IBKFergus is leaving ;-(

"Rhonda" wrote in message
...
I wish her the best. Will the AWL let you know how she's doing?

They won't tell me anything further about her when I give her up as they've
had issues with ex-owners wanting their animals back and stealing hem from
new owners or making a big fuss and abusing the staff of where the animal
goes (I won't know where she's located). I sign all my rights to her away
when i sign her over. All I know is that they do not put down healthy
animals *ever*, and that if she is adopted, the new family will be properly
asessed as suitable before she goes with them. If she isn't adopted, she'll
be living in a humane cattery with other cats that find themselves homeless,
and be tended by volunteers. She won't want for shelter and food for the
rest of her life. She doesn't much like human attention, so its unlikely
that the lack of "luvvins" will bother her.

The more I think about it, th emore I'm satisfied I'm doing he best thing by
her and us. its not ideal, no, but the best given he circumstances
available. At least, no matter what happens, she'll be able to live out all
her nine lives, and she does have a hope of getting a foreverhome that will
be more suited to her temperament than here.

The Animal Welfare lady plus two vets (at seperate facilities) concur.
Whilst it is possible hat she attacked because she was in pain, or needed
behavioral therapy, or had some other medical problem, there is no 'instant
fix' for a cat that is agressive no matter what the underlying cause, and it
may well be that its simply because she is a *feral* cat. And beacause there
is no 'instant' fix, and certainly no guarantee that whatever I try would
work, Cary's safety must take precedence. Whilst no-one can be 100% sure
about any animal, it would be child neglect to allow Cary to continue to
have access to an animal with a record of agressiveness. And I would die a
thousand deaths if, after knowing IBKFergus is capable of, I let her stay
only to have her maul Cary the way she mauled me. No behaviorial therapist
or drug program, no operation or no medical intervention can guarantee that
she won't suddenly turn again. The risk is just *not* acceptable.

If she was a dog, there'd not even be an issue here - dogs that have atacked
humans are immediately put down without question. What I'm giving her is a
chance at a life where the humans have the time and patience and environment
to deal with her nervousness - something we can't give her - and at the very
least, she'll be safe, warm and fed. The Animal Welfare League will also be
receiving 'alimony' from me that would cover the cost of IBKFergus in food
and vet bills had she been living here. She is, after all, still my moral
responsibility, even if I am no longer her 'custodial carer'.

Others in different situations, different skills, different priorities may
have amde different decisions, but this is the best *I* can do in this
situation, with my skills and my resources.

Yowie

Yowie wrote:
snip
She's been confined ot the Garage during Cary's waking hours (Cary
sleeps with the bedroom door shut - he has to otherwise IBKFergus
gets in and wraps herself around his head)
snip

From the way you've described the interactions between Cary and IBKFergus
sice she arrived, I honestly believe that Cary is the person least at risk
in your household. Somehow animals seem to understand youngsters and will
let children get away with things an adult never would. Having said that,
you can see the situation first hand so you're in a better position to judge
than anyone on the group. Purrs once again for a resolution that suits all,
fured and bare.
--
Adrian (Owned by Snoopy and Bagheera)
Cats leave pawprints on your heart.
http://community.webshots.com/user/clowderuk

It reminds me of my mother, she keeps calling Snoopy he, even though she
knows she's female.

We have a cat where I work called Stamford and everyone assumes
Stamford is male when in fact Stamford is female. It's so ingrained
that when someone said Stamford had had kittens nearly everyone said
"Oh has he?" and didn't realise what they were saying


Lesley

Slave of the Fabulous Furballs

{{{{{Yowie, Cary, Jeol, IBKFergus}}}}

Purrs for your aching hearts, and that IBKFergus has a happy life wherever
she ends up.

One good side is I bet Smoggleberry does a happydance now that the 'annoying
brat' is gone. OK, maybe not a happydance, but at least a huge sigh of
relief (or maybe just a snore ).

Yowie wrote:
"Rhonda" wrote in message
...
I wish her the best. Will the AWL let you know how she's doing?

They won't tell me anything further about her when I give her up as
they've had issues with ex-owners wanting their animals back and
stealing hem from new owners or making a big fuss and abusing the
staff of where the animal goes (I won't know where she's located). I
sign all my rights to her away when i sign her over. All I know is
that they do not put down healthy animals *ever*, and that if she is
adopted, the new family will be properly assessed as suitable before
she goes with them. If she isn't adopted, she'll be living in a
humane cattery with other cats that find themselves homeless, and be
tended by volunteers. She won't want for shelter and food for the
rest of her life. She doesn't much like human attention, so its
unlikely that the lack of "luvvins" will bother her.
The more I think about it, th emore I'm satisfied I'm doing he best
thing by her and us. its not ideal, no, but the best given he
circumstances available. At least, no matter what happens, she'll be
able to live out all her nine lives, and she does have a hope of
getting a foreverhome that will be more suited to her temperament
than here.
The Animal Welfare lady plus two vets (at seperate facilities) concur.
Whilst it is possible hat she attacked because she was in pain, or
needed behavioral therapy, or had some other medical problem, there
is no 'instant fix' for a cat that is agressive no matter what the
underlying cause, and it may well be that its simply because she is a
*feral* cat. And beacause there is no 'instant' fix, and certainly no
guarantee that whatever I try would work, Cary's safety must take
precedence. Whilst no-one can be 100% sure about any animal, it would
be child neglect to allow Cary to continue to have access to an
animal with a record of agressiveness. And I would die a thousand
deaths if, after knowing IBKFergus is capable of, I let her stay only
to have her maul Cary the way she mauled me. No behaviorial therapist
or drug program, no operation or no medical intervention can
guarantee that she won't suddenly turn again. The risk is just *not*
acceptable.
If she was a dog, there'd not even be an issue here - dogs that have
atacked humans are immediately put down without question. What I'm
giving her is a chance at a life where the humans have the time and
patience and environment to deal with her nervousness - something we
can't give her - and at the very least, she'll be safe, warm and fed.
The Animal Welfare League will also be receiving 'alimony' from me
that would cover the cost of IBKFergus in food and vet bills had she
been living here. She is, after all, still my moral responsibility,
even if I am no longer her 'custodial carer'.
Others in different situations, different skills, different
priorities may have amde different decisions, but this is the best
*I* can do in this situation, with my skills and my resources.

Yowie

On 2006-05-22, Adrian A penned:
Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

Maybe I'm overly sensitive to it, as I have a female cat named
Oscar.

It reminds me of my mother, she keeps calling Snoopy he, even though
she knows she's female. Her excuse is, she doesn't remember sex
these days, she's 72.

I really messed up my mom. Cats in German are feminine, but when I
got Oscar (and thought she was a boy) I made a big stink about mom
using masculine pronouns.

Now she still calls Oscar he =P

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

On 2006-05-22, Yowie penned:
Cary's safety must take precedence. Whilst no-one can be 100% sure
about any animal, it would be child neglect to allow Cary to
continue to have access to an animal with a record of agressiveness.
And I would die a thousand deaths if, after knowing IBKFergus is
capable of, I let her stay only to have her maul Cary the way she
mauled me. No behaviorial therapist or drug program, no operation or
no medical intervention can guarantee that she won't suddenly turn
again. The risk is just *not* acceptable.

If she was a dog, there'd not even be an issue here - dogs that have
atacked humans are immediately put down without question.

As I posted before, I understand where you're coming from. I just
want to note here that not all dogs are immediately put down for
biting.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

On 2006-05-22, wafflycat penned:

wrote in message
roups.com...

Declawing would not be a solution. She would just turn into a
biter. This post makes me want to cry.

Sherry

Declawing is incredibly cruel. Regular trimming of claws is humane
and effective. Works a treat with my feral: Marble, a.k.a.
PsychoCatFromHell ;-) His claws, if left untrimmed, resemble those
found on a velociraptor...

I agree that declawing isn't the answer, and anyway, IBKFergus bit
Yowie; she didn't claw.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca

On Sun, 21 May 2006 22:38:22 -0400, Takayuki
yodeled:

wrote:

I have to admit that this went through my mind as a possible solution
for IBKFergus's aggression. But I don't know which would be more cruel,
euthanization or declawing.

I think people have come up with a number of creative ideas that don't
involve either of the above, so I hope that a good solution is found!!

If I absolutely had to make a choice between the two, it would be
declawing - I'm they can still live happy full lives, just as cats who
are blind or missing a leg can, but I kind of doubt that this would
help. If IBK is just aggressive, wouldn't that turn her into a biter,
which would be worse?


It wouldn't necessarily be worse. And it wouldn't necessarily happen.

I hate to admit it, but when we had Charcoal-cat declawed he calmed
down a lot, and I have a theory why. I think for all his demonic
tendencies, he was at heart just not well socialized, grew up with
lots of other cats and not so many people, and was just a rough
player. I think when he didn't slash us all to ribbons every time he
hit out at us, we stopped screaming and yelling when it happened. We
didn't react, so he didn't get more excited and escalate the attacks.



Theresa
Stinky Pictures: http://community.webshots.com/album/125591586JWEFwh
My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com

Make Levees, Not War

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:
On 2006-05-22, wafflycat penned:

wrote in message
roups.com...

Declawing would not be a solution. She would just turn into a
biter. This post makes me want to cry.

Sherry

Declawing is incredibly cruel. Regular trimming of claws is humane
and effective. Works a treat with my feral: Marble, a.k.a.
PsychoCatFromHell ;-) His claws, if left untrimmed, resemble those
found on a velociraptor...

I agree that declawing isn't the answer, and anyway, IBKFergus bit
Yowie; she didn't claw.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

I interpreted Yowie's post with the understanding that it *was* a
scratch, not a bite.

On 2006-05-22, penned:

Monique Y. Mudama wrote:

I agree that declawing isn't the answer, and anyway, IBKFergus bit
Yowie; she didn't claw.

I interpreted Yowie's post with the understanding that it *was* a
scratch, not a bite.

Upon rereading, you're probably right, although it's not entirely
clear to me.

I suppose it's not very important.

--
monique, who spoils Oscar unmercifully

pictures: http://www.bounceswoosh.org/rpca