If you had cats as a child, how were your cats taken care of?

donutte

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Omg Laura H, that's awful! I can't even imagine that.

I was basically raised with animal activists so my experience was quite the opposite.
 
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crazy4strays

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I'm very sorry that you went through that, Laura H and lost your precious kitty in such a horrific manner.

I remember seeing one of my cats brutally torn apart by a vicious free roaming dog. That's been at least 20 years ago and I still have some images of it in my head.

As an adult, I'm doing the best I can to protect our pets. Losing an animal is so horrible for a child.
 
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threecatowner

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I'm enjoying these posts. Brings back memories.

I grew up in the 1960's. We had old yellow Elmer and Sandy, a tortie.

We lived in a middle class neighborhood in a small town, and the cats were indoor/outdoor.

Sandy had three litters of kittens, which we gave away, hopefully, to good homes. We couldn't afford spaying; she died at about 3 years of age, probably hit by a car, but I found her lying under a tree in another yard.

Elmer was the fighter in the neighborhood, so a vet suggested we neuter him to keep him from fighting. To my knowledge, said vet didn't suggest doing it to keep him from reproducing. I'll never forget how friendly and playful he was when we brought him home after operation - we kids were amazed! Elmie lived to be about 11, but seemed at the time like an extremely elderly cat.

Our cats ate a brand of canned food called "Jobo", and I believe it was for dogs. They also got some dry food.

After Sandy died, we got a tuxedo cat, Inky. We didn't neuter him, he wasn't a fighter, and it NEVER occurred to us. He was killed by a car, several blocks away, probably looking for a female.

We were so absolutely ignorant! Not until the late 1970's did we begin to spay/neuter our cats.

There are so many things I would do differently. We just knew what we knew.
 

bonepicker

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They were fed dry food and both died prematurely, one from a blockage and one from diabetes. No one knew the importance of proper nutrition back then
The blocked boy was an inside cat who kept blocking and was pts at 7, the girl was pts at 12 because my mom did not want to give shots for diabetes, she was an in and out cat. We also had a third cat that was in and out and disappeared after moving at 2. All were fixed. They also had a poodle that got hit by a car at 1 year old. My youngest animal to die was an 11 year old dog with cancer was pts. My oldest was 21 year old cat. Unless they have a disease like cancer my animals tend to live a long time!
 
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juno the kitten

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Hi technically I am a kid so I'll tell you whats going on with our cats.

            Juno is 1, and is definitely not a people cat so she hides in our basement which has mold and is also typically flooded so that's not the safest place. Juno started off being a inside cat, until she got out and got a taste of freedom...now she is both a outside and inside cat. she has had all her needed vaccinations and is for the most part a healthy grumpy cat (once again she hates people). Juno has resently gotten a injury we don't know what from but its pretty bad. she has a scab that goes all the way around her leg and the hair around it is falling out so her leg is basically furless. we have sceduled several vetranary apontments but she has exscaped from her crate one to many times. Juno is being feed Purina complete cat chow. she is a curious one which is not welcome in our house (we are messy people). Juno is a healthy (mostly) kitten with a weird way of saying I love you (by scratching your hand 15 times when trying to rap your leg)

          Lightning  is 11, he is not living at my house but he is technically my cat and I stay in touch with him
. Lightning has been to 3 different houses my cousins (my ant is allergic to anything that lives,basically), then ours (darn that land lord), now my grandpas (happy to stay). He is a outside cat the only time he comes in is when there is bad weather (cold, stormy ect.). he has had every needed vaccination and is a healthy happy affectionate cat. lightning is being feed Meow Mix. he is almost a dog you sit and he is on your lap rubbing up against you screaming "PET ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  It can be annoying and amazing (mostly amazing). Lighting sits on the porch and that's where you will find him...on the porch...he never moves...laziest thing you'll ever see. 
 

louann jude

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As a child we had a few cats all outside of course. We had one named Kit Kat who had kittens we named Salt and Pepper. My brother got a puppy at that time who's mom died and Kit let him suck with the kittens. We never took them to a vet. Even though it was the late 80's we lived in the head of a holler in the hills of East Kentucky. This is going to cause most to cringe. The cats ate scraps any food that was left over they got. There was also plenty of mice and stuff. 

Then around 88 or 89 my brother got a pet pig that followed him like a dog. I grew up around family and they all had animals and barn animals. That summer was bad. One animal after another died of parvo. It was devastating to see. I was only around 11.  I got my next pet in my early 20s I called him prince. Not long after I found out i was pregnant. Being from where I was from I found a new home for him, the old wives tale about not having a cat around a baby. 
 

fyllis

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As a child we had a few cats all outside of course. We had one named Kit Kat who had kittens we named Salt and Pepper. My brother got a puppy at that time who's mom died and Kit let him suck with the kittens. We never took them to a vet. Even though it was the late 80's we lived in the head of a holler in the hills of East Kentucky. This is going to cause most to cringe. The cats ate scraps any food that was left over they got. There was also plenty of mice and stuff. 

Then around 88 or 89 my brother got a pet pig that followed him like a dog. I grew up around family and they all had animals and barn animals. That summer was bad. One animal after another died of parvo. It was devastating to see. I was only around 11.  I got my next pet in my early 20s I called him prince. Not long after I found out i was pregnant. Being from where I was from I found a new home for him, the old wives tale about not having a cat around a baby. 
When my niece got pregnant about 17 years ago, she gave her Mom guardianship of her kitten because she said scooping poop could kill her and the unborn baby. Then, after the baby was born she couldn't take it back because it 'might' hurt the baby! Ultimately, she never got the cat back! 

The kick in the pants is that her husband had a 1 year old pit-bull/rottweiler mix and neither of them felt there was any danger in having him around the baby! 
 

louann jude

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I know the wives tales are crazy. I was terrified being a first time mom. The saying goes that a cat will take a babies breath. I just believe it was a way to blame Sids on something. Almost 15 years later I know better now. 

But just yesterday my fiance said if we had a little baby I could have my cats. When you grow up hearing this stuff all your life its hard not to believe it. 
 

lonelocust

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This is another story about my mother who is not a cat person, and it is a bit disturbing so some of you really may not want to read this so just CONTENT WARNING, but it's also sort of funny in a terrible way.

CONTENT WARNING

...

OK

So after my beloved Samantha died at 17 (when I had been gone away to University for a few years already), my mother actually let my much younger sister get another kitten because we kids are all cat lovers. She even let her have a cat door and an indoor litter box year-round. But she was still indoor-outdoor, and she didn't however get her spayed on schedule, and Amber got pregnant and had kittens. I was home for some sort of school break, and I opened a closet door and saw Amber eating her recently-birthed kittens.
 I didn't know if they were stillborn or not, but well nature is like that especially for first-time mothers or non-ideal nutrition or a number of other reasons, so I just left her to it. So my mother the non-cat-loving genius (and I guess cheap-ass) still didn't get her spayed, and told me that was the second time then tells me over the course of a few years that this happened TWO MORE TIMES, and she figured "Well, if she's going to eat them I guess there's no point in getting her fixed." 
 BUT, the FIFTH litter, she took great care of them and was an ideal mother. My sister (then maybe 10 or so) was overjoyed to have kittens. They kept 1 as a second cat, got the rest nice homes, and Amber (and the second kitten) finally got fixed. 

I was talking to my sister a few months ago and asked her if she remembered this, and she apparently had been blissfully unaware of these goings on the entire time.
 

juno the kitten

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When my niece got pregnant about 17 years ago, she gave her Mom guardianship of her kitten because she said scooping poop could kill her and the unborn baby. Then, after the baby was born she couldn't take it back because it 'might' hurt the baby! Ultimately, she never got the cat back! 

The kick in the pants is that her husband had a 1 year old pit-bull/rottweiler mix and neither of them felt there was any danger in having him around the baby! :doh3:
 

juno the kitten

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I can see they're thinking because dogs are seen and proven to be more affectionate and caring towards children and babies, but I do disagree in the fact that when I was a babies I have heard stories that my cat that I had would crawl into my bed/crib and sleep with me. I also remember for one winter we didn't have air conditioning and it got very,very cold one day and Lightning, my oldest cat, layed with me for hours to keep me worm. So I can see their thinking but I also disagree in the fact that cats would never try to hurt anyone they can just get frightened which small children, but it also depends on the cat.
 

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When I was born, my mom had a Siberian Husky and a Siamese. They both ran away when I came home (or at least that's the story they tell me).

When I was very small, we got a cat. I thought she was white, and wanted to name her Snowflake. My mom said, No, and we named her Max. It turns out that she was a diluted something Siamese. She might have been some kind of white-out Siamese, as she still looks like a white cat (in photos) to me. Max was an indoor/outdoor cat who ate Tender Vittles. I was like the little girl in the cartoons who "loved" the cat, and wanted to pick her up and hold her and squish her and carry her around. I remember her swiping me on the face and running away as fast as possible. I'm sure the cat was spayed (there were a lot of neighborhood cats, and she never had kittens or was pregnant), and definitely had her claws.

We ended up rehoming her to a friend of my mom's because we moved. Supposedly, it was because there "would be fleas" where we were moving to, but it was probably because my dad doesn't like animals (or people, for that matter). The flea thing didn't pan out, as I ended up with rabbits.
 

dbljj

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When I was born, my mom had a Siberian Husky and a Siamese. They both ran away when I came home (or at least that's the story they tell me).

When I was very small, we got a cat. I thought she was white, and wanted to name her Snowflake. My mom said, No, and we named her Max. It turns out that she was a diluted something Siamese. She might have been some kind of white-out Siamese, as she still looks like a white cat (in photos) to me. Max was an indoor/outdoor cat who ate Tender Vittles. I was like the little girl in the cartoons who "loved" the cat, and wanted to pick her up and hold her and squish her and carry her around. I remember her swiping me on the face and running away as fast as possible. I'm sure the cat was spayed (there were a lot of neighborhood cats, and she never had kittens or was pregnant), and definitely had her claws.

We ended up rehoming her to a friend of my mom's because we moved. Supposedly, it was because there "would be fleas" where we were moving to, but it was probably because my dad doesn't like animals (or people, for that matter). The flea thing didn't pan out, as I ended up with rabbits.
Rabbits are great!! In Fl I could not have a cat or dog in the apartments but a bird, fish or bunny in a cage housebroken was allowed. We got a very small white brown-eyed bunny probably too young to leave its mommy however it loved us , we loved him, and he always used a news paper in the corner of the kitchen or on a paper in the corner of the  the bathroom. It was a male and he reached about 12-13 pounds. never had him fixed, this was in the 70's did NOT even know they did such a thing but eventually his urine was so smelly I ended up giving him a little girl who had a huge Florida screened in room. She had lukemia and her parakeet that stayed out there had recently had passed away. I drove to meet them in Orlando and that was one happy little girl  I  gave his cage, toys and all  his things to her , even carried a ratty old towel along cause she did just what I would have done, "Daddy, can I hold him in my  lap til we get home?" Those big brown eyes shining up at him and her little patch of hair she had left on top, she was little doll baby, Daddy was Brazilian, Mother  Cuban, dark skin, etc. Of course he said yes, " but make sure he stays in the blanket(towel) in case he gets excited and wets on you"

   Then I cried all the way home however I knew we had done the right thing. He had a dark ring around each eye looked just like dark brown eyeliner.
 

bonepicker

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This is another story about my mother who is not a cat person, and it is a bit disturbing so some of you really may not want to read this so just CONTENT WARNING, but it's also sort of funny in a terrible way.

CONTENT WARNING
...
OK

So after my beloved Samantha died at 17 (when I had been gone away to University for a few years already), my mother actually let my much younger sister get another kitten because we kids are all cat lovers. She even let her have a cat door and an indoor litter box year-round. But she was still indoor-outdoor, and she didn't however get her spayed on schedule, and Amber got pregnant and had kittens. I was home for some sort of school break, and I opened a closet door and saw Amber eating her recently-birthed kittens. :jaw:  I didn't know if they were stillborn or not, but well nature is like that especially for first-time mothers or non-ideal nutrition or a number of other reasons, so I just left her to it. So my mother the non-cat-loving genius (and I guess cheap-ass) still didn't get her spayed, and told me that was the second time then tells me over the course of a few years that this happened TWO MORE TIMES, and she figured "Well, if she's going to eat them I guess there's no point in getting her fixed." :frusty:  BUT, the FIFTH litter, she took great care of them and was an ideal mother. My sister (then maybe 10 or so) was overjoyed to have kittens. They kept 1 as a second cat, got the rest nice homes, and Amber (and the second kitten) finally got fixed. 

I was talking to my sister a few months ago and asked her if she remembered this, and she apparently had been blissfully unaware of these goings on the entire time.
So sad Ugh
 

jcat

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When I was a kid I thought responsible pet ownership was the norm because my parents always took such good care of the family pets (generally multiple dogs, an indoor/outdoor cat and various rodents and reptiles). They got quality food, regular vet care, cats and female dogs were spayed or neutered, and they were all family members. My mother also took in injured wildlife to nurse back to health. Both my parents never hesitated to report animal abuse or neglect and always took in strays.
 

caesar

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The first cat I had was a male Tabby named Cutie Boots. I was about 4 when we got him. We had him for a few years, he was a indoor outdoor cat. I think he got hit by a car a few years later. The next cat was a Stray Calaco who was pregnant when she showed up at our door. We named her Rags. She had her first litter of three kittens. We gave away two and kept a black and white female we named Tango. Mom and daughter had kittens within a week of each other. We put one in my bedroom closet and the other in my Moms, But they drug all the kittens into one box. we tried to separate them but again they carried them back and put them all together. They would nurse each other's kittens. it was so funny. There was 11 in all, 5 from one and 6 from the other. We picked a solid gray male to keep and named him Hunter. My aunt took another gray male. We took the rest to a shopping center and gave them all away. At this time my Mom was tired of having kittens so we got the two females spayed.
We always fed them canned food. They were all indoor outdoor cats. None lived long lives, that I recall.
 
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oldgloryrags88

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They were usually not spayed\neutered (it was too expensive), we lived out in the country and constantly had kittens from our unfixed cats. They were all outdoor cats except for 2 (we actually had those 2 spayed though and paid $300? Maybe? ). They all ate meow mix kibble or tender vittles as a treat. Back then kibble 'cleaned' the teeth, canned food would cause rotting teeth, etc. Litter box for the 2 cats was literally scooped once a week (it was recommended by the bag), the actual box was fully hosed out once a month. The 2 indoor cats above were allowed to go through one heat cycle (recommended by a vet before they got spayed) but they never got pregnant. The scary part? Their vet said WE could remove their spay stitches (and we did); a piece of butcher paper was sprawled out on the big work island while two people held them down and the third person removed the stitches (I think we used a knife, I don't remember) and they were removed in 25 minutes. The one cat's spay site almost got infected, but the other one was fine. Vet said to feed them rice and chicken to help recover. 

We vaccinated them every year. When they were 3 years old, they both became outdoor cats. They fought with other cats a lot, one cat got bite by a dog but it was minor. We stopped vaccinating them once they became outdoor cats. Our other two outdoor cats were killed by a car and the other one got in a nasty fight years before and he came down with AIDS, that one hurt, he was everyone's favorite cat. The third outdoor cat was killed by two dobermans...the poor cat was literally torn to shreds. The cat that was hit by a car was front declawed (old owner did it). 

I still have those two indoor cats, they're getting up there with old age, but they're still good old friends. Their care has been greatly improved. I am ashamed to admit the way our cats were treated back then, but you knew what you knew and believed it. 
 

foxxycat

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This has been a fascinating thread to read!

I also had cats as a kid and a dog.

All our cats were indoor/outdoor and fixed/neutered.

we fed kibble. I don't remember vet visits other than spay and occasional rabies shots/etc. I never really paid attention. I also don't remember if we had a litter box. we had a dirt cellar and we used to let them go down there. I think there was a litter box in the second livingroom but I don't remember.

The first cat was a kitten my sister got me at 6 years old. muffet was his name. he was a black and white kitty. I wasn't too close to him but we enjoyed him. Then at 11 he got hit by a car. Then that month or week I remember mom looking in the paper for free cats.

We found a family of 3 cats in derry at an apartment. 2 were brother/sister. Harley and Onyx. Then a long hair orange cat named Madonna. The cats got along but were not friendly. But Harley was a very scared boy who shook all night long on my pillow at night. He was so very scared. Growing up my dad wasn't the nicest person. He would be known to kick or smack the animals if they did something wrong. Now adays he knows I will break his arm if he harms a hair on my Honeybee or Pumps head. And I am strong enough to.

Anyways Harley got hit by a car. I was pretty traumatized by it. I remember digging him up and holding and crying and rocking back and forth. I may have been 11 or even younger. It happened when I was at school. In a way looking back it was a blessing. He was just so miserable and scared all the time. I think he pooped under my bed too but I didn't tell anyone. If dad knew he pooped he would have broke its neck probably or just tell me it ran away and have it put down. Dad has changed quite a bit in the 30 years but I still have quite a bit of anger of his treatment of animals and humans back then.

So after Harley died-then Madonna was the next to go. Same thing. I didn't dig her up. or maybe she ran off. I don't know. But Onyx was this black cat who ended up being a love bug and spent every night in my bed until I was 16 or so-she too hit by a car. I cried for days. I remember begging dad to not kick them outside because I don't like death. But back then that's what we did. We lived on a busy street too.

So Onyx was 5 lbs and was silent and fast. she was a good mouser. One time she brought a snake and put it in my mother's bed. of course they blamed me on this. I didn't do it I swear!!

So then after Onyx I didn't have any animals for years. Too painful.

Looking back we did the best we could and I had found memories of them and thankful I got to have them. And cant forget the dog. The black dog who showed up out of the blue and she was wild and jumped. so maybe the cats put up with her-Zena. she was nuts. She got rehomed with some kids because we didn't have time to care for her. So many memories of animals.

I have other animals but I cant remember their names right now.

oh during those 3 cats=we got a white cat named Tibby. white simese cat. He was awesome. I took him to school for presentation once in 7th grade? or 8th grade? He used to love people but at school he wouldn't do any tricks I taught him. He was a big boy and a good hunter. I loved that cat. He got sick with blockages and my sister took him but I think they put him down. I loved that cat. he also was a free cat to good home. Back then if we fed wet maybe he would have lived a long life?
 
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