I really do love my pets. My DH and I joke all the time about “dumping” them when they irk me. But really we’re both just kidding. It’s more in good humor over something bad they did like pee all over the house. Both dogs were rescues and because we got them as older dogs 4 and 6, it canbe harder to housebreak them.
But seriously I was reading DogAtemyFinances just now and came across a post about personal responsibility and pets. The post linked to another blogger’s article regarding the disposal of the family Pet.
What happened can be read here about JosephSangl and tough decisions. Joseph place the family cat of 4 years outside because the cat was peeing in the house. He did not take it to the vet to examine if there might have been a medical condition, nor did he try to clean the carpet and figure out how to housebreak his daughter’s cat.
He mentions that the cat pee has caused a tremendous amount of damage, and trust me I feel for him. I really do. But if my dogs started peeing in the house, I would rush them to vet because I’d be worried it was a bladder infection or something else. This cat was a indoor house pet for 4 years!
He says the cat sits outside in Tropical Storm Faye crying to be let in. I know there are indoor and outdoor cats. But I thought I had heard from previous cat owners that just putting a cat which is inexperienced with the outdoors, suddenly outside can be cause harm to the cat.
I understand his analogy that paying off debt is a hard decision, like tossing a cat outside. But don’t pet owners have a personal responsibilty to the pet? That the pet did not ask to be adopted by a callous owner?
It’s like knowing you have to give up credit cards and the car loan. I just don’t get how owning a pet and giving it up is the same thing. Especially when you don’t give the pet to another family or rescue group, but instead leave it to fend for itself outside.
But I might be biased being a very devoted pet owner. But did I mention one of our dogs was given up because the pediatrician said he was causing allergies in the newborn. Bichon Frises are hypoallergenic dogs. And the second Bichon was given up because they moved? Ugh.
7 responses so far ↓
1 dogatemyfinances // Sep 3, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Here’s an idea. Close the door to whatever room it is that you use so rarely you don’t even notice cat pee in. Guess nobody thought of that.
The more I think about it, the more I feel for the poor child. I wonder how it FEELS to hear the cat you love crying to be let inside.
2 Jen // Sep 3, 2008 at 11:28 pm
I agree that one should take responsibility isn caring for the family pets. We had 3 cats. One passes on because he was really ill (all sort of health issues because he was a pure breed Oci cat, we spent thousands of dollars on medical bills for him before he passed on). The second cat was given away to a good family because he was not adjusting well to our new born. He was having behavior issues. It was either him or the baby. So, he had to go. But we spent months (while he continued to pee on our carpet) looking for a good home for him and made sure he went to someone we know would love him as much as we did). Later, we had to give the third cat to another family friend because it turns out my daughter was allegic to the cat. But, we also made sure that the kitty went to someone we knew & can provide a good home for her. We know that we could always leave the cats outside. But they have always been in door cats, and they were my babies before the real baby came. I could not and would not anything bad happen to them.
3 Debt Dieter // Sep 4, 2008 at 3:51 am
We are in complete agreement here. I have my cat indoors 100% of the time, he’s never been outside as he’s been bred to be an indoor cat.
Not to mention it’s completely inappropriate to let a cat run wild outside here in Australia as they’re a major threat to native wildlife.
I’d use every cent of my emergency fund on him in a heartbeat if he needed it, he’s family!
4 FruGal // Sep 4, 2008 at 5:10 am
I read the same blog and was disgusted at his behaviour. What really got under my skin was that he seemed to be so proud of his appalling behaviour! I am all for making adjustments in your life in order to achieve your goals, and if you decide that you can’t afford your pets anymore, find good homes for them, don’t kick them out in the rain! Although I can’t imagine giving up a pet that has been part of my family for four years because of the expense. I won’t be visiting that guy’s site again. What a tool.
Sorry, rant over… Just found your site by the way, I’m going to have a look around now
5 Livingalmostlarge // Sep 4, 2008 at 10:31 am
My cousin upon his divorce rehomed 2 cats that he didn’t feel he could care for. Actually they were his ex-wife’s but she was already taking 2 cats and felt 4 would be too many.
He found them a great home with a friend and gets updates regularly. He feels much better than just having dumped the cats. And so does his ex.
I get that sometimes people can’t have pets anymore, but I don’t get how they just dump them outside.
I certainly don’t understand dumping a pet for financial reasons and not properly rehoming them. You did make a commitment, yes to a “lesser” being, but still it says a lot.
6 fitwallet // Sep 8, 2008 at 8:23 am
I hate to hear about people doing things like this. The cat could have a urinary tract issue, diabetes, or kidney problems. Some cats start peeing around the house because of behavioral issues, or because the litterbox isn’t clean, or because there aren’t enough litterboxes in enough places.
My cats are like my kids–I would never consider tossing one of them outside to fend for itself.
7 LivingAlmostLarge // Sep 8, 2008 at 11:04 am
I gotta agree there are a lot of potential problems that could be physical that cause peeing around the house.
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