MAD! Why I really can't stand most people!

Here is a status someone I know posted on Facebook and the conversation that follows. I know I am jaded, working with the shelter, so maybe people can give me other things to say before I get REALLY nasty!

Alicia's status: "I seriously need to know if someone wants my cat Shaggy, he was in the crib this morning with the baby this is the first time I have caught him in with the baby , was only when the baby wasnt in the crib... as much as I hate to do it but if I can't find him a home he will be going to the animal rescue league"

My reply: "The Animal Rescue League is not taking home surrenders as they are too full. There are plenty of people who have both babies and cats and they find ways to work around it. Some reading that may interest you: http://www.best-cat-art.com/cats-and-babies.html"

Someone else replies: "I certainly understand what your doing Alicia. I'm sure if you tell the Animal rescue league the reason you HAVE to surrender him, even tho you love him, that they would take him. He is fixed, decrawed, and tame. He would surely find a grea...t home. My kids come first the same as yours, the cat wouldn't want to hurt the baby I'm sure. But you might not have the time to "work around it". Shaggy weighs the same if not more than the baby. If you can't keep him out of the babies room...certainly I understand ....The baby is only a little fella compared to Shaggy.
I feel your pain tho in having to giving away a dear friend"

My reply to THAT (Trying hard to not be too nasty, even though I HATE ignorrant people!"): I am a foster Mom for the ARL and have known of many animals who have died needlessly because people think they "have" to give up the cat. This is not one of those situations and can easily be worked around. The cat isn't going to hurt the baby. Cats and babies have coexisted for years. People are far to quick to just give up an animal like a disposable object when they're no longer convenient. You're the only home this cat has ever known, and he is NOT a young cat. It is hard enough to rehome kittens, and I know that first hand, let alone an adult cat. I was just providing other options, because they ARE out there."

Kailie I agree with you, actually and I hope I don't offend anyone but I like animals more than kids. I'm very uncomfortable around kids so I tend to stay away from them. This person who is so ready to give up her cat is a real jerk. Doesn't she realize she is giving this kitty a death sentence. Why don't people wise up, if you're so afraid of having a cat and a baby, then don't have a baby.

I have no idea, sorry. On a mom's forum I go to, there was a thread by a woman saying that her boyfriend's cat started drinking from the toilet (this lady is pregnant) and she thought it was disgusting and she didn't want the cat around her baby if it was going to drink out of the toilet. A couple people tried to ask her how the cat is gross now b/c it is drinking out of the toilet but it wasn't before when it would lick it's own butt, and they got ripped apart. She insisted she HAD to get rid of the cat, and refused to accept any advice on how to keep the cat from drinking out of the toilet.

I don't understand it either. *sigh*

All I know is that the less emotion you express, the easier it will be to make your point.

What I don't understand is what's wrong with the cat being in the crib with the baby? Is this a problem? They're keeping each other warm!

I'd go with the argument... when your child is six, and has lived with a pet its entire life, and you have another baby, and this happens again... is that the lesson you want your child to learn? That members of the family are disposable? What if your baby was born with a physical handicap that would cost hundreds of thousands to remodel your home to accomodate - would you give up the child? What if the child were born with a disability that required constant care on your part, or a special education? Would you give up the child because it's inconvenient? Why is our commitment to pets who can defend themselves no better than our children any different? And ultimately what lessons about love and commitment do you want your child to learn?

Thanks guys! Too late, her and some of her friends came back with some really nasty comebacks and deleted me. Good riddence, but I feel like HELL for the cat, especially since he belonged to my friend Josh who passed away a few years back. This idiot was Josh's girlfriend. Poor Shaggy.

My opinions seem contrary to most public popular opinion too on many subjects. I believe in eating real live foods mostly vegetarian, keeping animals for life, attached parenting, limited vaccines, and other things that are not mainstream. It is frustrating at times, but I can't be anyone other than me. What works for me doesn't work for everyone, obviously.
Since I am a known animal person I seem to get a lot of animal related stories and questions, many of which are downright shocking and deeply sadden my heart. So no words of advice except I totally understand, it is hard to hear people give pets up left and right for reasons that seem so very workable. And it makes it tricky to maintain meaningful relationships with some individuals when they mistreat and/or don't really value the lives of pets.

I had a cat that slept in my crib with me as a baby and I was a small baby (mother smoked and did a few drugs) that was sick often. The kitty would help keep the scorpions out of my crib.
In many places, still, dogs and cats keep rats and snakes away from sleeping children.

She has a cat that obviously accepts her baby as a member of the family and is willing to get close to the stinky, fussy, loud thing (from a cat's point of view) and she's going to throw that away. That cat could teach and be the best friend for that child in a few years.

... watch, though. She'll get rid of the cat and want a puppy in a couple of months.

Originally Posted by kara_leigh

I have no idea, sorry. On a mom's forum I go to, there was a thread by a woman saying that her boyfriend's cat started drinking from the toilet (this lady is pregnant) and she thought it was disgusting and she didn't want the cat around her baby if it was going to drink out of the toilet. A couple people tried to ask her how the cat is gross now b/c it is drinking out of the toilet but it wasn't before when it would lick it's own butt, and they got ripped apart.

She insisted she HAD to get rid of the cat, and refused to accept any advice on how to keep the cat from drinking out of the toilet.

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It wasn't about the cat being in the toilet, it's about the girlfriend wanting more control over the boyfriend - especially if he had the cat before meeting her and gives it quite a bit of attention. Some people are so shallow that they think they have to compete with an animal for attention. What demonstrates control over a person more than forcing them to choose who they love more?

Originally Posted by Kailie

Here is a status someone I know posted on Facebook

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That's the whole problem there.

I don't pay attention to facebook. Yes I do have an account, but I can count on 1 hand how many things I've posted on my own page and those of anyone else.

I got the account to find my high school friends, and once I did, I now correspond with them by telephone or email. I don't bother going to their face book pages.

I find the whole facebook thing and tweet thing all too high school and gosspy.

Originally Posted by Natalie_ca

That's the whole problem there.

I don't pay attention to facebook. Yes I do have an account, but I can count on 1 hand how many things I've posted on my own page and those of anyone else.

I got the account to find my high school friends, and once I did, I now correspond with them by telephone or email. I don't bother going to their face book pages.

I find the whole facebook thing and tweet thing all too high school and gosspy.

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I enjoy it because it has been a great tool to keep in contact with friends and family who may live out of town. It has also been a WONDERFUL tool in helping me find great forever homes for numerous of my foster cats because I have a particular group that showcases my fosters.

My son and DIL have newborn triplet preemie babies. They also have 2 cats. I was a little concerned about the cat fur, so I bought them a new vacuum - a Shark Navigator. Cats aren't bothering the babies at all, and I KNOW that if the cats had been a problem they would have searched for a way to work around it. Of course they love their babies, but they love their cats too!

Originally Posted by LaRussa

Kailie I agree with you, actually and I hope I don't offend anyone but I like animals more than kids. I'm very uncomfortable around kids so I tend to stay away from them. This person who is so ready to give up her cat is a real jerk. Doesn't she realize she is giving this kitty a death sentence. Why don't people wise up, if you're so afraid of having a cat and a baby, then don't have a baby.

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AMEN!! People wonder why I don't have children? Well, this is it!!! I'd rather have a cat than a kid. I made that choice years ago and never regretted it.
Kailie I don't think your words were nasty at all. You handled yourself well. I'm proud of you. So sorry you had to be exposed to that crap.
you were right. Families have cats AND babies and it works out!! What child wants to be raised in a house without animals??

I do worry about the boys climbing into the crib with our upcoming bundle of joy, but DH and I have talked EXTENSIVELY on what we can do to prevent it.

And you might wonder why I'd want to. Heck, Scotty is 17lbs and Oscar is 14. Scotty loves to lay on my chest, and I just don't want to risk his 17lbs against an infant's tiny weight. I know he wouldn't maliciously hurt the baby, but accidents happen and we're going to do what we can to prevent them.

And no, "getting rid of the cats" is NOT an option. Nope. Not gonna happen.

We're going to install screen doors to the nursery (there are two entrances), no bassients or cradles in our bedroom no matter how convenient it might be at night, and only supervised kitty and baby interactions.

I'm still trying to work out how to keep the boys out of a playpen, but we'll figure it out.

Besides, they are both TERRIFIED of babies, lol. Scotty will sniff and cringe, whereas Oscar just runs.

I am sorry but you can't always trust pets. I had a double yellow-headed Amazon parrot. When my son was born she was jealous. One day she,Liberty, plopped down from her stand in the kitchen, walked into the bedroom, climbed up on my bed where I was changing my son and came in full display to hurt him. I grabbed Ben in time but still couldn't bear to give up Liberty.

Well, soon after, Ben was strapped into a sassy seat in the kitchen with me, Liberty, and my then mainly outdoor cat, Brownie (he adopted me & I took care of him) was eating dinner. Ben unstrappted himself and fell down. Liberty went down on the floor and before I could get to that end of the big kitchen, there was Liberty in full display/attack mode on side of Ben & Brownie on the other side in full crouch attack mode. I rescued my son, put the parrot in her cage and gave Brownie people tuna fish.

I then knew I had to get rid of Liberty (she could open her cage) and found her a nice home. My point is that sometimes a pet feels jealous because she is not the baby anymore.

Originally Posted by butzie

I am sorry but you can't always trust pets. I had a double yellow-headed Amazon parrot. When my son was born she was jealous. One day she,Liberty, plopped down from her stand in the kitchen, walked into the bedroom, climbed up on my bed where I was changing my son and came in full display to hurt him. I grabbed Ben in time but still couldn't bear to give up Liberty.

Well, soon after, Ben was strapped into a sassy seat in the kitchen with me, Liberty, and my then mainly outdoor cat, Brownie (he adopted me & I took care of him) was eating dinner. Ben unstrappted himself and fell down. Liberty went down on the floor and before I could get to that end of the big kitchen, there was Liberty in full display/attack mode on side of Ben & Brownie on the other side in full crouch attack mode. I rescued my son, put the parrot in her cage and gave Brownie people tuna fish.

I then knew I had to get rid of Liberty (she could open her cage) and found her a nice home. My point is that sometimes a pet feels jealous because she is not the baby anymore.

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True, but instances like this are very few and far between, and if people were to get rid of everything that could possibly hurt their child, they would have nothing left in their house! Accidents can really happen with anything.

Jade, kudos to you hun, sounds like you are doing everything right!

Kailie, I don't think you were too harsh at all. I would have said the same thing. People just don't realize that when you have a pet, it's a life time commitment. You can't just get rid of it.

And to all of those who said they prefer the company of animals to people, I'm with you. I love my cats and they love me and that's all I need.

Originally Posted by strange_wings

... watch, though. She'll get rid of the cat and want a puppy in a couple of months.

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Yeah. She seems like the type. Kailie, I'm sorry to hear about Shaggy.

That is so sad! When my granddaughter was born, the first thing we did was introduce the cats to her. One of us held her, and they were allowed to sniff her and look her over as much as they wanted. One of them just checked her out and went on about her catlike doings, but the big male instantly appointed himself her guardian. He purred, gave her kitty loves, and licked her little feet. He sleeps under her bed to this day, and they are still the best of friends.

Originally Posted by Kailie

I enjoy it because it has been a great tool to keep in contact with friends and family who may live out of town. It has also been a WONDERFUL tool in helping me find great forever homes for numerous of my foster cats because I have a particular group that showcases my fosters.

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They sound young, stupid and immature and unfortunately the cat will pay the ultimate price... Actually the people you describe sound too young and immature to be PARENTS.

This is one reason why my friends basically consist of TCS. I very very rarely interact with people on a face to face basis. Mostly because when it comes to cats (the few people Im around) are either beyond ignorant about them or just feel they are disposable.....I just dont have the tact to deal with it so I just wipe them out of my life.

When I had my oldest daughter my cat Pickles slept in the crib with her I always caught them in the morning but it wasnt anything malicious he was crazy protective over her. He would lay down and Maddi would sleep on top of him like a pillow (this was when she was around 8mths old). When people would hold her he would be right there standing guard over her, he was the same way when I had Katy.

I'd be upset, too, Kailie. Poor Shaggy.

When my son was born, my mother insisted on taking Peanut Butter (our orange tiger) home because she was afraid that he would "steal" the baby's breath while he was in his crib.....old wives tales die hard. She said I could have him back when our son got older.

I gave in and she took PB. Only to give him to one of her friends! I went to visit, just a day or two later, and Peanut Butter wasn't anywhere around. I asked Mom what happened and she told me right out that she didn't want "that cat". But she didn't think it was safe to have "that cat" around the baby either.

So I told her that she had 24 hours to get Peanut Butter back or else. The next morning Mom came over with "that cat" in tow. And he lived with us for many years. I never knew him to get into our son's crib, but I do remember finding him sleeping beneath the crib on the floor. (I put a heavy blanket on the floor....if he was going to sleep there, he might as well be comfy, I guess.)