these websites though, especially in cases of kittens, is that it is the same name/numbers that crop up all the time with litters for sale. Poor mummy cats that are being used as quick/easy cash schemes I suspect

 

[SpringArising]

In my opinion giving away an older cat becuase you can't be bothered with it is mistreatment.

So by that logic, is it also mistreatment to sell a horse because you've outgrown it and don't need it anymore?

 

[MotherOfChickens]

I was looking for a cat last year and had three CPL branches being unhelpful. Looking at preloved/gumtree was heartbreaking

I did find a very good, small cat rescue near to my work. They were completely realistic and I got my perfect, big (neutered) tom cat who slotted in with no issues at all (including older kids, big dog, horses and poultry). Don't give up

 

[Leo Walker]

So by that logic, is it also mistreatment to sell a horse because you've outgrown it and don't need it anymore?

How do you outgrow a cat?? Not really comparable to outgrowing a pony!

 

[SpringArising]

How do you outgrow a cat?? Not really comparable to outgrowing a pony!

My point is, what's the difference?

Either way, you're getting rid of the animal because you don't want it anymore.

 

[tiga71]

Outgrowing a horse or pony is completely different to getting rid of a cat or dog because you can't be bothered or because it has got old.

 

[Iwantakitten]

Last year I rehomed a 2 year old unneutered female cat. I am her 3rd home and she has had 2 litters of kittens. I replied to an ad on Facebook where she was up "free to a good home". I picked her up, had her neutered and checked over by the vet and she will be with me for the rest of her life. Although a little loud she is the sweetest most loving cat I have ever known.

The girl rehoming her had 3 cats and said they had to go as she was 8 months pregnant and moving and her new landlord wouldn't let her have cats. She added me on Facebook and although has had the baby she hasn't moved, still has one of the 3 original cats and now a kitten too many people I know see their pets as disposable and it's sad.

 

[JulesRules]

We'll Star pants I'm sure your cat got the better deal. I would like to give that girl a good slap though. ... I wonder if she will rehouse her baby when she gets bored of it?

 

[peaceandquiet1]

Cats and dogs are different to ponies which are outgrown. I agree with OP and when looking for a cat Gumtree was full of ads from people with the most unconvincing excuses for getting rid of the pet. I ended up with two from one person (who had a genuine reason) and a pregnant one from someone else! Now neutered!

 

[Shantara]

It's so sad! My animals are with me for life, through thick and thin!
I did wonder about Chilli for a few weeks when we first got her, as she could be quite aggressive and lashed out a LOT, even when totally unprovoked.
But, we had picked her and that was that, she wasn't going anywhere, certainly not back to the rescue! They were lovely, but just not right for our little girly.

People do have genuine reasons - a friend is having to get rid of 2 cats as her father very sadly passed away, they were his and she simply can't have them. But the amount of stupid reasons makes my blood boil too! I've also seen several "Got a new puppy, 10yr old cat has got to go!"

 

[nianya]

Since I never had ponies I can't speak to the "outgrowing a pony" issue. Where I grew up we were expected to ride full size horses in lessons, and my first horse that I owned was with me from the day I started riding her at 12 (me, she was 3) until her death at 26. But that is the same with every cat, dog, rabbit or bird we've ever had.

My feeling is if you've made the choice to own an animal you are fully responsible for their care for life. There are good reasons to rehome them if you really truly can't care for them. But people who get an animal and then just don't want them anymore should never be owning them in the first place. That's unfair on the animal who has no say in the matter.

The worst part is when people decide they just don't want older cats anymore the most likely thing isn't that they will find a home, it's that they will be abandoned, neglected or abused. I just went through this with my ex who took our cats when we split. Suddenly he decides he doesn't want them and he wasn't even trying to find them a home. I ended up having to fly them from the US to Europe on short notice because he was neglecting them and they were going to get dumped.

 

[honetpot]

I have a cat I rehomed from FB, the rehomer could not cope with her because the cat was so traumatised from living in a cupboard under the stairs for most of her life so was petrified of everything. I think her running about as a kitten had frightened the children so they shoved in the cupboard. The lady had tried her best but the cat could not cope with her other cat or dog.
I had an empty property with mice, so for the first three months the only way I knew she was there was the poop in the tray and the food was going, she was terrified. Its taken a long time but she is now almost a normal cat, tolerates the dogs, just , is pleased to see you and goes outside.
I did get feral cats for outside from the CPL, but they were so wild it was not a success and both disappeared. I would try a small animal charity or FB, cats will get run over where ever there is a road.

 

[JulesRules]

We have two lovely girls coming to live with us as soon as we get back from holiday (see my other thread for pics).

As others have said all my animals are with me for life. The only animal I have ever re homed was a staffy we had on trial from a family who had a son with an allergy. We had to re home him after a few weeks as I was seriously worried for my cat's life and we spent ages finding him a brilliant ( staffy experienced) home when the people we had him on trial from refused to take him back, and even drove him to the peak district to check out his new home and family before handing him over. It broke my heart but it was the best thing all round and we then gave another (cat friendly) rescue dog a fab home for 8 years instead.

 

[JulesRules]

Oh and honeypot...my last cat survived for 7 years in our current home on a b road from the age of 11 to 18 without being run over.

My mum has had 2 cats run over on her very quiet cul de sac as the cats were not road savvy.

 

[MurphysMinder]

OP try contacting your local vets. Most seem to have kittens for rehoming as strays are brought to them, and often unwanted kittens to be pts, and most vets will keep and rehome rather than do that.

 

[Janah]

A lady came in my shop and asked if she could put up an ad for 2 kittens. She explained she'd had them for 2 weeks and she was allergic to them, that was fairly obvious from her wheezing.

we had lost our last cat the year before so we took them both on.

There are genuine reasons sometimes for re homing. I was a bit surprised though that she hadn't realised her allergy beforehand.

 

[kiritiger]

Yep. I actually know some people like this. They keep one cat just locked in an upstairs room the whole time (literally empty, just floorboards etc), they just got rid of another cat because she scratched their daughter (how about trying to teach her some respect for animals?), have previously got rid of 2 dogs because they couldn't be bothered with them any more and their rabbit just died, most likely from neglect. Yet, they just got a 4 month puppy from a rescue to replace the rabbit... They are also due to have a baby in a couple of weeks. Its almost predictable what will happen once the baby is here.

ETA : I never thought I would know people who treat animals as if they are disposable like this.

 

[3OldPonies]

Yep. I actually know some people like this. They keep one cat just locked in an upstairs room the whole time (literally empty, just floorboards etc), they just got rid of another cat because she scratched their daughter (how about trying to teach her some respect for animals?), have previously got rid of 2 dogs because they couldn't be bothered with them any more and their rabbit just died, most likely from neglect. Yet, they just got a 4 month puppy from a rescue to replace the rabbit... They are also due to have a baby in a couple of weeks. Its almost predictable what will happen once the baby is here.

ETA : I never thought I would know people who treat animals as if they are disposable like this.

After all that had happened someone let them have a rescue puppy? Just goes to show how mad the world of charity rehoming can be. There are loads of loving homes like the OPs just crying out to responsibly rehome a rescue and they get turned down and yet morons who go through pets like an alcoholic drinking gin are allowed to have them - absolutely mental.

 

[Tern]

Looking at a 5 month old puppy that was bought to protect the house and kids.. yet is pictured in a kennel. Reason they can't keep is because they are moving house and she is too big.. surely they knew the sheer size she would grow to (D du B) and they knew they were thinking or going to move house when they got her.. if they have bought a house and sold their house within a month then I am impressed!

 

[Jaycee]

Please don't write off the CPL as being useless as I re-homed a cat from our local CPL but he was not in a cattery or foster home, he was what they called an 'in-home' cat which meant that although he was listed on their website as needing re-homing he was stilll living at home with his owner.

We went to see him at his owners home and it was the owner who came to check out where his cat would be living. There was no fee involved all I had to do was let the CPL know that we had taken him on.

Maybe it would be worth seeing if your local CPL runs this kind of scheme OP?

Sorry just seen how old this post is!

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

As we recently lost our little Tommy (see my other RIP Tommy thread) we have been looking for another cat.

I have contacted several charities (most of whom either seem uninterested or won't rehome to homes with dogs or near main roads) and have also been looking out for animals needing rehoming either on preloved, gumtree, facebook etc

Has anybody else been tempted to reply to some of these ads? Honestly some of them make my blood boil. I have had to stop looking at them . Poor animals :-(


Things like ...

Rehoming 6 year old cat. We got a puppy and the cat doesn't like it - well presuamably you got the cat first so why not rehome the puppy and leave the cat be?

Rehoming an 11 year old cat as we don't have the space for it - well how much space exactly does this poor kitty take up, and why does it take up more space now than it has done for the past 10 years?

Rehoming a cat 4 years old as the kids don't pay it any attention - okay then as the adult in the house why don't you pay it a bit more attention?

10 week old kitten needs a home as I have to go back to work - ok, so people's circumstances change, but you can't have had the poor thing more than a couple of weeks and you had no idea about this whatsoever before getting a kitten?

Please tell me I'm not the only one who gets upset by this?

It is probably not that the charities won't home with dogs, it is what the previous owner has given that information or they have found out through testing that the individual cats don't like dogs, you cannot blame them for that.

Also if you live near a main road they wont re-home them, and I don't blame them as it is not fair on the cat. You would most likely need an indoor cat if you live near a major junction or intersection.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

The charities are a nightmare. Do you actually live on a busy road?

Why do you say that?? they have rules and the re homers have to follow them

 

[JulesRules]

It is probably not that the charities won't home with dogs, it is what the previous owner has given that information or they have found out through testing that the individual cats don't like dogs, you cannot blame them for that.

Nope, some charities just have blanket statements and don't bother to test them.

In terms of the road, my last cat lived to the ripe old age of 18 going out and about as he pleased.

 

[JulesRules]

Why do you say that?? they have rules and the re homers have to follow them

The point is that if charities want people to rehome cats rather than going out and buying a kitten off preloved then they should make it easier for people who can offer a genuine good home for life. What isn't fair on the cat is keepiong it in a pen for months whilst perfectly good homes are turned down without individual circumstances being looked at.

Jaycee - we did actually end up getting two lovely 8 month old sisters from CPL who actually turned out to be very accommodating. They are keeping thier distance from the dog at present, but I'm sure with a bit more time whey will all be fine together and luckily we have the space to allow them to be seperate if they choose to.