Sphynx Video - Abuse?

Hey everyone,

I don't know where to post this but this poor Sphynx cat is clearly sick and these owners are clearly not treating this animal right. They are holding it in a blanket and putting its feet to its face and tail and holding it awkwardly in the air - this animal is looks extremely sick and not impressed. What can one do... I reported it to youtube as animal abuse but I am still angered by it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRL0I...eature=related

Misguided love I think, doesn't seem they are being intentionally cruel to me.

I don't see any abuse here... When a kitty has URI, there is not much you can do besides keeping it comfortable, giving it love, and on an Sphynx case, keeping it warm, I guess. The video says the kitten is sick with the flu.
Yes, she did some silly poses with the kitty, but no abrupt or harsh movement... I don't understand her language, but she sounded very loving with him. I just hope this kitty got better - it was having a hard time breathing

the video of the sick Sphynx made me very sad

Originally Posted by Jamiekitty

Hey everyone,

I don't know where to post this but this poor Sphynx cat is clearly sick and these owners are clearly not treating this animal right. They are holding it in a blanket and putting its feet to its face and tail and holding it awkwardly in the air - this animal is looks extremely sick and not impressed. What can one do... I reported it to youtube as animal abuse but I am still angered by it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRL0I...eature=related

Click to expand...

You reported this for abuse? I watched the whole thing and I did not see anything remotely approaching abuse! I heard a lot of awwws and gentle laughter and love. The kitty is wrapped in a towel and being cuddled by the owner. Why they felt the need to video this I don't know, but I saw absolutely NO harm done. My old cat died recently and a few days before she died I gave her a warm bath and cuddled her in a towel for a long time and just held her and loved on her. If video'ed it would have looked something like that. Did I abuse my cat too? God help us all if simple ownership and cuddling are deemed abuse. Of course to the animal rightists I suppose it already IS.......

Seriously, you think that was abusive behavior?? Maybe it's just me but I saw no harm done.

I see no abuse at all. Obviously the cat is ill and would no doubt rather be left alone in a nice warm spot, but abuse? Nah.

I didn't see any abuse either. She was just loving on her little sick kitty

I didn't see any abuse either. I did see that the cat was not impressed, but if the cat was really NOT where it wanted to be, sick or not, I bet it would have struggled and ran off somewhere else in the house.

Everyone handles their animals differently, and what might not look right to you, is really fine. I, personally, would not have reported that as abuse. I can see that the woman holding the cat has a loving voice towards it, and I can see the love on her face.

Originally Posted by Allmycats

You reported this for abuse? I watched the whole thing and I did not see anything remotely approaching abuse! I heard a lot of awwws and gentle laughter and love. The kitty is wrapped in a towel and being cuddled by the owner. Why they felt the need to video this I don't know, but I saw absolutely NO harm done. My old cat died recently and a few days before she died I gave her a warm bath and cuddled her in a towel for a long time and just held her and loved on her. If video'ed it would have looked something like that. Did I abuse my cat too? God help us all if simple ownership and cuddling are deemed abuse. Of course to the animal rightists I suppose it already IS.......

Click to expand...

Add me to the line up of people wondering why this video was classed as abuse?

I don't think it's abuse, but I do think she should leave the poor cat alone. Sure, hold it if it helps but why drag it's foot up to it's face, when obviously the cat did not enjoy it. If it were my cat I would hold it in my lap the way IT wanted to lay, not wrapped up and upside down. Just my opinion.

It looked like a loving owner cuddling a sick kitty to me. Besides obviously not feeling well, kitty looked like he wanted to be snuggled. He looked plenty capable of wiggling away and going elsewhere. Maybe playing with his feet and tail did not look so great, but it may just be something they do. I tickle Scooter's nose with his tail all the time and he just looks at me like I am silly, or confused when he bites his own tail.
Of course we are all concerned with cat welfare and get very indignant when one is even slightly mistreated, so maybe we go a little far sometimes in finding abuse. I have been guilty of that myself. Better too far than not far enough. No scolding here for the original poster!

There is no abuse in that video, unless she hasn't gotten any vet care for her sick cat, but that can't be known from the video. It just seems like that cat is sicky and she was just kinda bugging it while cuddling it and loving on it. I hold my cats like that all the time, and I know I'm not abusing my cats, they just get annoyed with me cuddling them sometimes lol. I do sometimes have to wrap Mia up for her nail clippings, because that way she feels more secure and I'm safer, plus it's easier. But that's totally different than this

There's no reason at all to report it as abuse, that's overreacting. Everything she's doing to her cat I've done to Pirate lol, basically cuz he acts like a big ragdoll when ya hold him . There was nothing abusive with the way she was holding its leg, it's not like it's a position that they can't get into on their own . Cats are extremely flexible animals. If she was really tugging and pulling on the leg, then that would be different.

I really do hope that you didn't report this for abuse; that would be wrong IMO. I can't see where someone would find the abuse in that video...

I don't think it's abuse, but the poor sick kitty! I hope it got better.

I also don't see any abuse.

Thanks guys - I appreciate your opinions.

The video still upsets me though. I guess we all treat our cats differently.

No way is it abuse of any kind IMO. The cat probably has a URI and with Sphynx you need to keep them warm. Wrapping a blanket around them is not abuse nor is holding the cat on its back in your lap.

Heck I do that with mine after a bath and dry my cats with the towel - you'd probably think I was abusing my cats but they are fine. Most cats are trained as kittens to lay on their backs in your arms.

The cat is definitely not happy to be held in a blanket...Jake's face looks the same when he is annoyed. But other than that I don't see any abuse either.