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Maunzi was my mother's cat. I only met her once, when I went to visit. She had claimed the guest room I stayed in, and she was just aggravated at me for taking her territory! I think that if I had had more time, she might have decided to make peace, but what's done is done and anyway, I *did* invade her space.
Well, the other day I called my mother, and she casually mentioned, "Oh, yeah, Maunzi got too fat to clean herself, so I had her put to sleep."
Needless to say, I am not happy.
Here's what I think happened. When I visited, Maunzi had a sensitive stomach, and she threw up the cheap cat food my mom fed her. Mom fed her small meals in an effort to stop her from throwing up and she was always hungry. While I was there I took over meals to try to get Maunzi to enter into peace talks with me, and I fed her six times a day, tiny meals and a little food at a time, and she only threw up once. That would have worked. I guess Mom didn't keep it up.
Mom always let Maunzi outside (in a low-middle-class suburb, with neighboring dogs, cars, and poisons around), and I am willing to bet that Maunzi, hungry, decided that the neighbors' dogs' food looked pretty good. But if you are a cat trying to survive on dog food, you end up gaining weight because the dog food is just not nutritious enough for a cat, who needs protein-rich food, and a cat has to eat a lot of it to survive. She couldn't have gained on the food my mom gave her; the amount of it just wasn't enough to gain on, so she must have been getting food elsewhere.
So when Maunzi got fat, and Mom got annoyed that she couldn't lick herself clean properly, Mom didn't--as any sensible person should--take her indoors, put her on a good, high-quality cat food, get her some exercise, and help her lose a little weight so that she would be able to clean herself. She didn't even buy cat bath wipes to make the task easier in the meantime. No... she just had the cat put to sleep.
I am angry. I am very, very angry. This cat wasn't even my friend, but no cat deserves that kind of treatment. I can see that even a decent cat owner might free-feed and then realize that a cat's packed on a few extra pounds, but with the way my mom treated her both before and after she got fat, this is not one of those times. I've always known my mom looks down on fat people--she constantly yells at me about my own weight even though I exercise regularly and eat well--but I'm really saddened that this little cat had to lose her life over it. Maunzi was just coping as best she could. It wasn't her fault. She was still young; she could have lived five, ten more years.
My mom says that after this, she is never getting another cat. At least there's that.
This is a photo of Maunzi, which was taken around the time I visited her. She had beautiful eyes.
Well, the other day I called my mother, and she casually mentioned, "Oh, yeah, Maunzi got too fat to clean herself, so I had her put to sleep."
Needless to say, I am not happy.
Here's what I think happened. When I visited, Maunzi had a sensitive stomach, and she threw up the cheap cat food my mom fed her. Mom fed her small meals in an effort to stop her from throwing up and she was always hungry. While I was there I took over meals to try to get Maunzi to enter into peace talks with me, and I fed her six times a day, tiny meals and a little food at a time, and she only threw up once. That would have worked. I guess Mom didn't keep it up.
Mom always let Maunzi outside (in a low-middle-class suburb, with neighboring dogs, cars, and poisons around), and I am willing to bet that Maunzi, hungry, decided that the neighbors' dogs' food looked pretty good. But if you are a cat trying to survive on dog food, you end up gaining weight because the dog food is just not nutritious enough for a cat, who needs protein-rich food, and a cat has to eat a lot of it to survive. She couldn't have gained on the food my mom gave her; the amount of it just wasn't enough to gain on, so she must have been getting food elsewhere.
So when Maunzi got fat, and Mom got annoyed that she couldn't lick herself clean properly, Mom didn't--as any sensible person should--take her indoors, put her on a good, high-quality cat food, get her some exercise, and help her lose a little weight so that she would be able to clean herself. She didn't even buy cat bath wipes to make the task easier in the meantime. No... she just had the cat put to sleep.
I am angry. I am very, very angry. This cat wasn't even my friend, but no cat deserves that kind of treatment. I can see that even a decent cat owner might free-feed and then realize that a cat's packed on a few extra pounds, but with the way my mom treated her both before and after she got fat, this is not one of those times. I've always known my mom looks down on fat people--she constantly yells at me about my own weight even though I exercise regularly and eat well--but I'm really saddened that this little cat had to lose her life over it. Maunzi was just coping as best she could. It wasn't her fault. She was still young; she could have lived five, ten more years.
My mom says that after this, she is never getting another cat. At least there's that.
This is a photo of Maunzi, which was taken around the time I visited her. She had beautiful eyes.
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