Two Feral Cats

On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 01:11:22 +0000, Mary wrote:

I probably would already have DONE something about the ferals,
but buttwipe here's response to them is "oh, great topic for the
Newsgroup." What a cat lover.

Yes. All talk, no action. I dislike this kind of "what would you do"
posts, especially when the poster offers no evidence of constructive
action on his own part. (No, sorry, calling the Humane Society is not
constructive.) And I dislike the undercurrent of emotional blackmail
where not doing anything for this *particular* cat could be construed as a
failure on our part.

There are many sad cases out there. Too many. No safety net, and the
resources of rescuers are stretched way too thin already. That's why you
can't save them all; and to save even one, you have to do it yourself,
because everyone else's plate is already full.

A request was passed to me through the network the other day. Someone who
lives nearby had the usual problem: a momcat with a newly weaned litter in
her backyard. This lady was unusual, though. She wanted to do something
about it *herself*. She called asking for traps and a holding cage so she
could socialize the kittens! Could she come by and pick them up? No need:
I took them over myself. I was happy to. Her job involves a lot of
travelling. Despite that, she caught the momcat and the entire litter, got
the momcat fixed, and has already adopted out three of the five kittens.

Contrast that with ceb2's smug "discussion" of his "choices". Feh.

"guynoir" wrote

You now have a nearly complete list for your
filters or whatever. Occasionally, some useful information is exchanged,
not really worth the bother of gleaning it, but I'm addicted to the raw,
unbridled, unchecked, unmitigated, untamed, out of control
hysterical shrieking emotion I get to witness here at least weekly,
directed at some hapless newbie who simply didn't know the "rules".


So you think it's just fine that this asshole declawed three kittens. Good
to know.

"guynoir" wrote

You now have a nearly complete list for your
filters or whatever. Occasionally, some useful information is exchanged,
not really worth the bother of gleaning it, but I'm addicted to the raw,
unbridled, unchecked, unmitigated, untamed, out of control
hysterical shrieking emotion I get to witness here at least weekly,
directed at some hapless newbie who simply didn't know the "rules".


So you think it's just fine that this asshole declawed three kittens. Good
to know.

"Arjun Ray" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 01:11:22 +0000, Mary wrote:

I probably would already have DONE something about the ferals,but
buttwipe here's response to them is "oh, great topic for the Newsgroup."
What a cat lover.

Yes. All talk, no action. I dislike this kind of "what would you do"
posts, especially when the poster offers no evidence of constructive action
on his own part. (No, sorry, calling the Humane Society is not
constructive.) And I dislike the undercurrent of emotional blackmail
where not doing anything for this *particular* cat could be construed as a
failure on our part.

A request was passed to me through the network the other day. Someone who
lives nearby had the usual problem: a momcat with a newly weaned litter in
her backyard. This lady was unusual, though. She wanted to do something
about it *herself*. She called asking for traps and a holding cage so she
could socialize the kittens! Could she come by and pick them up? No need: I
took them over myself. I was happy to. Her job involves a lot of
travelling. Despite that, she caught the momcat and the entire litter, got
the momcat fixed, and has already adopted out three of the five kittens.

People who genuinely do care about the plight of strays and ferals are easy
to recognize, that's for sure.

Contrast that with ceb2's smug "discussion" of his "choices". Feh.


Just to SEE a cat with one eye that had obviously been gouged out, yes even
"18 months ago," and to post to a ****ing newsgroup instead of taking action
nauseates me.

"Arjun Ray" wrote in message
news
On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 01:11:22 +0000, Mary wrote:

I probably would already have DONE something about the ferals,but
buttwipe here's response to them is "oh, great topic for the Newsgroup."
What a cat lover.

Yes. All talk, no action. I dislike this kind of "what would you do"
posts, especially when the poster offers no evidence of constructive action
on his own part. (No, sorry, calling the Humane Society is not
constructive.) And I dislike the undercurrent of emotional blackmail
where not doing anything for this *particular* cat could be construed as a
failure on our part.

A request was passed to me through the network the other day. Someone who
lives nearby had the usual problem: a momcat with a newly weaned litter in
her backyard. This lady was unusual, though. She wanted to do something
about it *herself*. She called asking for traps and a holding cage so she
could socialize the kittens! Could she come by and pick them up? No need: I
took them over myself. I was happy to. Her job involves a lot of
travelling. Despite that, she caught the momcat and the entire litter, got
the momcat fixed, and has already adopted out three of the five kittens.

People who genuinely do care about the plight of strays and ferals are easy
to recognize, that's for sure.

Contrast that with ceb2's smug "discussion" of his "choices". Feh.


Just to SEE a cat with one eye that had obviously been gouged out, yes even
"18 months ago," and to post to a ****ing newsgroup instead of taking action
nauseates me.

kaeli wrote in message .. .
In article ,
enlightened us with...

Worse comes to worse (no one will take them or help them), I'd bring the one
with only one eye in to the H.S. (or have them come get him) even if there
was a chance he'd be euthanized. That injury must be terribly painful and is
likely to get infected without treatment.

According to my co-workers the cat has had the injury as long as my
company has been here, over 18 mos.

Oh, for some reason it sounded fresh.
From what you've said, then, unless you can find a no-kill shelter to help
them, I'd just keep making sure they had what they needed and leave them be.
I'd bring a couple old blankets out and stuff to put in the shelter and
stuff. Make sure the water doesn't freeze in the winter, etc.

I have a call in to the closest Humane Society and a nearby "no-kill"
shelter, but so far no call backs. Unfortunately, these places tend to
be staffed by volunteers who can work sparse hours. I've also found
out from building management that these cats are part of a colony of
ferals, many of whom were rescued or relocated last year. These are
the only two I've seen so far. She also thinks that the folks who work
at the Stop & Shop next door are feeding them and giving them water.
And upon further investigation, there is another, well built, larger
shelter, farther back in the brush, complete with blankets. There are
also several water dishes and some food dishes. Furthermore, the
store's dumpster seems to act as a 'feeding trough' there are alway
edible food packages coneniently left out of the dumpster.



The shelter that's there is a plastic garbage can on it's side with
the lid duct taped on, and an access hole in the lid. It's not off the
ground, but situated on a hill in such a way as to prevent rain from
entering.

Not the best, but I don't know how cold it gets by you.

It can get very cold, sometimes below zero.

And if they've been fine for 18 months, well, unless someone gets ****y about
it, they're probably going to stay there.
I'd be tempted to bring them home myself, but knowing how I don't have room
and all, I'd probably just visit them every day and do what I could to make
them more comfortable. Perhaps over time they will learn to like humans and
get a nice home. At least they can be warm, fed, and loved a little, anyways.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

I did leve some treats in the shelter and they disappeared fairly
quick. Unfortunately, I got my closest look at 'one-eye' last night.
She needs help. Her eye is clearly infected. Not only missing, but
that side of her face is swollen. She isn't crying in pain, and does
cat like things like grooming herself, playing, stalking, etc, but it
has to be hurting her. I will wait to hear from the people I've called
and try not to otherwise interfere to much with their routine. I will
give them some food, but it looks like they are being fed.

Thank you Kaeli, for your well thought out advice.

--

kaeli wrote in message .. .
In article ,
enlightened us with...

Worse comes to worse (no one will take them or help them), I'd bring the one
with only one eye in to the H.S. (or have them come get him) even if there
was a chance he'd be euthanized. That injury must be terribly painful and is
likely to get infected without treatment.

According to my co-workers the cat has had the injury as long as my
company has been here, over 18 mos.

Oh, for some reason it sounded fresh.
From what you've said, then, unless you can find a no-kill shelter to help
them, I'd just keep making sure they had what they needed and leave them be.
I'd bring a couple old blankets out and stuff to put in the shelter and
stuff. Make sure the water doesn't freeze in the winter, etc.

I have a call in to the closest Humane Society and a nearby "no-kill"
shelter, but so far no call backs. Unfortunately, these places tend to
be staffed by volunteers who can work sparse hours. I've also found
out from building management that these cats are part of a colony of
ferals, many of whom were rescued or relocated last year. These are
the only two I've seen so far. She also thinks that the folks who work
at the Stop & Shop next door are feeding them and giving them water.
And upon further investigation, there is another, well built, larger
shelter, farther back in the brush, complete with blankets. There are
also several water dishes and some food dishes. Furthermore, the
store's dumpster seems to act as a 'feeding trough' there are alway
edible food packages coneniently left out of the dumpster.



The shelter that's there is a plastic garbage can on it's side with
the lid duct taped on, and an access hole in the lid. It's not off the
ground, but situated on a hill in such a way as to prevent rain from
entering.

Not the best, but I don't know how cold it gets by you.

It can get very cold, sometimes below zero.

And if they've been fine for 18 months, well, unless someone gets ****y about
it, they're probably going to stay there.
I'd be tempted to bring them home myself, but knowing how I don't have room
and all, I'd probably just visit them every day and do what I could to make
them more comfortable. Perhaps over time they will learn to like humans and
get a nice home. At least they can be warm, fed, and loved a little, anyways.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

I did leve some treats in the shelter and they disappeared fairly
quick. Unfortunately, I got my closest look at 'one-eye' last night.
She needs help. Her eye is clearly infected. Not only missing, but
that side of her face is swollen. She isn't crying in pain, and does
cat like things like grooming herself, playing, stalking, etc, but it
has to be hurting her. I will wait to hear from the people I've called
and try not to otherwise interfere to much with their routine. I will
give them some food, but it looks like they are being fed.

Thank you Kaeli, for your well thought out advice.

--

"ceb2" wrote

Thank you Kaeli, for your well thought out advice.

--

Kaeli's great. You however are still a jackass.

"ceb2" wrote

Thank you Kaeli, for your well thought out advice.

--

Kaeli's great. You however are still a jackass.

"Arjun Ray" wrote in message lid...
On Tue, 26 Oct 2004 14:32:07 -0700, Steve G wrote:

Some of the ng regulars have had their cats declawed in the past.
They realised their mistake and did not repeat it.

ceb2 claimed to have "researched" the subject *before* mutilating his
kittens.

Yes. But the realities might take a while to percolate thru' the
cortex...

(...)

The thought of him adopting another cat appals me. I sincerely hope he
never does.

With his current views, maybe so. However, change is possible and
railing endlessly against him at every opportunity ain't going to help
any change along. Just seems pointless, unhelpful and unpersuasive.

(...)

My comment was on the choices that occured to ceb2. I found them quite
revealing. It wasn't about helping the cat; it was about how he could be
*seen* "helping". That is, it wasn't about benefit. It was about credit.

Might be so, but this is not a generous interpretation. Perhaps
highlighting the other choices would have spurred him into action -
who knows? And if he chose to ignore said choices, then more grist for
your mill anyway.

(...)

The info would be lost on him.

You don't know that. There's nothing to lose by providing some useful
suggestions (indeed, as included in your last post).

(...)

Calling the Humane Society is not a "choice" to make a difference. But
it's the kind of thing that would occur to a ceb2. He fits the mold of
the middle manager type in corporations. People who "manage" problems
rather than solve them (which means: getting someone else to take care of
them.)

I have nothing to say to such people, devoid as they are of imagination
and good sense.

Well, not every cat can be saved, and not everyone has the desire to
save cats personally. I don't think this makes the non-saver a bag of
devil's arse chunks. 'tis better that ceb2 at least thinks how to
assist the cats in some way, rather than not.

The Human Soc is some sort of option. It would realistically lead to
the cat's euthanasia, I suppose, but if the eyeless cat was in chronic
pain and facing a potentially worse death, then euthanasia is - IMO -
acceptable.

Steve.