Bad Neighbors & Morganna Update

First, I am very sorry that a couple of my posts have brought some
tension here. Most of you here know me, many for years, and know that
I would never intentionally cause discord or try to harm the group in
any way. This group is very special to me; here, we share laughter
and tears, stories and support, and that compassion, caring and
understanding is part of what I love about this group. It is sad that
not everyone understands what we have here.

As Steve said, it's not your posts that have lead to tension. The
regulars here all know that Morganna is a lot better off now than she
would be if you had not rescued her, even if she does eventually lose
her claws. As bad as declawing is, it's a lot better than living life as
a stray.

I will continue, as I already have, to do the best I can for this
sweet little girl. I am not perfect, nor do I expect others to be. I
have said it before, and I will say it again. We all do the best we
can, given our situations, personalities, resources, etc. And that is
all we can do. Rabid judgmentalism has no place in this. It is,
after all, about the cats, who are, by the way, not (other than under
the law) "property". And no matter what you do - even if you have
someone sign a contract - you cannot predict or control what will
happen in the future to that cat. I cannot tell you that no cat I
ever turned over to a shelter got declawed, although I fervently hope
not. And, as Megan well knows, even a signed contract will not
necessarily prevent it from happening.

We will certainly be purring for that. But in the meanwhile, just know
that a lot of us (damn near all of us, I'm sure) admire you for taking
the steps necessary to rescue a kitty in need. That is, after all, our
goal, isn't it? To move kitties without appropriate homes into better
living situations? And being master of loving human family is far better
than being an outdoor kitty, even if means eventiually being declawed.
And as you said, that is appears to be less than a certain thing yet.

Dan

First, I am very sorry that a couple of my posts have brought some
tension here. Most of you here know me, many for years, and know that
I would never intentionally cause discord or try to harm the group in
any way. This group is very special to me; here, we share laughter
and tears, stories and support, and that compassion, caring and
understanding is part of what I love about this group. It is sad that
not everyone understands what we have here.

As Steve said, it's not your posts that have lead to tension. The
regulars here all know that Morganna is a lot better off now than she
would be if you had not rescued her, even if she does eventually lose
her claws. As bad as declawing is, it's a lot better than living life as
a stray.

I will continue, as I already have, to do the best I can for this
sweet little girl. I am not perfect, nor do I expect others to be. I
have said it before, and I will say it again. We all do the best we
can, given our situations, personalities, resources, etc. And that is
all we can do. Rabid judgmentalism has no place in this. It is,
after all, about the cats, who are, by the way, not (other than under
the law) "property". And no matter what you do - even if you have
someone sign a contract - you cannot predict or control what will
happen in the future to that cat. I cannot tell you that no cat I
ever turned over to a shelter got declawed, although I fervently hope
not. And, as Megan well knows, even a signed contract will not
necessarily prevent it from happening.

We will certainly be purring for that. But in the meanwhile, just know
that a lot of us (damn near all of us, I'm sure) admire you for taking
the steps necessary to rescue a kitty in need. That is, after all, our
goal, isn't it? To move kitties without appropriate homes into better
living situations? And being master of loving human family is far better
than being an outdoor kitty, even if means eventiually being declawed.
And as you said, that is appears to be less than a certain thing yet.

Dan

On a personal note, one I wasn't going to mention, then decided to
anyway. I posted Rocky's story recently, sort of how I think he would
view his gradual taming from a feral cat to family member. All the
responses from the group were positive. However I received an email
from someone (who I didn't recognize) wanting to know why the HELL I
fed him for years before I took him to be neutered. I read the first
paragraph without DL'ing, standard practice when I don't know the
sender, then deleted the message. I ask myself sometimes when Rock is
laying purring on my lap why didn't I adopt him sooner, but I don't
need an obscene (every other word was capitalized profanity) to point
out the fact that he and I would have both been better off if the
adoption had been accomplished sooner.

Jeez. Some people's kids. I don't know, I'd say you have done DAMN good. So
has Ginger-Lyn. I'm sorry, but it is NOT a perfect world and we all do not
have the knowledge and resources at all times to make things work. I wish it
*were* a black and white world because life would be a lot easier, but its.
not.

On a personal note, one I wasn't going to mention, then decided to
anyway. I posted Rocky's story recently, sort of how I think he would
view his gradual taming from a feral cat to family member. All the
responses from the group were positive. However I received an email
from someone (who I didn't recognize) wanting to know why the HELL I
fed him for years before I took him to be neutered. I read the first
paragraph without DL'ing, standard practice when I don't know the
sender, then deleted the message. I ask myself sometimes when Rock is
laying purring on my lap why didn't I adopt him sooner, but I don't
need an obscene (every other word was capitalized profanity) to point
out the fact that he and I would have both been better off if the
adoption had been accomplished sooner.

Jeez. Some people's kids. I don't know, I'd say you have done DAMN good. So
has Ginger-Lyn. I'm sorry, but it is NOT a perfect world and we all do not
have the knowledge and resources at all times to make things work. I wish it
*were* a black and white world because life would be a lot easier, but its.
not.

I certainly don't like being preached at.
If someone starts harping on me, I get my hackles up and the more they go
on, the less I listen, to the point of being sorely tempted to do the exact
thing they don't want me to do, just to spit in their face....

You're a lot like me in that regard.

Sherry

I certainly don't like being preached at.
If someone starts harping on me, I get my hackles up and the more they go
on, the less I listen, to the point of being sorely tempted to do the exact
thing they don't want me to do, just to spit in their face....

You're a lot like me in that regard.

Sherry

Yowie wrote:

I'm an INFP.

I can adopt the E and T positions if I either get a head of steam
or get my thinking cap on, but I just don't have a drop of S or J
blood in me.

LOL.

Either I'm not as good at typing people as I thought I was, or else it's
harder than it seems to try to guess people's types over the Internet.
But I would have *definitely* said you were a T, no question about it!
Which is not to say that you're not a feeling person (a common mistake
people make when learning about Myers-Briggs, ie, that T's are heartless
and F's are stupid - NOT TRUE). But you seem like such a logical person,
and you seem to come from a place of "but this just makes the most
*sense*" about things.

Not that I'm trying to tell you you're wrong about yourself, LOL! Just
that you come across to me differently than how you see yourself, and I
thought you might find that interesting.

I'm a dyed-in-the-wool F, and I don't think anyone would make a mistake
about that! I waver between E and I depending on the environment and my
state of mind. I can be very social and outgoing, but sometimes I find
it overwhelming and need to go off and be alone for a while.

People often think of me as a P because I'm always late for everything
and I'm disorganized and discombobulated a good part of the time. But my
true nature is J - that is how I'm happiest. When I'm exhibiting P traits,
that means I'm stressed out and can't cope. When I'm on top of things -
when things are well-planned, well-structured, and well-running, that
means I'm feeling good.

I have this prejudice against the "S" designation, as I tend to think
it means unimaginative and uncreative. I certainly think of myself as an
N because I have a very strong inner life, and I think very abstractly,
but whenever I've taken MBTI tests, I come out almost near the middle
of that scale. Eeek, the dreaded S!!

Joyce

Yowie wrote:

I'm an INFP.

I can adopt the E and T positions if I either get a head of steam
or get my thinking cap on, but I just don't have a drop of S or J
blood in me.

LOL.

Either I'm not as good at typing people as I thought I was, or else it's
harder than it seems to try to guess people's types over the Internet.
But I would have *definitely* said you were a T, no question about it!
Which is not to say that you're not a feeling person (a common mistake
people make when learning about Myers-Briggs, ie, that T's are heartless
and F's are stupid - NOT TRUE). But you seem like such a logical person,
and you seem to come from a place of "but this just makes the most
*sense*" about things.

Not that I'm trying to tell you you're wrong about yourself, LOL! Just
that you come across to me differently than how you see yourself, and I
thought you might find that interesting.

I'm a dyed-in-the-wool F, and I don't think anyone would make a mistake
about that! I waver between E and I depending on the environment and my
state of mind. I can be very social and outgoing, but sometimes I find
it overwhelming and need to go off and be alone for a while.

People often think of me as a P because I'm always late for everything
and I'm disorganized and discombobulated a good part of the time. But my
true nature is J - that is how I'm happiest. When I'm exhibiting P traits,
that means I'm stressed out and can't cope. When I'm on top of things -
when things are well-planned, well-structured, and well-running, that
means I'm feeling good.

I have this prejudice against the "S" designation, as I tend to think
it means unimaginative and uncreative. I certainly think of myself as an
N because I have a very strong inner life, and I think very abstractly,
but whenever I've taken MBTI tests, I come out almost near the middle
of that scale. Eeek, the dreaded S!!

Joyce

Sherry wrote:

I certainly don't like being preached at. If someone starts harping
on me, I get my hackles up and the more they go on, the less I
listen, to the point of being sorely tempted to do the exact thing
they don't want me to do, just to spit in their face....

You're a lot like me in that regard.

I think most of us feel that way. Nobody likes to be lectured at, or
have it be implied (or sometimes, stated outright) that they are doing
things the wrong way, have deep character flaws, or whatever.

Joyce

Sherry wrote:

I certainly don't like being preached at. If someone starts harping
on me, I get my hackles up and the more they go on, the less I
listen, to the point of being sorely tempted to do the exact thing
they don't want me to do, just to spit in their face....

You're a lot like me in that regard.

I think most of us feel that way. Nobody likes to be lectured at, or
have it be implied (or sometimes, stated outright) that they are doing
things the wrong way, have deep character flaws, or whatever.

Joyce