I was in tears on the way out of Petsmart

It was the saddest thing and it really got to me..

I was standing there visiting all the cats and kittens in the adoption center..when a woman and a girl walked up and they wanted to see one of the kittens (of course). The saddest thing was, as they opened the door to where the cages are from the inside, all the cats in the rest of the cages were looking up longily hoping maybe it would be them this time that would get picked...

I had to leave immediately as I was starting to lose it emotionally. Those poor adult cats that will likely be there forever or somewhere worse.

It just kills me

I know how you feel. I have an extremely difficult time going into pet stores or the SPCA. All those hopefuls...

My husband picked out Lily for me at the SPCA for a surprise Christmas gift. He knows me well. It's so hard for me; I don't feel like I'm saving one kitty as much as I feel I'm NOT saving so many others!

Cheers, from
SwampWitch

p.s. He told me he said to Lily on the way home from the SPCA, "You've just won the lottery!" which, indeed, she had!

Originally Posted by Trouts mom

It was the saddest thing and it really got to me..

I was standing there visiting all the cats and kittens in the adoption center..when a woman and a girl walked up and they wanted to see one of the kittens (of course). The saddest thing was, as they opened the door to where the cages are from the inside, all the cats in the rest of the cages were looking up longily hoping maybe it would be them this time that would get picked...

I had to leave immediately as I was starting to lose it emotionally. Those poor adult cats that will likely be there forever or somewhere worse.

It just kills me

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It's very sad to go there, I go to petsmart here and the cats do seem to be taken very good care of, but when they have all the rescue groups there OMG I have to leave to because I will cry all the way home, Why can't people just do a simple task and spay and neuter, there are so many programs for cheap services and other things to, I hope I understand all the issues before I die about not taking care of the cats..

I have left there crying many times myself it's so sad.

Originally Posted by Bella713

I have left there crying many times myself it's so sad.

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Aww well I hope this makes you feel better:

Every time I've been into PS, except for maybe 2 times, someone has been adopting an adult kitty. There's never any kittens there to choose from. It's so nice to see the "grown-ups" going to good homes

Originally Posted by Bella713

I have left there crying many times myself it's so sad.

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Yes, me too .....There have been times that I couldnt hold the tears back before I left and was crying as I was leaving ......

I just don't get why adults are even in there...weren't they sweet little kittens that someone had once? I just hate it, I really really hate seeing cats in cages. It isn't right.

Oh yes, I agree! That's one of the hardeest things you can do is look at these hopeless cats! And it's so horrible that no one actually ever takes them home! I get very upset looking at these kitties!

You aren't the only one who feels that way going in there Natalie

I can't go in there anymore, if I had the room and the money I would bring them all home

Remember that lots of the foster agencies (like mine) just have the kitties there for 4 hours on Saturday. The rest of the time, they are living in someone's home.

There are inevitably some adults that get overlooked, and never find a forever home, though. They are loved by their foster families, but is just isn't the same.

Of course, as a foster Mom, I'm always a little glad when my kitties aren't chosen, and a little sad when they are! LOL! I'm getting ready to give up my litter in the next few weeks...good riddance to the stinky litterboxes, but oh how I miss the kitten sweetness!

Originally Posted by Trouts mom

It was the saddest thing and it really got to me..

I was standing there visiting all the cats and kittens in the adoption center..when a woman and a girl walked up and they wanted to see one of the kittens (of course). The saddest thing was, as they opened the door to where the cages are from the inside, all the cats in the rest of the cages were looking up longily hoping maybe it would be them this time that would get picked...

I had to leave immediately as I was starting to lose it emotionally. Those poor adult cats that will likely be there forever or somewhere worse.

It just kills me

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I also have a hard time with the cats at Petsmart. I volunteer to clean their cages and litterboxes every Thursday and Friday night. I always feel horrible forthe cats there. Some of them are just so sweet and playful. Thankfully most dont last long at ours. But the past couple months there was soooo many kittens. There's about 5 black ones that have been there since tiny babies. I feel horrible for them. I also always feel sorry for the adult cats t AC when I go pick up my foster kittens (I foster bottle babies) I would love to fosters an adult. But I dont think I could because I would fall in love with them. I can handle kittens because they are to wild for my taste. I fell for Bagheera because he was a calm kitten. My only foster failure.

i always hate to see animals locked up.

I think for me, the worse is seeing birds in small cages where they cant fly.

Originally Posted by theimp98

i always hate to see animals locked up.

I think for me, the worse is seeing birds in small cages where they cant fly.

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I had a cockatiel Ducky that lived in a huge 3 level rat cage. He never learned how to fly any way but backwards and it always freakd him out. So we fianlly found I cage he loved. Everyone who saw him in that cage tho0ugh thought I was evil because he couldnt fly in it. No one would believe me that he was scared of flying until they saw him do it.

hehe i believe you.

after all i have cat that is scared of mice haha..

For me i love to fly, and the feeling of freedom that it give.
so i guess i kinda think if i was bird, how would feel

I feel the same way you do. I don't know why someone wouldn't want a sweet adult cat. The last few times we've adopted a cat it has been an adult. The next cat I will adopt will most likely be an adult as well. Adult kitties need homes too!

Originally Posted by Moz

I feel the same way you do. I don't know why someone wouldn't want a sweet adult cat. The last few times we've adopted a cat it has been an adult. The next cat I will adopt will most likely be an adult as well. Adult kitties need homes too!

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I feel the same way about an adult cat but I will tell you, that if I brought an adult cat in this house with Sophia's personality she would NEVER be able to take it.

Well, don't lose all hope for those adult cats that are there. I know, I feel the same way when I see them, but not everyone is looking for a kitten. Some people don't want to go through all the little bad habits that kittens have and do prefer an adult cat. Actually, it is probably better that the adult cats don't always go to homes with little kids in them, especially if they are not used to small children. My wife and I adopted a cat that was 10 years old from PetSmart. That was 6 years ago and she is still with us today at the age of 16. We also adopted a adult cat from a shelter, who was labled as a very rough player. That poor cat was at the shelter for months, so I am sure it was close to the time where he was going to be put down. Well, we figured he would get along fine with Amber, but since he was an adult, we could not get Amber used to having him in "her" house Well, when we adopted Boris, the people who had Boris were more than willing to take this other cat from us. He fell in love with them and their other cat and he is enjoying life in the country So, even though it is hard to see those poor babies there, many of them do go back into very good loving homes.

I get choked up at Petsmart too, I stand there trying to pick something out on the shelf and keep glancing at those kitties out of the corner of my eye, and I swear they're all putting on their saddest, "please pet me" face. I try not to make eye contact, but it never works. Then there's always at least one that stands up and looks at you and tries to sniff you through the little holes in the glass. It's heart breaking. My consolation is that they are SPCA cats, and they are not going to be put to sleep. And around here they do pre-adoption interviews and charge a significant ammount of money for the cats ... so odds are, they are going to a half way decent home. And I do see plenty of potential adopting families picking up and playing with adults. It is sad that those cats spend so much time in those little cages, but at our PetSmart, I rarely see the same cat twice, so they must be doing a lot of adoptions to get them out of there quickly. They also give a slight price break on adult cats and try to educate people about the benefits of adopting and adult. I think it really is helping.

If it weren't for my fiance, I would be the crazy cat lady in the neighborhood

Natalie, I don't know if this will make you feel better or not, but the Petsmart by me that has cats/kittens actually leases that space to a rescue org. Those cats are not owned/cared for/maintained by Petsmart at all, and Petsmart cannot let you pet the cat or hold the cat (for liability reasons?). I only know cause the weekend we were gonna get Louie, we saw a drop dead gorgeous snow shoe kitten (about 6mos) and wanted her desperately so we filled out the paper work. I talked to the mgr of Petsmart and they wouldn't even let me hold her or touch her. They said someone from the rescue would be in from 10-3 the next day to let the kitties out and feed them/scoop their boxes etc. Also, I asked and they said it was a no-kill rescue, so I didn't have to worry about her being put down when we got Louie instead. (we went with Louie, cause the snow shoe was only being adopted with a black cat that she lived with her whole life & they had to be kept together which means it will take forever to place them )

(but they do have spca cats up front on the weekends, and you know they pts kitties..... If I had a bigger place, I'd definately take more.....)