Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ritcv.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!ucbvax!ucdavis!lll-crg!seismo!rochester!ritcv!jrc
From: jrc@ritcv.UUCP (James R. Carbin)
Newsgroups: net.pets
Subject: Re: cat detroyed(!) for \"accidents\"
Message-ID: <8938@ritcv.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 5-Oct-85 22:20:06 EDT
Article-I.D.: ritcv.8938
Posted: Sat Oct  5 22:20:06 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 8-Oct-85 07:20:38 EDT
References: <617@decwrl.UUCP>
Organization: Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY
Lines: 65

> 
>      j.r. Told us about a cat that had to be destroyed because it was
> using corners as a litter box.  j.r. told us that the cat had been used
> to having someone with it during the day and that the only thing the vet
> could suggest was to use repellant and if that didn't work, destroy the
> cat.  
>      GET ANOTHER VET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>   ...............
>      Sorry to flame so much about this, but I have very strong opinions
> about people who consider pets as disposible toys!  "well it doesn't work
> right we'll throw it away!"  
>      When you take in an animal, you take responsibilty for it just as your
> would a child!
> 
>      Grumble!
> 
> "I can resist everything except temptation" --Wilde
> 
> Tracey Heffelfinger
> Digital Equipment Corp.
> Greenville, S.C.
> 
     I don't want to start a stone-throwing contest here, but Tracey, 
you really are jumping to conclusions without proper foundation.  First,
there was more than one visit to the vet.  Second, this series of events
transpired over a period close to a year.  Third, the cat had lived in an
environment with someone home most of the time for over six years, and
I'm not sure that anything could have changed her at that age. 
     As for being responsible for a pet, I now have a four+ year old
spayed female which I found in a parking lot of a supermarket late one 
evening.  The vet (not the same one, in fact she is known as the Cat 
Doctor as she treats only cats) encouraged me to have her destroyed as
she was such a small kitten and had been terribly mauled, but I persisted.
Today I have a very devoted "friend" even if she is totally unwilling to
leave the confines of the house.  (With all the vet bills, I sometimes
refer to her as the $6,000,000 cat!  :-)     )
     To jump to the conclusion that I dispose of animals as if they
were disposable toys is a low blow that is unwarrented.
     Someone asked in this group if anyone had a similar problem, and
so I responded.  Next time, I'll think twice before doing so!

     NOW LET ME GRUMBLE FOR A MOMENT:  I POINTED OUT THAT THE ONLY WAY
THAT I COULD BRING MYSELF TO TAKE HER TO BE DESTROYED WAS TO CATCH HER
IN THE ACT, AND EVEN THEN I FELT TERRIBLE ABOUT IT AFTERWARDS!
     BUT AFTER ALMOST A YEAR OF ATTEMPTING TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM, YOU
CAN ONLY PUT UP WITH SO MUCH CAT URINE IN ONE CORNER OF YOUR DINING ROOM!
WITH THE PROSPECT OF HER USING ANOTHER CORNER ONCE SHE IS FINALLY HOUSE-
BROKEN IN THE FIRST CORNER.

AS FAR AS YOUR ANALOGY WITH A CHILD, SOMETIMES ADOPTIONS DON'T WORK OUT
AND THE CHILD IS PUT UP FOR READOPTION.  A FORMER COLLEAGUE OF MINE
ADOPTED A TEN YEAR OLD GIRL AND WITHIN THREE YEARS, THE SITUATION WAS
A DISASTER.   ANYWAY, YOUR ANALOGY WITH CHILD ADOPTION AS WELL AS YOUR OWN
BED-WETTING SITUATION AS A YOUNGSTER IS LUDICROUS!  NO MATTER HOW MUCH
I "LOVE" MY CAT, SHE IS STILL A CAT AND NOT A HUMAN BEING.  SHE DOEN'T
JOIN ME AT THE TABLE FOR DINNER, I DON'T HAVE A LIFE INSURANCE POLICY ON
HER, ETC.   EVEN WITHOUT THESE, I STILL THINK THAT SHE ENJOYS A HOME
THAT WOULD RANK IN THE TOP DECILE AS FAR AS CAT COMFORTS GO.
OH WHAT THE H***, WHY AM I EVEN TAKING THE TIME TO DEFEND MYSELF
AGAINST THESE ALLEGATIONS - IT IS SO EASY FOR YOU TO JUMP TO YOUR
OWN CONCLUSIONS WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW THE WHOLE STORY!

not as ever at the present moment,

j.r.      seismo!rochester!ritcv!jrc