What is the sound of one student napping?
Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.
--Robert Frost
NOTE: The contents of this blog are not approved by my employers, nor do they represent my employers' opinions on any subject. The opinions expressed on this blog are mine and mine alone. I have changed all names (denoted by an asterisk).
As a college English professor, I battle ignorance daily at a mid-size Georgia university. I’m insanely busy but love what I do, and I love the little "wide place in the road" town where I live. In my spare time, I research country music, rescue abandoned cats, and work on my first book. And, little by little, I'm also renovating my home, the Happy Kitten Cottage (HKC).
Labels: Cats, My Next Career, Videos
posted by Miss Kitty @ 5:03 AM
7 Comments:
Yikes! But you also find homes for cats, Miss K. It's not like you can't give them up. Right?
The fils was indeed done with kindess. The sad thing is that I know that when they trap a wild kitty, they usually put it down because it has been an outside cat and has not been exposed to humans in a good way (except to get the food someone is putting down for them). It is important to be able to touch and pet them. That way, if they get to the point where they need to be trapped and taken away at least they are adoptable. I hate it when the system puts down a cat. It makes me want to scream.
Sorry. I didn't mean to get on a soap box. And I most certainly am not saying anything against you because you take excellent care of all your inside and outside kittehs and from all that I've seen of your photos and clips you can touch everyone of your kittehs - both the inside ones and the outside ones.
Ms. K: Yeah, I've found homes for quite a few cats. If I could find homes for all except the three or four "core kittehs," it'd be great.
Sandy: I can touch/pet almost every cat who comes to my doorstep; a few stray toms and mama cats still won't let me more than a few feet from them. It drives me crazy, too, when the system puts down a stray cat. I'm a big proponent of the TNR (trap-neuter-release) program, especially for those who wouldn't make good indoor pets but are still semi-people-friendly. It's what I've done with a bunch of cats around here. Kamakura, Moo, Ernge, Stripe, Dolly, Emmylou, and Prue are all spayed, and all my indoors cats have been spayed/neutered. That's the best way to cut down on the feral kitteh population, IMO.
Now I got on my soapbox, LOL! :-P
wow. just. wow.
There's a commonality with the horse rescues. I follow "Fugly Horse of the Day" and many many many times she features a rescue gone horribly wrong because they were actually run by a hoarder who kept taking horses after they couldn't feed and care for the ones they have.
Cats are easier (economically) to care for than horses, so when you get a horse hoarder (instead of a rescue) 99.9% of the time they end up arrested because of neglect - or they go bankrupt.
I think there is a genuine "hoarder" illness. Its a much clearer thing with horses because the addition of a another animal to the "collection" is a significant amount of cost ($100-500 per month depending) and its much easier to draw the line and say "We just can't afford it."
But with smaller animals (cats, dogs, etc...) "one more" is really easy to justify/rationalize.
For the record, I don't think anyone who cares for the animals that show up on their door step a hoarder. Its when you actively solicit rescuing animals - either by trapping, or going to the pound or *saying* you're an acutal rescue and take animals people bring you.
You're also not a hoarder if you run a legitimate, economically stable rescue. Where the animals are humanely cared for and rehomed if possible. It requires Staff, and Funds.
me, I'm drowing in the cat hair from two kitties. 18?? dear god.
hugs,
miz scarlett and the baxter dawg.
I agree, Miz Scarlett--animal hoarding is a genuine mental illness. (For the record, only 6 of my kittehs are in the house; the other 12 are outdoor-only.) With me, I don't so much go out looking for them as they show up on my doorstep, or I'm driving along and see them starving/injured on the side of the road (Clark, DeeDee, Graya). A couple I've adopted when the kitties' previous owners either got ill or had to move and couldn't take the cats with them (Melody, Hobo Kitty). But I'd say 90% of my cats have just found me.
And yes, the fur from 6 kittehs in the house is pretty crazy. I vacuum. A LOT.
I haven't watched the video yet, as those don't work on the computer I use at this job. But I have 14 cats (hopefully I can keep it at that or a little lower) and the best thing ever is waking up on a cold winter day in a big pile of meow :-)
It's hard where we live, because there is no shelter at all for cats. Either you shoot them, let them die outside, or you do something to help. Luckily we live in the country, where our idiosyncracies are easier to accept.
You're right about living in the country, Carol. Mom & Steve (El Seebeno) also have 14 cats, and because they're in the country, nobody seems to mind or care. Kittehs find them out there, too, just like they do me inside the city limits, LOL. In a cold-weather location like yours, someone has to look after the furry children, and I'm so glad you do.
And I agree: it's wonderful in the winter to wake up to a big pile of meow on the bed. >^..^<
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