cruel or humane?

[Jennsen]

I would like to share my experience with you and would like to know what your opinion is with saving abandoned kittens.
I saved my little Jack right after birth, and he didnt adjust well to the kitten replacement milk and became very constipated at 5 days old. I took him to the vet and while I was waiting for them to give him an enema, a worker brought me some papers to read. These papers were all about why it is inhumane and cruel to save abandoned kittens and it's best to leave them to die. They explained how without the mother cat to discipline the kitten and teach it certain behavior standards it would most certainly grow into a unrulely adult cat with terrible social problems. They would begin to attack the people around it and would not know when to quit with biting and mood swings.

They vet asked me if I understood what the papers meant, and more or less scolded me for saving Jack when I should have left him and not looked back. This was very upsetting and I was so angry that they actually had the nerve to tell me I was in the wrong!

Since then I have have come across and read several articles that have said the exact same thing. I'm sure this is true for the few kittens that dont receive the care and total love they should be getting when rescued. I'm thank every day for Jack and all the other kittens that have turned out to be loving, affectionate, and well adjusted. As I'm sure many other kittenmoms are!

I could never just look the other way and leave a crying kitten to die, no matter what the outcome is.

And please, I am sorry if I have offended anyone with my thoughts on this, it just has hit a soft spot with me, and I've been angry over it for along time.

Thanks for listening to my ranting on this!
Jenn

[kittycats_delight]

I think I would be rather upset too. You would have to be a pretty cruel and heartless person to do that to a little baby. I can't believe your vet wold scold you about saving a little life. And that they would have the audacity to be so rude. You were trying to save the life of a sweet little one who could not fend for himself. Would they say the same thing if it was an abandoned child you found just a few hours old. Of course not. And from what I have heard from many of the bottlebaby moms here and elsewhere these kittens grow up to me the most affectionate and loyal of adults. I think sometimes the training and studies of the vet and others gets in the way of their humanity and caring.

[rosethecopycat]

It is a life worth saving.
I have no experience with bottle babies, yet. We have some folks here, who bottle feed babies.
I know that other lactating mother cats will surrogate a kitten.

Does this person have paperwork about human babies stating how a mother is needed to discipline and rear a child?

[QueenScoopalot]

Being one person out of thousands, I can say with sincerity, rescuing feral kittens is very worthwhile. ;) I'd be inclined to find another vet if I heard such nasty comments. :mad: Does this look like a feral to you? :confused:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v128/QueenScoopalot/MMMMmmmmDelicious.jpg
The cat above (my beloved Sweet Pea) was trapped when she was OVER six months old! :eek: Many of her litter mates were feral and found furever homes. Please give the kitten a chance. Feral turnarouds are the best.;)

[Jennsen]

Oh yes, I have found a new vet! And thank you everyone, I know this is just the "opinion" of some so-called experts that probably sit behind a desk, and have never known anyone who has rescued kittens or a rescued kitten itself! I've have seen quite a few articles in cat magazines lately also. And to my disappointment a big one in Cat Fancy, which I became irrate with! This was from a "cat expert" which credits herself for breeding and raising over 150 kittens! Hmmmm...I'm sorry but I feel strongly about spaying and neutering, there are too many unwanted cats out there to be breeding them for profit! So, with that statement I was irritated even before I read her article!
I'm glad to hear I'm not the only ones who disagrees with rescuing is cruel!

Jenn

[moosmom]

Jenn,

I'd be upset too if someone gave me material telling me stray kittens should be left to die! :mad:

Do what you best. This picture CERTAINLY doesn't look feral. Besides, I've trained feral kittens can be converted to loving kittens and cats as late as 6 months, with enough love, affection and attention.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v128/QueenScoopalot/MMMMmmmmDelicious.jpg

[carole]

Jenn just take a look at your Jack and there is your answer.:)

[Jennsen]

You are so right Carole! Jack is a perfect example that abandoned kittens can be the best thing to ever happen to you! I just wish "the experts" wouldnt publish that kind of information, because someone will think it's the right thing to do and leave them to die. But any true cat and animal lover would never do such a thing! Thanks I needed that!

Jenn

[The Cat Lady]

That vet should be brought up on charges. I rescued a day old whose mother had abandoned him because his leg was deformed. He was infected with fleas and at first I thought he was dead. I went to pick him up to bury him, and the poor little guy made a pitiful sound. I was told by everyone I spoke to about him that it was very unlikely that he would survive. The fleas were horrendous and I used a tiny flea comg for hours to brush them away. He couldn't even suckle, so tiny he was. I bottle fed, gave him subQ fluids (injecting water under his skin to keep him hydrated), and stimulated him to go potty. I had two weeks of 24/7 monitoring of him to pull him through, and pull through, he did. He did develop a minor biting problem as a young kitten - as he had no other kittens to teach him how it felt to be bitten - but that problem was solved when I rescued another kitten his age from a shelter and put them together, The new kitten bit the tar out of him three or four times and he learned real quick not to bite! Six months later he went in for surgery on his deformed foot/leg and had to have it amputated completely. Two months later he was adopted into a wonderful home with someone who already had one "tripod" cat. Now he and his fellow three-legged have run of the house :) Cruel to rescue an infant kitten? I think not! Even when the odds are stacked against them, it is inevitably about their will to survive and our willingness to help them do so. They won't always pull through as my little kitten did, but as long as I draw breath, they will be given a chance to...

[carole]

Just look at the story of Orphan Annie, who was to be PTS by the spca, and look how she has turned out, that itself is proof that this is the right thing to do, shame on that vet service.:(

[Jennsen]

The vet clinic that gave me the papers and the lecture, is the same vet that would not get out of bed at 3am to help my Lab Buck when he jumped out a house window from the inside out. Buck was about 1yr at the time, and for reason we cant explain, he jumped out the window and cut an artery in his neck. I frantically called this vets emergancy number and got a very rude responce to call him in the morning. We took turns keepping pressure on this until our arms went numb. In the morning we drove the 60 miles to another vet and Buck was fine.
The only reason this vet is still in business is because he's the only one around here, which is a shame for everyone that has to put up with him!
Thank you for all your thoughts on this!

[krazyaboutkatz]

I'm so glad that you've switched vets because if my vet had said that you should just leave kittens to die I would run from that vet as fast as I could.:mad:
My future kitten Starr is a bottle fed baby and was rescued at 1-2 days old. He's the sweetest little kitten and loves people.:) His foster mom deals with many many bottle fed babies and they're always so sweet that they never have any problems finding homes. Two of her cats were bottle fed by her and they are sweethearts.:) I think that this vet should visit some of these foster moms who have bottle fed babies and then I think he'd change his mind.;)

[carole]

I also remember wanting a beautiful calico kitten that was at the pet shop, she was so sweet, she had been hand raised and she was certainly different in nature in a very positive way.

[JenBKR]

Argg, that is so wrong of that vet. My baby Belle was an abandoned kitty, left on a friend's porch with her two brothers at about two weeks. I did bottle feed her some, but waht she really wanted was tuna fish or soft food, as that was what my friend's mom was feeding her. She is the best cat. I love that animal more than I can say in words. She had bad fleas and lice, and was also constipated when we first got her. She is now very healthy, happy, sweet, and loving. That's such a shame that the vet told you that. Here's her baby picture.



Could you abandon this little sweetie???:confused: :confused:

[Jennsen]

Aww she is so sweet!

I have been upset over what that vet told me for 4 years now, and every time I come across an article in a cat magazine that says the same thing I go crazy!

I had to laugh when I read baby Belle only wanted to eat tuna or soft food, because when I found caroline(another rescue kitten) at 4 weeks, she would only eat turkey or chicken and to this day that's all she wants. At 2 1/2 she only weighs 3-4 pounds(tiny) and will only eat just enough cat food to survive. But her size also has something to do with why she was abandoned I'm sure (as nature has it's ways) She was also born without a uterus

[JenBKR]

I have never heard anything about leaving an abandoned cat to die. That really surprised me. Belle is still pretty small too (almost 7 lbs.) and still wants only soft food. She will eat a little dry food when she is starving. When we first got her she refused to eat dry food until we fed her soft...other people said to leave the dry food there are she would eventually eat it. Well...she ate NOTHING for 3 days. Not a bite. I felt so bad, I could not let that go on, so ever since she gets her soft food. :rolleyes:

[G535]

Kind of makes one wonder why some people study to be vets when they don't have any real compassion for animals.

[krazyaboutkatz]

This is a bit off the subject but is one of my bad experiences with a vet.

When I took Storm to the emergency vets, the vet in charge that night found out that I owned 4 cats. She asked me if I was a foster mom or involved with a rescue group. I told her no, that they were just my cats. She then said that in vet school they were taught that cats are solitary creatures and that they prefer to be by themselves and she thought that 4 cats was just way too many cats to own. She made me very upset but I just bit my tongue.:mad: I later remembered that feral cats stay in colonies so cats really aren't as solitary as she thinks. I also don't understand why some people become vets if all they do is cut down their clients. I guess they're just in it for the money.:mad:

[BigCharles]

I'll weigh in here. Both sides may be right if, and ONLY if, there are no other cats in the house. I only say that because there is a slim possibility on the down side.

Now if you house already has existing cats, I would not worry. I remember hearing a kitten cry out in John's barn one afternoon. We knew that there was a momma cat out there. John said that he had not seen momma in a couple of days. We searched and found a two inch long kitten. The next day John found another.

Long story short: these two turned out to be the ruggedest cut ups ever. You did not need a storm to hear thunder, yes thes two chasing through the house. They are not anti-social and can behave just like the other cats. John had three others in the house at the time.

Now, John was also home all the time. He was a full time farmer by then. He could be there to do the bottle feeding six times a day. The neighbors, especially the kids, loved to come and help out.


Judge for yourself. If you can devote the needed time and resources, then go for it. Yes you will have to be the teacher if there are no other cats.

[Jennsen]

It really makes you wonder sometimes doesnt it! I know every cat I've ever had hates to be alone. They all sleep together on my bed, and eat together...all of mine would be lost without another cat for company! It's funny when my 2 cats that are allowed to go outside come in, Oliver waits at the door and jumps all over them and will fall down right in front of them and lick them to death. Here's a picture of oliver and Jack sleeping in my chair



http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v280/LynnSea7/JackOliver.jpg

[Jennsen]

Originally posted by BigCharles
I'll weigh in here. Both sides may be right if, and ONLY if, there are no other cats in the house. I only say that because there is a slim possibility on the down side.

Now if you house already has existing cats, I would not worry. I remember hearing a kitten cry out in John's barn one afternoon. We knew that there was a momma cat out there. John said that he had not seen momma in a couple of days. We searched and found a two inch long kitten. The next day John found another.

Long story short: these two turned out to be the ruggedest cut ups ever. You did not need a storm to hear thunder, yes thes two chasing through the house. They are not anti-social and can behave just like the other cats. John had three others in the house at the time.

Now, John was also home all the time. He was a full time farmer by then. He could be there to do the bottle feeding six times a day. The neighbors, especially the kids, loved to come and help out.


Judge for yourself. If you can devote the needed time and resources, then go for it. Yes you will have to be the teacher if there are no other cats.

Their behavior and attitude has alot to do with their genetics. I've had cats that were raised by their mother and myself handling them from birth, and they were hard to deal with as adults. I have one right now, Max who's 15 yrs old, and he hates people, he wouldnt let anyone, including myself, pet him until a couple of years ago. He would flip around and bite! When he was about 2yrs I picked him up and he bit through my bottom lip. He was raised by his mother. So it just depends on their blood line.

[QueenScoopalot]

Originally posted by Jennsen
Their behavior and attitude has alot to do with their genetics. I've had cats that were raised by their mother and myself handling them from birth, and they were hard to deal with as adults. I have one right now, Max who's 15 yrs old, and he hates people, he wouldnt let anyone, including myself, pet him until a couple of years ago. He would flip around and bite! When he was about 2yrs I picked him up and he bit through my bottom lip. He was raised by his mother. So it just depends on their blood line.
I read a while back about a study of cat genetics, and feral lines. This seems quite true also, but the researchers found that kittens sired by a human friendly tom cat tend to be much more social toward humans even if raised on a bottle, whereas kittens sired by very feral toms are not as affectionate. As many know several different tom cats can father one litter of kittens due to the way a cat's uterus is set up. I have had litters come through here that have very human friendly babies, and some in the same litter that just don't warm up no matter what! :eek: :rolleyes: I thought that was very interesting. ;) Keep on rescuing those street waifs everyone, and ignore the ignorant comments from vets and people who claim to be 'in the know'! We know better. ;) :) This is not the article I had read before, but another one I came across not long ago.....http://www.messybeast.com/paternal.htm

[carole]

QSA and other's I strongly believe cats are just like humans, you get your shy ones, your extroverts, your grumpy ones, your happy ones, your skittish ones, and your gentle ones.

My own two are like chalk and cheese, different in every single way, one is gentle, sweet natured and skittish or timid, and the other is grumpy, not too fond of human touch, but he has a purrsonality all of his own, that I love about him, he is my lovely boy all the same.

Both kitties were strays, one picked up from a shelter the other roaming my street, so I have really no idea about their parent kitties or their life before here., either could have been abused and both were neglected, who is to say how that affected one or both.

I would imagine kittens born to feral mother's and father's would be less sociable all the same.

They are a mixed bag as humans, and each one has their own endearing qualities, and of course that particular vet service should be ignored.:(