Post by Chris - Cats Protection on Mar 3, 2009 13:44:00 GMT
This morning I was faced with the daunting task of starting our Magazine, so was scratching my head wondering what I could put in, when the helpline phone rang. The call inspired me to write the following, which I have called, The Discarded Cat.
I'm interested to know if you guys feel it brings the message across, at least a little bit.
Its a fictional story representing the calls which I get at least 4 or 5 times each week.
THE DISCARDED CAT
I want to try a paint a picture for you of the problems that can result from just one person not taking their responsibilities seriously.
Lets start with, lets say a student in rented accommodation, although it could just as easily be a professional couple, a family or a single working person, anyone in fact.
For the purposes of this story I will call this person, John.
John and his friends are out to buy a paper, they pass a Pet Shop, and Jake, his friend, needs some rabbit food, so they call in, John looks around and spots a kitten, all alone in a cage. He shouts his friends over, who all feel sorry for the kitten, so they pool their money, and between them buy the kitten, and a bright blue collar for it to wear.
‘Lets call it Blue’ and all agreed. So off they go, Blue, carried in Johns arms.
John takes it home, and only then realises that the kitten will need food, and somewhere to toilet, so he counts what money he has left and goes off to the Supermarket.
His finances stretch to some food, but a litter tray and litter are expensive, and after all, cats go to toilet outside, don’t they?
So Blue starts his life by eating cat food, which isn't suitable for him as he needs kitten food, and by being placed in a yard to do his toilet. But the food is too rich, and gives him a very sore belly and the runs, so John, starts to get a little annoyed, as Blue, makes a mess in the house.
So, John, who is busy studying, puts Blue in the yard, and decides to leave him there a while, hoping he will do his toilet there and not indoors, after all, that’s how you teach them, right?
The days pass, each seeing Blue, going through the same routine, but John now has College all day, so he decides that it would be best to leave Blue in the yard till he returns.
It rains, Blue has no shelter, so he tries and tries to get out of the yard in order to seek shelter from the rain, and after many tries succeeds in getting on top of the wall.
Wonder of wonders, there is so much to see, so many places to visit, his curiosity compels hom to view these things, his feeling of security within the yard, is no longer important, so he starts off on his adventure.
He finds all kinds of things, food thrown out for the birds, children, who stroke him and give him affection, and lots of cosy places to shelter from the rain.
But, its getting dark, and he cannot remember the way back to his yard, no matter, thinks Blue, I can shelter overnight in this shed and find John again tomorrow.
But Blue doesn't find John, the days turn into weeks, and into months, the collar gets tight, and people are not so friendly any more.
Other cats become a danger, for some reason, they see Blue as a threat, and regularly attack him, Blue doesn't understand why, And why should he, he is a cat, he doesn't understand that as he grows, his hormones change and he emits a smell that is picked up by other cats, and that smell spells a challenge for territory.
Neither does he understand that now that he is older, people no longer find him cute.
One day, whilst walking on top of a wall, Blue meets a big old tom cat, battered and scared from previous battles.
Blue instinctively knows, that he must fight this cat for survival. The tom started to howl and scream at Blue, and then it charged, Blue felt its teeth sink into his neck, Blue retaliated by sinking his claws into the back of the old cat. The two cats fought for what seemed hours to Blue, but in reality was only a few minutes, and when the chance came, Blue escaped and ran back to the shed, he had been sheltering in, where he groomed and licked his wounds.
This battle had really taken it out of Blue, he was exhausted, and the injury in his neck, pained him greatly. He soon fell asleep, and slept on and off for two days without a thought for food. Then on the third day he awoke, feeling better, hungry, and there was a scent in the air that he hadn't noticed before, it was enticing and his instincts told him he had to follow that scent, and another realisation hit him, if he were to survive out there, he had to be the cat who attacked first, he could not allow himself to be injured in such a way again.
One good thing though, Blue noticed the collar that had been so tight had broken and fell off during the fight, the skin under the collar, felt itchy and sore, but it would heal.
So off Blue went to find the source of the scent, and it lead him to another cat, a female. But again, there were other males around, so Blue, knew what he had to do. He boldly went forward, and summoned every bit of aggression within him. The sight of this fearsome cat, soon sent the opposition running, and the female was his.
His instinct told him, that she would soon give birth to kittens, his kittens, and now, his life had come full circle. His memories of John were now long gone, and instead, all the instincts nature had provided him with were now all that filled his very being.
Gone was the sweet kitten he once was, and instead, he was now a young adult, who would fight to survive any way he could.
The Autumn months were hard for Blue, he had done all he could for the female, by providing her with food while she gave birth to her kittens, but once that was over the female wouldn't allow him near, so Blue set off to wander once again, food was harder to come by now, as the weather had changed once again, snow covered the ground, but he did find the odd cat flap, where he could sneak in and find food, but a few times, the cat living there had challenged him. This was no problem to Blue, as he was now a strong fighter, and Blue had always managed the first bite, without being inflicted with much in the way of injuries himself.
Then one day, he went through a cat flap, one he visited regularly and found himself trapped. He thrashed around violently but couldn't escape, what was this?
Blue’s story doesn't end there, the trap was a Cats Protection trap, the owner of the house had asked us for help when a vicious cat had been coming into their home and attacking their cat.
Blue was taken to the Vets for neutering, but was found to have Feline Aids and Leukemia, no doubt from the injury he received, he was put to sleep. The female he mated with would be infected and the kittens he fathered would all die. The cat living in the house would also die of Feline Aids/Leukemia. And how many of the others Blue fought with, we will never know.
Was he a bad cat? Was he to blame?
A sad tale, but one we deal with all the time. Many cats are put to sleep, some as young as Blue.
Can you think of a better reason to neuter?
I'm interested to know if you guys feel it brings the message across, at least a little bit.
Its a fictional story representing the calls which I get at least 4 or 5 times each week.
THE DISCARDED CAT
I want to try a paint a picture for you of the problems that can result from just one person not taking their responsibilities seriously.
Lets start with, lets say a student in rented accommodation, although it could just as easily be a professional couple, a family or a single working person, anyone in fact.
For the purposes of this story I will call this person, John.
John and his friends are out to buy a paper, they pass a Pet Shop, and Jake, his friend, needs some rabbit food, so they call in, John looks around and spots a kitten, all alone in a cage. He shouts his friends over, who all feel sorry for the kitten, so they pool their money, and between them buy the kitten, and a bright blue collar for it to wear.
‘Lets call it Blue’ and all agreed. So off they go, Blue, carried in Johns arms.
John takes it home, and only then realises that the kitten will need food, and somewhere to toilet, so he counts what money he has left and goes off to the Supermarket.
His finances stretch to some food, but a litter tray and litter are expensive, and after all, cats go to toilet outside, don’t they?
So Blue starts his life by eating cat food, which isn't suitable for him as he needs kitten food, and by being placed in a yard to do his toilet. But the food is too rich, and gives him a very sore belly and the runs, so John, starts to get a little annoyed, as Blue, makes a mess in the house.
So, John, who is busy studying, puts Blue in the yard, and decides to leave him there a while, hoping he will do his toilet there and not indoors, after all, that’s how you teach them, right?
The days pass, each seeing Blue, going through the same routine, but John now has College all day, so he decides that it would be best to leave Blue in the yard till he returns.
It rains, Blue has no shelter, so he tries and tries to get out of the yard in order to seek shelter from the rain, and after many tries succeeds in getting on top of the wall.
Wonder of wonders, there is so much to see, so many places to visit, his curiosity compels hom to view these things, his feeling of security within the yard, is no longer important, so he starts off on his adventure.
He finds all kinds of things, food thrown out for the birds, children, who stroke him and give him affection, and lots of cosy places to shelter from the rain.
But, its getting dark, and he cannot remember the way back to his yard, no matter, thinks Blue, I can shelter overnight in this shed and find John again tomorrow.
But Blue doesn't find John, the days turn into weeks, and into months, the collar gets tight, and people are not so friendly any more.
Other cats become a danger, for some reason, they see Blue as a threat, and regularly attack him, Blue doesn't understand why, And why should he, he is a cat, he doesn't understand that as he grows, his hormones change and he emits a smell that is picked up by other cats, and that smell spells a challenge for territory.
Neither does he understand that now that he is older, people no longer find him cute.
One day, whilst walking on top of a wall, Blue meets a big old tom cat, battered and scared from previous battles.
Blue instinctively knows, that he must fight this cat for survival. The tom started to howl and scream at Blue, and then it charged, Blue felt its teeth sink into his neck, Blue retaliated by sinking his claws into the back of the old cat. The two cats fought for what seemed hours to Blue, but in reality was only a few minutes, and when the chance came, Blue escaped and ran back to the shed, he had been sheltering in, where he groomed and licked his wounds.
This battle had really taken it out of Blue, he was exhausted, and the injury in his neck, pained him greatly. He soon fell asleep, and slept on and off for two days without a thought for food. Then on the third day he awoke, feeling better, hungry, and there was a scent in the air that he hadn't noticed before, it was enticing and his instincts told him he had to follow that scent, and another realisation hit him, if he were to survive out there, he had to be the cat who attacked first, he could not allow himself to be injured in such a way again.
One good thing though, Blue noticed the collar that had been so tight had broken and fell off during the fight, the skin under the collar, felt itchy and sore, but it would heal.
So off Blue went to find the source of the scent, and it lead him to another cat, a female. But again, there were other males around, so Blue, knew what he had to do. He boldly went forward, and summoned every bit of aggression within him. The sight of this fearsome cat, soon sent the opposition running, and the female was his.
His instinct told him, that she would soon give birth to kittens, his kittens, and now, his life had come full circle. His memories of John were now long gone, and instead, all the instincts nature had provided him with were now all that filled his very being.
Gone was the sweet kitten he once was, and instead, he was now a young adult, who would fight to survive any way he could.
The Autumn months were hard for Blue, he had done all he could for the female, by providing her with food while she gave birth to her kittens, but once that was over the female wouldn't allow him near, so Blue set off to wander once again, food was harder to come by now, as the weather had changed once again, snow covered the ground, but he did find the odd cat flap, where he could sneak in and find food, but a few times, the cat living there had challenged him. This was no problem to Blue, as he was now a strong fighter, and Blue had always managed the first bite, without being inflicted with much in the way of injuries himself.
Then one day, he went through a cat flap, one he visited regularly and found himself trapped. He thrashed around violently but couldn't escape, what was this?
Blue’s story doesn't end there, the trap was a Cats Protection trap, the owner of the house had asked us for help when a vicious cat had been coming into their home and attacking their cat.
Blue was taken to the Vets for neutering, but was found to have Feline Aids and Leukemia, no doubt from the injury he received, he was put to sleep. The female he mated with would be infected and the kittens he fathered would all die. The cat living in the house would also die of Feline Aids/Leukemia. And how many of the others Blue fought with, we will never know.
Was he a bad cat? Was he to blame?
A sad tale, but one we deal with all the time. Many cats are put to sleep, some as young as Blue.
Can you think of a better reason to neuter?