Post a Comment On: Stephanie Cake

... or I'll find you and kick your ass.


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Last Tuesday, a woman showed up at my neighbor's door with 4 kittens she found in an urn at the antique store on our block. While I suppose the mama cat might have dropped them in there, we feel it is highly unlikely and we never could find an adult cat anywhere. They were all clearly in "indoor" condition - there was no way a stray mama cat had been raising these guys outdoors.

The babies were so tiny - we figured approximately 2-weeks old (not just cute and furry but literally infants) - so my neighbor and I had a momentary lapse of reason and took 2 of them. Reality set in about 10 minutes after the stranger left with the other 2. What is it about any infant that will make your womb tingle and your ability to make rational decisions impossible??

We unfortunately discovered that none of the animals rights places would assist us - the song and dance is that it's illegal for them to take orphaned cats under 7 weeks old. We were told "nope, you're just gonna have to bottle feed them and then we can take them when they're old enough." (as if I'd give up an animal after hand raising it for a couple of months!) While I can understand a non-profit's hand being tied by animal control laws, I also seriously question laws and policies that would leave an endangered domestic animal in the hands of someone who doesn't have the resources or knowledge to properly care for it.

When reason set in, we realized these little guys had a very slim chance of survival, even if we could keep up with their care schedule. I kept the little girl and my neighbor kept the little boy overnight... after the 2 am and 6 am feedings we both knew we were unfit cat mama's (not to mention the stark realization that caring for any kind of infant has not been in either of our plans since we made it over the infancy hump with our human children).

Luckily Rob has contacts in the animal world (remember the squirrel babies weekend in 2004?) and he helped track down a rescue organization that specializes in orphaned kittens. I sadly handed them over at the vet's office they operate out of the following morning. Even more sad is the fact that its "kitten season" and the woman who runs the organization, The House of Hugs and Kisses, is getting ready for many more to come her way.

Kittens and puppies are cute. But there is absolutely no excuse for having a pet and not getting it spayed or neutered. Shelters are overrun with animals that are make their way into the world through irresponsibility, negligence and indifference. Spaying and neutering are cheap and if you adopt a pet, you can usually get it discounted or even free. So I can't imagine any reasonable explanation for having to dump defenseless kittens. Or for allowing a pet to become pregnant in the first place.

There's not much in the world I feel really strongly about... not many causes that get me in an total lather.... but this really and truly is one of them. People who are guilty of this crime should be punished severely because they absolutely suck.