Back for a good old Moan.

BlackCat2008

Hi, I haven't been around for a while but would like to take this opportunity to scream and pull my hair out for this one.

Neuter your cats.
Don't forget to chip either.

This is mating season folks and for anyone who thinks it's OK to just neuter females you couldn't be more wrong males need to be done as well.

Reasons Many will stay and wonder off with out fail
Many end up dead killed on the roads
Most will contract Felv and FIV
Yes they also catch STD'S
They leave a trail of pregnant females behind them
and shelters that have to pick up the tab or have to make the
choose of having them put to sleep.
Many uneuter males will sit outside a home were a female is in
heat for days and weeks at a time eating little or nothing and
becoming ill.

I know this is an old story and I'm as sick of it as much as anyone I've had five uneutered males come into me in the last month and I've had to give three into shelters, I'm only a small rescue and I'm already past full to the brim and know I'll be getting knocks on the door soon to take in kittens most likely fathered by the five males.

I hate to say it but when will people learn ???????????

I often speak to people who say they would never get another cat because they always run of, well guess what, get them neutered, do some research before you take on any animal.

I know I know, who am I to give out to people who don't neuter, after all for a small rescue with out funding and vet bills of 5-7000 a year I should be greatfull they give my the chance to care for their most prized possions.

Sorry to moan but I just feel like screaming and shaking someone :mad:

Please check lost and found for descriptions of the last two to come in if you are missing a cat or know of someone who is, then go and shake them for me please.

The Sweeper

Ah BlackCat, it'll take time but eventually we'll get there, where most of the owners who own cats make that mindshift toward vaccinating, neutering and not allowing their cats to roam.

If you think, 20 years ago nobody neutered their dog and it was always allowed to roam and hardly ever saw a worm tablet, so maybe the cats are close behind. You can but hope!

(Maybe if the breeders start making the domestic cat bigger and they start eating small children there might be a rethink about letting them roam? - That's a joke, by the way, before anyone starts on me for being irresponsible. You have to admit, the summer of the rottweiler and the tabloids in the UK did a huge amount to change the public attitude to dog care.)

Lauragoesmad

Blackcat, I am as annoyed as you. I have a lovely little 10 month old male cat staying with me at the moment and I have my own cat. Both are neutered/spayed. There has been a big black cat (funnily enough) meowing like mad outside my backdoor for the past two nights. I would understand if my female was not spayed. Its very annoying altogether and poor Bessie (the dog) is really getting bothered by him. BooUrns to un-neutered and unspayed cats!!

Our man in Havana

Ok now you have had your moan I will watch this thread closely & I will lock this thread if it gets out of hand - spay & neuter threads often get out to control.

Yes I do understand why you get annoyed - I have 1 male that was dumped outside my place to trap & neuter - I have spayed & neutered over 30 cats since I have lived here & I am NOT a rescue! I have even tamed 2 of my feral toms & plan to get the new male tamed in time.

However I can not afford to chip all of these cats & why should I when most pounds & rescues do not have a scanning machine?

The Sweeper

Bond-007 wrote: »

However I can not afford to chip all of these cats & why should I when most pounds & rescues do not have a scanning machine?

Well, if they're not yours, I'd say you don't have to chip them to be honest. You've done enough already by having all of those animals neutered when your'e not even a rescue.

The purpose of a microchip is to allow an animal that's been lost be reunited with its owner - which is pointless in your case if they're feral ("Thank you Mr Ranger, for returning this feral cat to my property, you rock." )

Do most pounds in Ireland really not have microchip readers? I know there's an inequality between the care afforded to dogs and that afforded to cats but I'd still expect a pound to have a chip reader for the dogs... (if you know what I mean - e.g. they bought it with the dogs in mind, but can use it for the cats as well.)

The woman who runs the shelter I help with has something ridiculous like over 30 years of animal welfare experience. She used to work at domestic shelters and pounds, then couldn't take the deliberate cruelty dealt by owners, so moved to wildlife rescue. After a long time in wildlife rescue, she decided to dedicate her life to championing the underdog as it were - the domestic cat. She reckoned no other animal had so few people sticking up for it, because the cat is so hated in Australia - and it's hated because it's uncontrolled, uncontained, spreads disease, kills the wildlife, craps all over people's gardens and breeds like a rabbit.

Call me Socket

Ireland is slowly catching up with the notion of microchips and scanners. Only 10 years ago only a handful of rescues had a scanner, but now that microchipping has been so widely promoted and pushed by groups like Dogs Trust there are more and more scanners being used by rescues and pounds. A long way to go yet but microchipping your dog is catching on as a good idea!
Cats?.....forget it. Pedigree cats are chipped I'm sure, and some owners will do it, but I'd guess at only 2%. Jaysus, trying to convince owners to neuter or vaccinate is still a major uphill battle, and one that's not going to be won anytime soon.

The Sweeper

Well, again, all you can do is keep plugging away.

Most cat owners aren't mental like me, and stick to one cat at a time, not five with four or five more fosters on the go. Their experience is one to two cats at a time and they're indoctrinated with the "cats need to roam, cats need space, cats need freedom".

The might have one cat that lives to 12 years and one that gets hit by a car at two years, so that 50/50 split encourages them to keep going as they have been.

Because I work with a shelter, I see constant streams of cat injuries, cat cruelty, feral cats, un-neutered cats, unwanted kittens, huge vet bills, tiny vet bills because people don't bring the cat to the vet, so on, so forth. Hence I'm converted, so I keep scratching away at other people (and miaowing loudly) to convert them too.

Call me Socket

Well fair play to you! And to BlackCat2008, ye do great work;)
I haven't seen a fraction of the feline suffering ye have, the strays that I took in weren't mistreated- just unwanted or lost...or pregnant Now I have 7 very spoiled masters!!

The Sweeper

In fairness I don't get involved with the worst of the cruelty and injury cases - I'm not the one there all the time who takes in the carpet-covered skeletons and the sore-covered feline aids cases and so on and so forth.

I just donate time and money and clean up crap and get the fosters that come in like hissing toilet brushes and hopefully leave as well-adjusted snugglies who no longer assume all people are evil.

BlackCat2008

I knew I wasn't alone on this subject, it just really gets my goat, I am expecting with the reccession, to be over whelmed with animals, but surely people should have a cat at nearly 2yrs old done and dusted.

I haven't been around for a while because I have been working over time to keep up with what I have never mined the one's coming in.

I have kittens from Cork, Wexford, Bray and Meath and I live in Dublin.

For those who are thinking of taking on animals and are reading this please keep in mind that vets will allow you to leave money with them and when you have enough saved with them you can then bring your pet along to be done, one of my vets only charges 40 euro for chipping when you have your cat neutered at the same time, testing for Felv and FIV is now only 50-60 euro's with the new kits they are using and the blue cross's new hospital is due to open soon if it hasn't already.

This reccession business seems to have people running scared and I do think they need to realise the money hasn't gone anywere it's still here, it's just moved from construction to another sector that will soon show it's head.

I've only recently started to chip the ferrals I deal with so I can be found if they need help, and I'm waiting on the DSPCA to appear to do it's monthly chipping so I can have some others done, if anyone has a heads up on were they will land next please let me know.

I guess I'm just working so hard it's all just catching up with me, but if I can do it with two kids in toe and 21 animals, it just makes me mad to think that some of these owners who have nothing better to do can't be bothered.

I know loosing my 13yr old Lara CNV00012.JPG rececntly has stressed me out some what and made me worry about how many just like her are still out there in need of help, I only got to have her for three years and the worst case I've ever had come through my doors I just wish people would think before they take on an animal.

I've been driving around Dublin alot recently to work and I honestly can't remember seeing so many cats and dogs left to wonder the street, and I see horses are making a come back as well which is very worring.

I was also wondering if anyone was intrested in starting a small group to bring about awareness of uneutered cats, it would just involve putting up posters in local shops and community centre's etc. with as much info as possible on were and how. It would involve researching each county to find the cheapest ways to neuter, chip and vac's and printing out the posters to put up, I could try to appeal to the arts to help us out with some pictures, I'm going to at leased start with Dublin In the next while and use some photo's of my own lot, just need a good writer now, anyone interested ????

Sorry for the long moan and bond is right it dosen't need to turn out to be another war to close down, instead I think energy should be put into trying to solve the problom rader then ripping through those who wouldn't care anyway.