Disposable Pets

I agree Weezie – best make people feel bad about bringing pets back. That way they will tie them to a post and stove their heads in with a cricket bat rather than endure your disapproval.

@ niftydog…

Oh really? So offering temp accomodation for them until I sorted myself out is too … what, hard?

@MSG…

Indeed, my GP supported me until the Mental Health Crisis team could get there. Thankyou for your concern.

Quick Thread Hijack:

I recommend that if others are feeling wobbly, call your GP, explain to the receptionist it would be a good idea to see your GP immediately, and then reveal how you are feeling to them. Feeling fragile is an indicator that you may need to share “where you really are” with someone trained to help.

End Hijack, Continue Rant:

Stability would be easier to achieve if my cats had been held for me until I got back on my feet. ‘Cause then I would not have the added anguish of explaining to my kids – frequently, even now it is three years on – that their pets were given to other people because mum was sick and couldn’t look after them.

Hey, I still have my kids, and have been supported in my parenting of them by government funded bodies: but the RSPCA decided I should not have my cats returned to me.

DodgyBoys said :

And I have to say I never saw my cat as disposable…something to be returned if she wasn’t ‘right’. I would never have given her up, but I would liked to have known about the health problem.

Someone will undoubtably come back in this forum and say that the RSPCA couldn’t have known she was sick – but she was sick from the time I got her. And I believe they can test for the disease. And the disease is highly transmissible to other cats. Not good folks.

They test cats for the disease, not kittens under 6 months of age.

I have had several cats with feline aids. I know this can severely foreshorten their lives but it is in no way predicatble. One of my FIV positive cats lived to age 16 with minimal health problems and another is about 12 and just starting to show signs of poor health. Just as HIV is not a death sentence, neither is FIV and it is a shame that the RSPCA is in a position which makes it difficult for them to save all cats, even those with FIV.

CHW said :

…if someone at the RSPCA had maybe gone into the why of my decision to surrender my beloved cats… then who knows what a little offer to help might have done in the right place.

It’s absolutely not the RSPCA’s job to do anything like you’re suggesting and most people would be offended if RSPCA staff started prying into their personal lives.

Hey CHW, I hope you did eventually get some support.

If you go to http://cmhr.anu.edu.au/ and look under “community resources” there are a range of online support programs for people experiencing mental health problems, they may be useful to you.

And I have to say I never saw my cat as disposable…something to be returned if she wasn’t ‘right’. I would never have given her up, but I would liked to have known about the health problem.

Someone will undoubtably come back in this forum and say that the RSPCA couldn’t have known she was sick – but she was sick from the time I got her. And I believe they can test for the disease. And the disease is highly transmissible to other cats. Not good folks.

I got a young cat from the RSPCA (about 4 months old) and she had the runs constantly. I have to say the RSPCA was very helpful, took her back for a few days and assured me she was fine. She still had the runs when she came home.

Fast forward 18 months, constant vet visits and I found that she had feline aids and she died before she was 2 years old. Broke my heart. Would I get a kitten cat from the RSPCA again? Absolutely. Would I be careful about the health of the cat/kitten I chose? You better believe it.

This doesn’t make what this person who returned a kitten any better – nor would I condone it, but sometimes…….

MrPC said :

IMHO better that pets have a chance at a loving home than be neglected by someone that doesn’t want them.

Trouble is, these people/person probably swapped it over for a “better model”…

IMHO better that pets have a chance at a loving home than be neglected by someone that doesn’t want them.

We live in a society of convenience. We call the police when conflict arises. We go to the hospital when we are hurt. People would much rather that someone else take care of their problems rather than trying to take matters into their own hands.

The answer is easy… People see the cute puppys and kittens in the window shop and they decide they want it (you know these days of I want everything NOW), and so they buy the pet without realising that animals get sick and they require time and attention, and are not always fun to be around, and that the cute little puppy or kitten in the window grows up into a adult dog or cat, which IMHO can still be very cute, some people don’t see it that way.

So in one of the not so fun moments they give the animal away (or dump it somewhere) and that’s that.

The problem is that animal’s don’t come with off-switches. You can’t put them away into the cupboard when you’ve finished playing with them. And before you say “well no duh”, most people don’t think of this before they purchase their pet.

Well, maybe they are having a mental health crisis?

Maybe they thought having a little life to be responsible for would protect them from choosing to end their own life?

Maybe they were unable to defend themselves against the bad thoughts, and brought the kitty back to the people who cared for it in the first place?

Maybe, instead of posting with a soupcon of incredulous, disbelieving anger, you should be checking on that person, just to make sure that the season has not been a really hard one for them – you know, just to see if they may not be considering topping themselves.

Phew – seriously, guys, I am reading a lot into it, I get that.

Just that if someone at the RSPCA had maybe gone into the why of my decision to surrender my beloved cats, instead of just seeing easy money-raising (purebred, pedigreed, extremely lovely cats = instant sale) then who knows what a little offer to help might have done in the right place.

Yeh. Thanks, ArsePCA. Bitter Much?

I can’t understand this mentality either. A pet is for life, their life. Would you abandon a baby if it kept sneezing? Most sane people would not. So why is acceptable to hand back a kitten that is?

This does seem rather strange, given the adoption occured from the RSPCA in the first place. I can’t help wondering if the adoption was made for someone else who didn’t know they were being “given” a kitty and maybe couldn’t handle looking after a kitty/cat full stop, and the sneezing this is just a misnomer. My cat sneezes every now and again, and its cute as anything lol. I find it rather hard to believe that if the “owner” willingly adpoted cat, and RSPCA was willing to either pay for treatment and instruct said owner on care or provide the treatment themselves then return cat again, how could anyone refuse such a generous offer when they have chosen the cat in the first place. Thus why I wonder if the cat wasn’t maybe chosen for the person, only way I can think it would make sense. Hopefully said kitty is adopted out again soon by someone else instead.

Yeah. I’d really like to meet this person.

My partner and I adopted a kitten from the RSPCA 8 years ago and he came down very sick. I took him to the vet and he needed to stay for about 4-5 days and nearly died. Visiting him in the surgery and seeing him laying down with a drip in his arm barely moving really effected me. I think I payed the vet bill myself because I wanted to free up the RSPCA funds for other things. Anyway George [Catsansa] has been, and still is a great pet and heaps of fun.

Soon after we saved a group of kittens and took care of them for a few weeks over the new year rush period for the RSPCA. I also did some volunteer work at the shelter and seeing people return animals for trivial reasons made we furious.

This from a person who adopted from the RSPCA in the first place! WTF?

Is that actual kitty? How on earth could you just walk away from him!?

I agree with you. Mind, we adopted a kitten from the RSPCA many years ago now. It started sneezing too. It died less than two week later, despite veterinary attention.