Some people should not have pets! (long)

[fragrancehound]

I have to gripe. I have these neighbors across the street from me that have owned several cats through out the years but don't appear to take very good care of them. Each year they seem to get more and more kittens and younger cats but keep them outside most of the time, even in the middle of winter! We live in a major city with lots of car traffic. In the summer time the city sprays the alleys with rat poison. It is just not safe to have outdoor cats where I live.

When I first moved here several years ago this neighbor was walking by my house and I said to her that I just saw your cat run across the street thinking maybe she was looking for him. Do you know what her response was to me?? She said "oh, I was wondering why he came back bloody and messy." Can you believe this crap?? Her attitude just amazed me. Another time her husband almost ran over one of their other cats, a cute black and white kitty, with his car. Since then I refuse to socialize with her or her family.

Later that year I saw this same gorgeous black and white cat sitting on the sidewalk on Christmas day. It was a very cold and snowy day too. This poor thing was shivering so I took him in and fed him. I took him to the vet and I was surprised that he was not even neutered. I honestly do not think he had been to a vet even though he was 1 yr. old. I am happy to say that 3 years later he is still with me...my little Shadow. I don't think they ever looked for him either. Their loss is my gain!

Anyway, I have called the city several times filing complaints about this family but I don't think anything happens. It seems like each year they have more and more cats, especially young kittens roaming the streets. I don't know what to do.

What pisses me off even more is this neighbor woman spends more time caring for her freakin garden which looks like a Kmart blue light special than actually caring for her cats. Seriously, if you are not going to be a responsible pet owner than don't take on the responsibility.

Rant over

[AbbyMom]

We hear you. We understand.

Here's a thought: The cat rescue where I used to volunteer would go and speak to people like that about the importance of neuter/spay.

They would even take the cats to their own low-cost vet for neuter/spay and then return them. They felt this was one more aspect of saving cat lives and frankly preferable to finding homes for unwanted kittens.

Perhaps you could call a local rescue and ask their advice? Maybe they'll help.

Now, I don't remember seeing pictures of your sweet shadow...hint hint.

[LionHart]

It's a shame.

There's a beautiful dirty white booted tabby male, not neutered, who showed up one night. He acted hungry, looked it coz he was thin. We started to feed him, I named him Bootsie. He was very approachable and one day I picked him up and took him to the vet who offers his services to a feral program. About 2 weeks later while we were out talking to a neighbor Bootsie walks up. Our neighbor says, “Hi Jake.”

“Jake?”

“Yeah, that's Jake. Look at his ear; he must have got into a fight. We can’t keep him in because all he does is spray around the house”

Oops! My room mate & I explained what happened. Thankfully the neighbor wasn’t upset. I look at it this way, if you let your pet run around without id, not spayed or neutered they're better off with someone like us. Someone has to take responsibility!

Oh, get this... the lady didn't even notice that 'Jake' had his load lightened!

[catmandu]

The Idiots Up The Street Are Such Clods.
They Let Thier Children To Play At An Abandoned Warehouse Where They Have Pried The Boards Off The Doors And They Run The Streets Yelling And Screaming.
Then They Sit And Guzzle Beer In The Back.
They Have So Many Cats There And Once They Are Past The Kitten Stage They Are Exiled.
I Still Remember The Boy Taking A Cat Back And Having The Person Throw Him Like A Football Into The Lawn.
We Poofed Him And Several Cats And Had To Have The Vet Put Some To Sleep.
Theres A Smaller Tortie, An Orange Cat And Another Black Cat Now. At Least Theres A Place Under The Porch.
I Am Going To See If Rufus The Fairly Young Orange Will Come In.
They Cant Take Care Of Themselves Let Alone Pets.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr rr!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DJFyrewolf36]

Clods indeed! My parents have a neighbor with an unfixed female. Last year, we found a kitten in poor health and sadly it passed away (some of you may remember Bitz). This year (I think because the kittens werent born so late in the year) it seems like there are at least 5 maybe 6 healthy surviors. The stupid local animal control refuses to trap them (they are full ) and my parents don't have any way to get traps. I'm thinking since they are getting old enough to be altered, I'm going to try and get some traps from thel humane society up here in Reno and see if I can get them fixed...and hopefully get all of them and the momma cat adpted out to people that will keep them indoors.

[Anikaca77]

That is a very hard situation. I know when I did a rescue last summer I was only able to spay and neuter the cats thanks to bestfriends.org who funded the rescue. I was able to get most of the cats and find the kittens homes but it was a very sad situation because the women was not providing any medical care and a few I had to PTS because they were dying on her step.

I would try them or see if there is a cheap low-cost TNR near you that would take the cats the only problem with that is you have to have all of them so you can tell them how many you want to fix etc.

The other thing is maybe if you have an SPCA near you maybe they would offer to fix them for free considering you want to help stop the overpopulation of cats around..

My prays are with you and it's hard thing to have to watch.

Melissa

[Medusa]

Yes, unfortunately there are "kitiots" everywhere. It's because my neighbor refused to give emergency vet care to her kitten that I took her. She was my Peeka Pie, who had to have her tail amputated due to cruelty from kids who tried to skin her alive. I took her brother, Boo, too, and the rest is history. She could've cared less. Her response: "Hey, they're outdoor cats. We don't do vet care for them." But she had two dogs that she treated like babies. I love dogs, too, and I'm not saying that they didn't deserve the best care. But the cats do, too. Anyhow, my point is that we'll see this type of behavior forever, I'm afraid. We can either turn a blind eye to it or do what we can to help. You did what you could and for that, we thank you. If you can do more, you won't regret it. I'd use every option available to me if I were you, your neighbors be damned. As you said, they didn't even notice so it's doubtful that they'll notice anything else either or care if they do notice. Good luck.

[moosmom]

That woman's an idiot. It's people like her that make people like us take up the crusade for abandoned, abused and neglected cats.

[Anikaca77]

Where are you from?

I have to gripe. I have these neighbors across the street from me that have owned several cats through out the years but don't appear to take very good care of them. Each year they seem to get more and more kittens and younger cats but keep them outside most of the time, even in the middle of winter! We live in a major city with lots of car traffic. In the summer time the city sprays the alleys with rat poison. It is just not safe to have outdoor cats where I live.

When I first moved here several years ago this neighbor was walking by my house and I said to her that I just saw your cat run across the street thinking maybe she was looking for him. Do you know what her response was to me?? She said "oh, I was wondering why he came back bloody and messy." Can you believe this crap?? Her attitude just amazed me. Another time her husband almost ran over one of their other cats, a cute black and white kitty, with his car. Since then I refuse to socialize with her or her family.

Later that year I saw this same gorgeous black and white cat sitting on the sidewalk on Christmas day. It was a very cold and snowy day too. This poor thing was shivering so I took him in and fed him. I took him to the vet and I was surprised that he was not even neutered. I honestly do not think he had been to a vet even though he was 1 yr. old. I am happy to say that 3 years later he is still with me...my little Shadow. I don't think they ever looked for him either. Their loss is my gain!

Anyway, I have called the city several times filing complaints about this family but I don't think anything happens. It seems like each year they have more and more cats, especially young kittens roaming the streets. I don't know what to do.

What pisses me off even more is this neighbor woman spends more time caring for her freakin garden which looks like a Kmart blue light special than actually caring for her cats. Seriously, if you are not going to be a responsible pet owner than don't take on the responsibility.

Rant over

[Pawsitive Thinking]

I understand completely how you feel.

We've got a family just like that near us so I sent them a leaflet anonymously on getting their cats spayed and neutered for free

[Pawla]

I agree totally! If they are not going to be viewed as a member of the family, then don't bring them to live with you! I took my neighbors cat about six years ago for this very same reason. She lives with my ex husband. She was the cutest, most loving little girl, and they just left her outside on a busy street. I finally got fed up! I took her to the vet for a check, and brought her inside where she still lives.

[Catlady711]

I've got several neighbors like that. The nearest one is causing havoc in MY house because of it. They have an unneutered tabby that frequently poops in my flowerbeds. It wears a collar with no tags, and the neighbors idea of feeding it consists of a 50# bag of meow mix sitting in a chair on the front porch with the top cut off the bag. I've seen the cat (and the now dozen other neighborhood cats) with their front half buried in the bag eating. I've never seen a water dish out there, but it does drink out of my pond though. The problem is that this (and a couple other cats) hang around outside my windows and causes my own cats to go nuts either trying to smash through the screen to fight the cat outside, OR my own cats get all worked up and start fighting among themselves. So even when it's 90+ degrees outside I have had to close ALL my downstairs windows and we all swelter just to keep the peace if any other cats are out there!!!

BTW these neighbors also have a young shepard mix that they made an outside dog, and after several near attacks on other neighbors, they finally fenced the dog in, but it isn't socalized nor trained, growls and barks when other people are in their own yards, and from what little I"ve talked to the owner the dog does not go to the vet at all for anything. They have a pomeranian in the house but they don't take it to the vet for anything either, although at least that one doesn't charge people trying to bite them.

[Medusa]

My cats do the same thing. A couple of neighborhood cats (no one knows who they belong to) come up on my patio sometimes to groom, sometimes to spray. Well, my cats have been pretty good about not peeing anywhere but since those other cats started coming around, Yodie started peeing again, so I had to increase her dosage of Clomicalm. People just don't realize the problems they cause when they're irresponsible pet owners, problems not only for their dear animals but for the rest of us, too.

[KittyGurl]

I can't stand when people do that to their pets. I just makes me so mad I remember my neighbor adopted an eight-week-old kitten. We were friends and she was about twelve. I remember going over her house and seeing that kitten. I went on vacation for a week and when I came back, I went to say 'hi' to her kitten. It wasn't there. I aked "Where is your kitten?"
This is what she said back "I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?"
"Well, we got a dog and the dog kept attacking our kitten so I let her outside." That was her answer.
I was mad. Actually I was more than mad. Who is the world would do that to a nine week old kitten. A NINE WEEK OLD KITTEN!?

Anyway, two weeks later, I found the kitten in an alley way. I took her in and fed her. I went over to my friends' house and said "I found your cat."
"Good for you" she said.
I was mad. Then she told me she got another cat. And guess what: I found the same cat out on the streets. ERRRRRRRRR. After that, I never talked to her. I can't stand people. If people are mean to animals, I don't want to be their friends. They are just mean people!

[Medusa]

Everyone here on PT knows how you feel. Unfortunately, this is an every day occurrence all over the world.