I completely agree with you Jan…the operative words being “from the begining”, all of my guys have been strays who came from the big bad outside.
Anyone considering getting a kitten I would strongly encourage keeping it indoors.
I am glad you are responsible about your cats, and what you said about strays is true, they ARE hard to keep at home. The most important thing is to make sure they are neutered so they don’t make more strays and it also tends to keep them close to home and not go wandering into traffic where they will be run over, etc.
I work with animal rescues, have rescued all types of dogs and cats (as well as wildlife) off streets, etc. I’m a big proponent of neutering too and many communities will have low-cost spay and neutering programs. Just calling the nearest SPCA will probably help direct someone to one of those.
The best example I ever saw for neutering an animal was by Victoria Stillwell on It’s Me Or The Dog when she had a client that was wanting to eventually breed her dog. She had a bag full of 2 different colored balls and poured them all out on the ground. The balls represented the dogs’ offspring after 3 years. I’m working off memory here, and I’m sure my numbers aren’t all correct but it seems the total was about 1000 offspring in that short period of time.
The bag was composed of about 75% of blue balls and 25% yellow. The 75% were the ones which would end up euthanized, the 25% were ones which would end up living to old age (though you never know if they were necessarily well-treated or not - but didn’t end up euthanized in a shelter).
This is why I work with rescues. I really don’t have the stomach to get TOO involved, I just can’t get all the horrible cases we come across out of my mind. I don’t think I could sleep at night if I did. I don’t understand how people can mistreat any living thing! I help the rescues as much as I can by making things for them to sell or auction, working on their web sites etc.
Additionally I stress to EVERYONE to adopt an adult dog or cat if they are looking for one. Go to WWW.PETFINDER.COM and search within your own zip code for animals in rescue organizations or shelters which meet your criteria. Adult and rescued animals are great because you already get one which is neutered or spayed, their personality is formed so you KNOW you’re not getting one which is too active (or not enough) for your family. Potty training is done ;), etc. etc. etc. And don’t forget that mixed breeds are healthier than purebreds, but PLEASE don’t go for those designer dogs, most of them come from puppymills or backyard breeders.
Well, I’ll get off my soapbox now. Here’s a picture of Peanut, our first foster. He was given up to a shelter because the family had a baby! Good reason huh?!? My dogs ARE my babies, if I had one more (human baby, that is), there’s now ay I would get rid of any of them unless they were dangerous. Peanut’s a loving and the snuggliest dog I have. Rescues seem to know they’ve been saved and love you for life!
(The other dog in the collage is Lucky, our 2nd foster. He got an awesome home!)…and they both appreciate my knitting. :teehee:
I agree if you have a kitten born indoors and kept indoors it’s easier to keep them indoors…
Gideon though was found in a box by my brother, it was near the dumpster all shut up and for some reason my brother decided to go check out the box…why wasn’t it tossed in the dumpster for the trash guy the next morning, and he found Gideon and another cat. He was still young but a few months old so I have always fought with him to keep him inside. Yesterday it was nice so I had the windows open he just paced and meowed from one window to the next, to the door, back to the window…last year he tore a hole in my screen to get out of it and Bella followed him, then she came back in with a mole that was still alive!
Bella was born in a barn and the lady over heard me telling mom that I’d like to get another kitten, she stopped us (we were at a small town thing) and said I have one that if you don’t take is going to the shelter…so dad got her for me and I’ve fought with her to keep her inside…
They are so sneaky, you will think they are no where around but as soon as they hear the door they are beside you trying to get out, we even have bells on them but they still can slip past us…and with kids running in and out the cats tend to be faster. I do have the rule knock on the door before you enter so I can grab the cats, but when something exciting happens they tend to forget. :teehee:
When they do get out they don’t travel far but stay alert enough for you not to catch them…they are both spayed/neutered, usually we catch them by trying to get them to play with something or I go pretend to be busy on the porch and they come a snooping.
Although right before Thanksgiving Gideon got out on us and we couldn’t catch him, and when he wasn’t at the door by nightfall I knew something was wrong, he doesn’t miss meals and is to big of a chicken to stay out all night, he was missing for a few days and I was beside myself…the day after Thanksgiving JD was walking up our driveway and there sat Gideon on the porch, he smelled of a wood burner stove and to this day I think someone had him, even though I went door to door daily, had it broadcast everywhere about him, and I still wonder if someone just got tired of me banging on their door about him so they let him go.
I know others that feel like cats/dogs should be kept outdoors, they still take the pet to the vet and have them spayed/neutered but they feel a pet should only come inside for awhile and then back outside. I might not agree with that but then some don’t agree with me for keeping them inside all the time :teehee:
i was reading an article in the newspaper yesterday about how our local shelters are full because people are dumping their pets due to ‘financial hardship’. They claim that they can’t take care of them anymore (bs for the most part… given the number of strays disappearing from my neighborhood i have a feeling some are cleaning out their garage… I came home at 4 am this morning after picking my dh up at work and there was a NEW cat that i havent’ seen before in my garage the ballsy little twit). I get it if they have to move to a “no pets allowed” situation but explain to me why when i called 2 years ago because Stooge (i call him stooge, dh calls him buddy, the kids call him Thor) collapsed in my backyard (he was dumped in our neighborhood) and they refused to take him yet others can go and claim financial hardship and they’ll take them?