The cats deserve better

[SailorMan]

When I lived in Northern California, I worked as a civilian for the Coast Guard. It was at the CG complex at the very top of Yerba Buena Island, which is next to Treasure Island, which itself is in the Middle of San Francisco Bay. Halfway across the San Francisco Bay Bridge.

We were surrounded by what used to be CG houses for military service members, but since the Navy base portion had been closed, the units started to be rented-out to civilians.

Many service members who had been 'base closured' out of a job here, had simply abandoned their cats. All of them then migrated to the top of the island, to our parking lot, and the surrounding bit of greenery. One of my fellow employees, Greg, made sure that there were two small 'doghouse' structures, in which they could shelter if needed. (I refrained from calling these 'cathouses,' for obvious reasons). When I left California, there were more than a dozen cats up there.

Greg installed a small, weather-tight bin just outside our unit's back door, where he kept cat food which he either bought himself, or which was donated. (I and the other employees sometimes donated).

Greg made sure that all of the critters were properly spayed. He would bring them to the San Francisco SPCA, who would do it for free.

People didn't realize that we had CCTV cameras all around the unit. Sometimes, in the dead of night, we'd see a car drive up to the parking lot, and someone would dump another cat there. We would then just zero-in on their license plate, and call the SFPD. The Police would then intercept them before they could get back down to the base of the island.

[Ghel]

I hesitate to post this, but the way this thread is going it seems appropriate. I had to hide in my office when I heard this, or else I would have blown up at my coworker.

Last week, one of my coworkers was complaining that her cat came home pregnant. She was basically slut-shaming the cat, as if it was the cat's fault for not being spayed and being allowed to roam around outside. But the part that really pissed me off was her saying that she hopes the cat has the kittens outside and a hawk comes and carries off the kittens. People like that shouldn't have cats. Or dogs. Or kids.

[Buzzard]

Is it wrong to wonder if the vet has specials? As in a group rate for the cat and the human?

[klhanson]

i've adopted 2 cats personally.. both from a local shelter but it was through our local petsmart. Katie our 1 year old was adopted at 5 months and she looked like maybe 2 months old with her size. Found out later she was surrendered by a woman who had a cat hoarding situation. I found annie a few months ago at petsmart. She was the only cat they had and she looked really sad. Found out later that she had had kittens who were weaned and were all up for adoption at the same time as her but had been adopted. She was surrendered by someone who said she was attacking their dog.. probably to protect her babies.. but yeah.. they didn't get along at first but they're best friends now and i dont think I could ever get rid of them.

I got lucky with Annie. She's a russian blue mix and one of the sweetest temperments in a cat I have ever seen.

[Nunavut Pants]

I've just started volunteering at a shelter's facility in my local Petco. I used to volunteer at the one at the local Petsmart, but it really was tiny and the shelter decided it wasn't really worthwhile to stay in there.

We had two puppies this past weekend, plus eleven kittens. SUPER ADORABLE!!! How six or seven didn't wind up in my pockets going home, I'm not sure....

[ladyjaneinmd]

People are the actual worst. My cat has been with me for over 10 years. If he got sick and had high vet bills I'd sell most of my belongings and go into debt to save him.

I got my cat from a shelter, 14 years ago. The last 2 years she got sick, very very sick, and is now in Stage 2 kidney failure. Giving her back is not even an option. I've paid out about $4000 in vet bills over the last 2 years, and I'll do anything I can to keep her happy and comfortable as long as possible.
She's my baby. (and she's doing very well right now, in case you were wondering.)

[ladyjaneinmd]

This is why animal insurance exists. If you think you'd have difficulty paying vets' bills, get a policy for your pet!

That's not always an option. I looked into it. For the most part, once your animal is over 6 years old, they won't cover them.

[greek_jester]

For the most part, once your animal is over 6 years old, they won't cover them.

Depends where you go. The better (i.e. more expensive) policies do still cover over 6 years old. You have to read the fine print.

[kibbles]

Some people are really just useless, disgusting trash!!

[telecom_goddess]

I have a 16 year old female cat that seems healthy inspite of her age. I also have a cat that is undetermined in age, we adopted him by mistake cause we thought he was another cat we had that went missing, he looked so much like him, but he wasn't. We kept him anyway, the other cat never did turn up and he was 14 years old, I think he went somewhere to die or he got picked up by someone. Anyway the cat we adopted is one that would have been sent back to the shelter by anyone else for sure, he is ptsd, he seemed shocked at normal things like lights and television. Just shell shocked. But he got out of it and while he still likes to live under our bed he's gotten really sweet with us. He just doesn't like anyone else lol.

[notalwaysright]

I got my cat from a shelter, 14 years ago. The last 2 years she got sick, very very sick, and is now in Stage 2 kidney failure. Giving her back is not even an option. I've paid out about $4000 in vet bills over the last 2 years, and I'll do anything I can to keep her happy and comfortable as long as possible.
She's my baby. (and she's doing very well right now, in case you were wondering.)

I'm happy she's doing okay. I don't have any kids, the only creature that depends on me is my cat. He's been with me through three jobs, four apartments, and even outlasted many of my friends. As much as I love animals, I don't expect people to choose their pets over their children. That's not the issue. The people in the OP can't even deal with basic care for their pets, and would rather dump them back on the shelter than pay a vet bill, maybe pay for a prescription. That's deplorable.

[SailorMan]

... he is ptsd, he seemed shocked at normal things like lights and television. Just shell shocked.

I adopted a kitten, Cybil, who was just a few weeks old at the time. She was very friendly, and always came downstairs when we had company.

After I had her for about 2 months, I had foam blown into my attic as insulation. As the foam 'cured' it released harmful gases, so I had to board my two kitties overnight, and I myself found temporary lodging.

After I brought my cats back home, Cybil was suddenly 'gun shy' at almost any little noise. I could cough, and she'd run. I could rattle a plastic bag, and she'd run. And she stopped coming down to see who new visitors are; she'll hide upstairs, until they're gone. Almost two years later, and she's still this way.

I don't think the people at the vets mistreated her, but I still wonder what experience(s) she had, that caused her temperament to change.

[MadMike]

My wife and I have been volunteering with a shelter for five years. And it's sad when we see a cat get returned, or hear that one died. Sometimes it's no one's fault the cat got returned -- the owner passed away, the owner tried everything and it just didn't work out, someone had a baby and the baby was allergic, someone's job got transferred, etc. But I've seen cats get returned for stupid reasons, such as they expected the cat to settle in immediately and it didn't happen, they decided it was too much work, or one time the cat was "too friendly." I guess they didn't expect to actually have to give the poor thing love and attention. But still, returning it is preferable to just abandoning it somewhere.

We're just cage cleaners, so we don't see many of these things first hand. But our manager has some stories. One time, instead of going through the actual surrender process, someone just took a cat into one of the offices and left it there. Another time, someone came into the store after the volunteers had left, claimed to be a volunteer, and stole a cat. I hope they didn't do anything bad to it. And just a few weeks ago, someone found a cat looking for food in a dumpster, caught it, and turned it in. Turned out it was one of ours from years ago when they still used tattoos instead of microchips. The manager said it was a good thing they don't keep records back that far, because if she found out who abandoned the cat like that, she'd show up at their house with a shotgun.

[greek_jester]

And just a few weeks ago, someone found a cat looking for food in a dumpster, caught it, and turned it in. Turned out it was one of ours from years ago when they still used tattoos instead of microchips. The manager said it was a good thing they don't keep records back that far, because if she found out who abandoned the cat like that, she'd show up at their house with a shotgun.

To be fair, the owner could have moved and the cat ran away to return to it's old territory (happened to a friend of ours). After the 3rd time the cat had been recaptured and run away again the friend re-homed the cat with the neighbour, who'd always got on with it.

But really, when you're getting a pet from a rescue centre they often have issues, particularly if they've been backwards and forwards. My mum's current dog, a spaniel, was a rescue dog. It had been given to the rescue centre, adopted out, then returned and spent 11 more months there as he had major trust issues and was aggressive to cover his fear.

When we adopted him, he was very aggressive and destructive (we learned to move everything small out of reach). It took a long time and a lot of work and patience, but he is an absolutely fantastic dog now, incredibly affectionate. He does have separation issues (we can't leave him in the house and pop up to the corner shop for 10 minutes) but we figure that's a small price to pay, and we're not willing to stress him out again by trying to address the issue now that he's finally settled in and trusts us. We may have to plan shopping trips now so that either someone can wait outside with him, or someone can stay home with him, rather than just popping out when we feel like it, but we really don't care since he's just so. Damn. Adorable. Seriously, he jumps in you lap, turns over on his back and wriggles back so that his head is tucked up under your chin. Adorable.

[judecat]

My housemate and I have 10 cats between us right now. About half of them were shelter cats, the rest were strays. We just recently lost a cat to a series of strokes. After we spent all the money we could afford, including a year of back pension for me, we decided to make him as happy and as comfortable as we could, including hand feeding, carrying him and helping in the litter box, and even doing a little physiotherapy, because since my housemate is a stroke survivor, there was a chance that he would get a little better. I even quit my part-time job to stay home with him. The night he had a second stroke is the night we finally had him put down. He was a few weeks short of 8 years old. He was found alone in a barn when he was about 3 weeks old, his eyes were still baby blue.
The oldest of the remaining cats is Samwise, he is 14. Found him and his sister in a cardboard box in my driveway when he was about 7 weeks old -- on Thanksgiving, in an ice storm. One of my friends adopted the girl kitten, I kept Sam. He had, and still has partial facial paralysis, can't blink one eye. For about 10 years it wasn't too bad, the "inner eyelid" membrane was functioning, and a little bit of eye drops a couple times a week and everything was fine. Then something happened, maybe wrestling with the other cats, but the membrane got messed up, sore and inflamed, and he got an ulcerated cornea. He eventually lost the eye. Other than that he's fine, still his bossy self. It costs us over $150 a month to feed them and provide cat litter, I don't know the actual annual cost of vet bills because Housemate takes care of that, part of the rent I'm paying her is a share of pet care. She owns the condo and makes more than me. And several of the cats that were here when I moved in were mine to start with, she adopted them when I became homeless in 2010.
Sorry about rambling, I'm an old lady, and I could talk for hours about my kitties. I'd probably run a rescue if I had the money and the space.