While out for a walk the other day, I bumped into my good
friend, Bentley. That's no surprise,
really...we tend to bump into each other a lot while strolling through the
neighborhood.
We are both well-known in the neighborhood as "nosy
neighbors". We take notice of lots
of things and many of the other dogs in the neighborhood like to come up to us
for a hello or to gossip about something.
Such is the case when I saw Bentley! He had some neighborly gossip that I had
missed out on. As he told me the latest
and greatest, I got mad.
After we talked
some more, I got sad...and here is why:
Bentley said a neighbor came up to his mom on his morning
walk and asked his mom if she knew anyone who would be willing to take in a
senior cat. The neighbor went on that it
was HER cat but she wanted to get rid of it because it was old and incontinent. I was furious.
Why do
some humans treat older pets like they are a used car? Oh, this cat has "too much mileage"
on it so we should trade it in for a newer one...blah, blah, blah. GRRRRRR!
Bentley said he was mad too.
He said his mom told the neighbor (with a look of utter disbelief on her
face) that you don't just get rid of an older cat because it is
incontinent. She encouraged this
neighbor to take the cat to the vet to have it checked out (in case it was just
sick and needed a little medicine).
Bentley's mom also told the lady that the vet would be able to tell her
of other ways to help this cat so she would not have to get rid of it.
When Ma found out she wasn't so nice about it. Speaking to Bentley's mom (a bit too loudly
if you ask me...in front of the neighbor's house), my Ma said "I would
have told her right to her face that people like her are the reason so many
senior pets end up in shelters".
I agreed with my Ma but it makes me so sad to think that so
many older pets are given up for such inane reasons. We haven't seen this neighbor take her cat to
the vet just yet (we can see the house from our home office window) which makes
me even more sad. I can just hear that
kitty cat crying "Don't give up on me just because I am old and
sick".
Do you know anyone who has given up on their senior pet?
How did it make you feel?
It seems to be a growing trend - we were just reading of a black lab that a family gave up on because it didn't get along with their new puppy. They took it the shelter and it escaped and walked 30 miles back to the family and they took it back to the shelter again. Now a very rich lady in florida has adopted it - she sent her private jet to go and pick him up !!! (we hope he doesn't try walking home again). Mom says she doesn't understand this mentality people have....if you spend years loving something and having it love you back - you just don't give it away when things get a little hard - you just love it even more.
ReplyDeleteYes, I read about that dog too. Now it is living in Florida with the heiress of the Wrigley gum fortune. A true rags to riches story. The really sad part is that this neighbor has a child...which she is teaching, by her actions, that senior pets can be "traded in" for new ones. It is so maddening!
DeleteBeing a responsible pet parent means loving that pet for a lifetime and taking care of it, not just until it gets old. Maybe this lady should be dumped into a nursing home when she gets old and never ever be visited by her family. So upsetting to know pets are treated this way.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more, Amber. As I said, we were very upset to hear this gossip. Some people are just so thoughtless...
DeleteIf you can't handle a pet getting old, then you should just stick with a stuffed animal!! My sissy Cinderella is a silver belle. She can't hear or see very well anymore, she's slow on walks, and she sleeps a lot. But she's still full of LOVE, and we wouldn't trade her for the whole wide world!!
ReplyDeleteYou are so right, Casey...they should stick with stuffed animals! Your sissy Cinderella sounds like a wonderful silver belle! I bet she gives lots of LOVE to everyone.
DeleteI wish more peoples would adopt seniors.
ReplyDeleteLily & Edward
I do too, Lily & Edward
DeleteWe cannot stand humans that give up senior pets and hopefully they will experience the same thing when they grow older.
ReplyDeleteI cannot stand it either, Brian. I am still upset when I look over at that house!
DeleteNow you have me worried.
ReplyDeleteOh dear...I didn't mean to worry you.
DeleteOz this breaks my kitty heart too. I am a senior cat 12.5 years) and thankfully I know I never have to worry about this...
ReplyDeleteMom is purrty mad about this too. Mom is a believer in what goes around comes around! That sub human had no regard commitment she lives in a disposable world...one day it will catch up with her. More than likely the kitty has a UT infection...if so it hurts to pee-pee and the box is associated w the pain thus it post outside the box. A responsible cat owner would/should know this
Hugs Madi and her mad mom
My Ma knows nothing about cats but her first thought was a UTI or something similar. Even if you are not a super knowledgeable cat owner, the obvious first choice would be to take the cat to the vet to see why it is not peeing in the box. At least...that is what we would do.
DeleteYES we DO and they made us So SICK and SAD that we have NEVER spoken to them SINCE that AWFUL DAY!!! BUT the WORST was... they took it to the YARD and SHOT IT... and didn't do a GOOD job the furst 3 times...they tried... WE HATE THOSE PEEPS..... DESPISE them actually. AND they are SUPPOSED to be VERY RELIGIOUS...
ReplyDeleteOH that poor kitty.... I hope that SOMEONE comes and RESCUES it from that Living HELL of a HOUSE... not a HOME..a loveless HOUSE.
Are you flipping kidding me?!? They killed their pet because they didn't want it anymore...and did so in the MOST INHUMANE manner possible?!? I HOPE they are very religious and when they get to Heaven, God sends them straight down to H-E-double-hockey-sticks for what they have done. I don't even know who you are talking about and I HATE them too.
DeleteOz I so agree with you, if pets are young and cute they love them and enjoy their company. And later when they are old and need help or have different needs, they dump them. We have such a person in my neighborhood, the dogs are just good for making money, they only are a means to an end. It's a shame. I hope the best for this old cat and maybe the owner will change his mind.
ReplyDeleteGosh, Easy...it seems these types of people are everywhere.
DeleteI hate such people and so do my mom and dad. We love senior pets. No one did'nt want our Vaks either, when we took him out of the shelter. He is turning 8 here in august. We love him and he is such a good boy.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad your family adopted Vaks and gave him a loving forever home...especially since he was a senior dog! *high paws* to you!
DeleteThat is just heartbreaking! I cannot imagine anyone giving up their senior pet for any reason!
ReplyDeleteMe neither, MK. It is so sad.
DeleteOMD! That is so sad!!! I don't understand people!
ReplyDeleteღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
I don't understand some people either. I don't know how you could cherish a pet and then, when it gets a bit old and frail, decide you don't want it anymore.
DeleteThat is just horrible and gut wrenching to think someone would do that to such a long time companion. It is people like that that would be best suited to keeping stuffed animals and not real ones.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree!
DeleteOh Oz this story just breaks my heart! I mean, even taking it to the vet to be PTS is more human than dumping it! We saw a sign once on our walk that said "Free Dog" which really made us angry too. Stupid humans. Love Dolly Pees: I have a friend Emma that looks like your Bentley.
ReplyDeleteTrue, it would be more humane but I do not even think this cat is ready to be PTS. I bet it is just an old age symptom and I bet there is still something that can be done to help the kitty. Oh! Aren't Corgis the most fun friends?
DeleteWe just cannot comprehend someone doing this, but unfortunately there are too many people that don't value their pets.
ReplyDeleteMom says we are just like her kids and could never think of abandoning us at any stage of our lives. Next week we will have a special post for our angel Char Shu. the last of his 17 years was not easy, Mom would get up with him 2 to 3 times a night - butt she loved him so she did it with no complaint.
hugs
Mr Bailey, Hazel & Greta
Pee es
we have a friend that just recently adopted a 10 yr old pug! Bless her heart! He will live the remainder of his life in a wonderful home.
Oh, your friend is so pawesome for giving that senior puggie a forever home! My Ma could never imagine dumping me because I was old and sickly...nope. I don't know how anyone could do such a thing.
DeleteRing Ding Oz ~ I just cannot understand people that don't love the animal that thought they were the center of their world. Animals never judge they just love. Lee says she loves old animals because they really understand. Lee says even after she loves me enough to wear my furs off she will still love me.
ReplyDeleteThanks for being a friend
Sweet William The Scot
Your Lee is so right! Animals don't judge, they just love...it is too bad some humans aren't like that. Oh, I think my Ma would love me until my furs fall off and then keep loving me even more too!
DeleteThe hoomans around our neighborhood probably thinks we is nosy too. We like to sit in our window and watch everything that goes on. Silly neighbors, we is keeping watch and tell the squirrels to keep the noise down. MOL!
ReplyDeletePurrs,
Cindi Lou & The Kitty Krew
I don't think I'll ever understand someone like that! All the folks I know LOVE their pets and love spending every minute with them and wouldn't give up a single minute of their senior years with their pets. They all hope to have their pets in their senior years for a long, long, long time. Idiots!
ReplyDeleteAnd I hope she heard you!
DeleteMa wants to spend every minute she can with me and make my senior years some of the best! People like this make me so mad. (I think Ma secretly hopes the neighbor heard her too. BOL)
DeleteThat made us mad too! We have had young and old pets pee on things, destroy things etc etc and we would never give up on them (until there time has truly come). Sigh, we think people need licenses to be pet owners.
ReplyDeleteLady has a dream in a decade or so to only adopt senior animals and make their golden years the best she can.
A license to be a pet owner...sounds like a good idea to me!
DeleteWe just don't understand that line of thinking. If that was the case, Katie would have been sent to a shelter long ago for having a few accidents causing Mom to buy an expensive carpet cleaning machine, and since she has trouble walking, I'm sure that would have been another reason. Geez, everyone ages and has issues, it is the pet parent's responsibility to take care of the pet they adopted. So sad and infuriating.
ReplyDeleteI agree 100% Emma! And yes...everyone ages and has issues. This neighbor better hope that one day she doesn't get old and ailing because she will have taught her children to "just get rid of" her like she was tryig to do with this kitty.
DeleteNot nice, not nice at all. Some people are just down right vile. Hope it happens to her when she gets old. Nasty woman. GRRRRRR!!!!
ReplyDeleteHave a marvellous Monday Oz.
Best wishes Molly
So true, Molly. People can be mean and vile.
DeleteOur pawrents took us in sickness and health until death do us part. Old age is part of the package.
ReplyDeleteYour Pals,
Murphy & Stanley
I'm glad I don't know anyone personally that would do that, because it would make me really mad too. It's bad enough to hear the stories, it just makes me so, so sad. Our senior cat Conrad won't use the litter box all the time. He's been checked out by the vet, and nothing found wrong, and we've tried every trick in the book and he just won't sometimes. We actually carry him down to the litter box several times a day! It's frustrating, but we love him, and giving him up has never crossed our minds, I could not even imagine it. We just deal with it the best we can.
ReplyDeleteJan, Wag 'n Woof Pets
Dat are pretty terrible. Our kitty Jezebel almost made 21. And she had some issues wif missin da box occasionally, but my peeps just cleaned it up and luved her.
ReplyDeleteI see so many senior pets at the shelter where I volunteer. It's absolutely heart breaking. They look so sad and confused as to why their family isn't around anymore. I don't understand how anyone could give up a pet once they reach their golden years (or at all for that matter).
ReplyDeleteWhen you bring a life into your home--human or not--you take the responsibility on to care for that soul. I've dealt with a cat with litterbox problems, and it can be overwhelming. We also had a dog that leaked when he was old. I figured out ways to work around them. The cat is still with me and doing wonderfully. The dog lived to the age of 16, and I never gave up on him.
ReplyDeleteWags (and purrs) from Life with Dogs and Cats
Thank you for coming to see me my furriend. I have to weigh in on this as Katie Isabella's mom. WE are the animals stewards. WE are the ones who are supposed to care for them. They were given to us, yes, for food but also we have our fur babies. Cat, dog, goat, donkey, whichever Pigs, you name it. If you take the responsibility, then you HAVE the responsibility now until death do you part. I don't think those people are religious You can spout off,you so called religious folks who did that despicable thing. That's talking the talk. You are definitely NOT walking with the Lord. God bless the poor animals who ever come into contact with them.
ReplyDeleteHOLY CRAP!!!! WTF????? Okays, this is flippin' NUTS!!!! I don't understand how peeps can do that!!! You live with your buddy all it's life, then when it gets a little old and parts start to give out, you get rid of it???!!! Wells, I hope this lady has children who feel the same way, and put her away when HER parts start givin' out!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteJust sayin'....
Kisses,
Ruby ♥
That story makes me so sad! I kind of think of pets being like kids in that you get what you get and you care for it no matter what its needs!!! When you bring a pet into your home, you're taking on the responsibility to care for and love them. I would never consider giving my chi's up just because they became incontinent. I used to have a sickly kitteh and he was a regular visitor to the vet's office, from the day I brought him home until the day he died. He cost me a fortune over the years, but he was worth every single penny. I would do it all over again if it meant just a little more time with him.
ReplyDeleteTwo of my friends had yard sales this weekend in different locations. I took the boys with me and for the most part, they were so well behaved! Normally they think they have to bark at everything and pull on the leash while they're at it. Then we went for a long walk this afternoon and they were so good again! It really helped today that we didn't see any other doggies on our walk. Anyways, I was really proud of them.
It's hard to believe but its happening. It is sad :-( Those pet owners should not be allowed to have another pet. Having a pet is a lifetime commitment. Senior dogs are the best. Golden Woofs
ReplyDeleteAnd the likelihood of a senior cat who is incontinent being rehomed or making it out of a shelter are slim to none. :(
ReplyDeleteThis was a really good post Oz and so true, there are so many people that do give up on the seniors, it pisses me off too! You made them apart of your family now keep them there. I love my old pets!
ReplyDeletePeople who give up on their fur loved ones because they have grown old makes me wonder do they give up on the human loved ones? I don't know how you can truly love something and discard it. Mom says we're going to hell in a hand basket.
ReplyDeleteAroo to you,
Sully
Love is for evrybunny. :)
ReplyDeleteIt is so sad - those pets have given you a lifetime of unconditional love. The very least we can do as responsible owners is enable them to live out their twilight years feeling safe and loved, and no turmoil of being rehomed.
ReplyDeleteAlthough if that is the owners attitude, you almost hope that they do find a new owner!
What I think about it should not be published in public. Disgust + anger + sadness = words my mother would be shocked I even knew.
ReplyDeleteWhat really bugs me is she isn't even willing to take the cat to the vet to find out what's wrong to give the poor animal a better chance at finding a new home. I've frankly given up on the idea you can shame people into keeping their animals. However, if she doesn't want an older animal because it has undiagnosed health issues, would you at least give it a chance by getting it the vet care so it has the chance for a new home. If it does have a treatable health issue, it has a much greater chance of finding a home treated than arriving at the shelter needing care.
ReplyDeleteRealistically a shelter might take on a cat that has issues. However, she's trying to rehome a cat with obvious health issues without even bothering to take it to the Vet, I would think its going to be hard to find it a home when you admit you have no idea what is wrong with the cat because you are too damn lazy and heartless to spend the money to find out.
Oh goodness! This makes me sad too. And mad. But to be honest, if these people feel this way, it is probably best that the pet find a better home anyway. To guilt the woman into keeping a cat she doesn't want isn't going to help the cat one bit. The woman should be ashamed, nonetheless, so I don't know what the best way to handle this problem is. I just wish there weren't people like her in this world. I would never give up my pets just because they're old. Never.
ReplyDeleteWe think people like that should NOT be allowed to have animal of ANY KIND! It makes Mama face turn purple and smoke come out of her ears when she hears about things like this!
ReplyDeleteSmileys!
Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo