Today is a whole different type of post for me. I had to do something this morning that I really hated. I am a big(and I mean big!!!) animal lover. From all the little bittie ones all the way up to those that are so endangered by our uncaring ways as human beings. Boy, am I on my soap box.
I had to have a little girl kitty about 7 months old put to sleep this morning. She was a stray but that didn't make it any easier. She was just a skinny little thing but a lover. Not like so many of the feral cats we've had around. She's been out behind our store for about a month or so. We have some other cats that live out there ad we take care of them. We have a warehouse and they have ways of getting in and out so they have shelter. We also make sure they have food and water all the time. I guess she was just drawn there noticing the other cats. anyhow we've been planning to take her to the vet for spaying (we don't want lots of babies out there) and I decided today was a good day. Always when I take a stray we test them for kitty HIV and feline leukemia. Since those diseases are unmanageable in strays you really can't put then back into the feral cat population. Most of the cats we've helped over the years have not been ill at all. But we begin to forget that things can be wrong. I was thinking about taking her home myself since I only have one cat indoors right now. My cat died in February of this year and my dog died last year. I haven't been able to want to have a new pets yet. I just wasn't thinking and forgot she could be sick. The vet ran the tests and she was positive for the leukemia, so I really couldn't take her home with my cat. I wouldn't even think of putting her back outside because of other cats and because she would eventually get sicker and then suffer. I did the only thing I could and had her put down. We wrapped her in a towel and I held her and rubbed her head till she fell asleep from the over dose injection of anesthetic. She died in peace. This is the second time this year that I've had to do this. In April I took another cat to the vet to get a checkup and neuter. He was a male that had lived out back for about a year. He was showing up some mornings with his face and ears scratched up and we knew he'd been fighting. Thought neutering might help stop that. We hated seeing him beat up. He was sweet and would let us hold him. Never did I think there was anything wrong, but he turned out to have kitty HIV so I went through the same thing with him. His name was Cheeks. I held him in my arms while the vet put him to sleep. It's really hard to make these decisions but it's got to be done and the vet won't tell you what to do. They are very caring and sympathetic. After it's all done they've told me I did the right thing and consoled me. I hurt so badly for them but know their better off.
It's very upsetting to me that there are so many laws governing dogs which make people have to care for them in the best way. In our city the leash laws keep owners from letting their dogs run free. I understand cats are different but they still need love and care. This crap that people think their cats need to be outside to be natural in their life is ridiculous. they don't even take the responsibility of spaying or neutering. Then the females are having kittens everywhere and the males are fighting and getting injured. They deserve a better life. And then there are all the birds that are killed. This garbage about needing to hunt is just crazy. Cats need to stay inside and be protected.
In the last 5-6 years we have had over 30 cats living behind our store at different times. We did our best by trapping them and getting the to our vet for checkups and spaying or neutering and then returning them back outside. Most have been sweet but they are so wild and just afraid to get too close to people. When we get to work in the morning they've always been waiting for us-hungry. Putting them down just because they were strays just wasn't an option for us. We even enticed a mama cat into our store before she had her litter(8) and we were able to find homes for all but 2 so mama and the babies got a home in our store. Then a tiny girl kitten showed up injured. We got her to the vet and taken care of and we kept her. Two more cats adopted us and they moved in. So with 6 cats inside we're at our limit. And everyone has dogs or cats so we can't take any more home.
Oh well, we wish we could do more. But we'll continue to take care of any kittys that come around and get attached to them to.
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Oh dear, you made me cry with this post, Maizee. I am also an animal lover and have a lot of cats. I do what I can to find homes for my kittens and sometimes it's so hard to part with them. You're an angel for doing what you do.
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