Have 5- want NONE. Please help, they used to be so wonderful!

[sims2fan]

Hang in there, I have only two cats and there are days where their antics make me want to ship them off to Abu Dhabi, but luckily for them they are cute and (some of the time) generally well-behaved.[/QUOTE

"The cartoon cat Garfield would often put his nemesis, the kitten Nermal, in a box and ship him to Abu Dhabi. A common phrase from Garfield: "Abu Dhabi is where all the cute kittens go". Ironically, there is an active non-profit society named Feline Friends in Abu Dhabi and the other towns in the UAE which specialises in finding homes for abandoned or stray cats and kittens."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Dhabi

I just found this interesting!

 

[semiferal]

Originally Posted by dara678

3) yes you have to ingest it. BUT remember that toxoplasma gondii is the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis. it is very microscopic and can be anywhere on the cat faces. inadvertently touching the feces or the litter and then touching your mouth (or food, or plates, whatever you can think of) can trasmit toxo to you. it's not eating cat poop, that is inaccurate. you can acquire the parasite by touch.

Touching the litter and then touching your mouth does qualify as eating cat poop. Meaning the poop has to make it to your mouth somehow.

Common good hygiene is to wash hands after making contact with feces or anything contaminated with feces. I do not know anyone who does not practice this basic hygiene. And it is more than enough to prevent toxoplasmosis. If you have cat feces everywhere so that you are inadvertently touching it and not washing afterward, you have a filthy home environment and poor personal hygiene and toxo is the least of your worries.

Any person who is concerned about their exposure to toxoplasmosis can visit their doctor and have a titre test run. It will tell you if you have ever been exposed.

 

[speakingwaters]

Wow, I guess I really should have mentioned that the "papa cat" had SUPPOSEDLY been neutered when we got him. So, the fact that we have kittens at all was a shock. This was not "irresponsibility" on my part. If you want to call me something- call me ignorant, but not irresponsible.

The have lots of toys, and our house is large enough for them to each have a room and a half to themselves if they wanted. The kittens, we have been told, are still too young to spay at only 4 1/2 months.

By the way, thank you CommonOddity, Sims fan, and all others with kind words, before your posts I was starting to feel that it was a mistake to post my issue on this board at all.

I don't *hate* my cats, and I'm sorry for making myself out to be such a monster. I'm tired, pregnant, and cranky- especially after reading some of these posts, and I am just hoping to find a kind answer to the problem my husband and I are facing. I suppose I came to the wrong place. Thank you to all who were helpful.

 

[gayef]

Speaking Waters,

If you feel attacked, then all I can advise is for you to go back and actually READ your original post. We had nothing other that what you wrote to go on ... here are a couple of examples:

"I can't stand the site of them"
"kitties have turned into mean, hateful, destructive monsters"

We do not know you and from the written word, we cannot gather your tone or inflection ... we had no way of knowing your male was neutered (supposedly) because YOU didn't tell us. You came here to request help and assistance and we went on the information you provided when we responded with good advice. I am sorry you didn't like the answers you got but this is a CAT WELFARE site - our focus is on the care and welfare of CATS, not humans. Cranky and pregnant or not, these kittens are your responsibility and this has absolutely NOTHING to do with ignorance. While you may currently feel you came to the wrong place, that couldn't be further from the truth. There are a lot of very knowledgable people here who may have input to help. I would like to be helpful (and tried to be so in my response to you as did others here) and offer ideas and suggestions to assist you, so please lose the attitude and let's have at the business at hand, shall we?

 

[susanmly]

 

[hissy]

Your subject line Have 5 want NONE automatically put members on the defensive. Going into your post, they already had a pretty good idea what they were looking at. No one has openly attacked you that I can see, called you names or told you that you were a bad cat owner. You set the tone in the first post, and a lot of us have unfortunately seen and heard it all many times.

We are an instructional board and sometimes lessons taught are not delivered with sugar and honey on them, especially if there is a sense that there might be kittens or cats in jeopardy. We cut quick to the core and try to save you from yourself, and also offer hope for the cats.

If your male cat has been neutered and isn't shooting blanks I would suggest you cart this cat back to the vet that did the surgery and have a blood test run to see if it was an incomplete neuter. They are rare, but they do happen. If it happens that they goofed, I would demand that the vet do a second surgery at no charge, as well as pick up the tab for the blood test to test the hormone level. If the cat is a half-neuter, then chances are good any intact female you have in the home is pregnant.