Jump to content

cyclops kitten

mallochai

By mallochai,
in Other Stuff

Recommended Posts

Fierce Critter Newbie

Fierce Critter

Posted
Posted

As soon as Jon and I saw the teaser clip about her on TV, we wanted her.

Alas, she didn't make it. It appears they never do. =(

Someday, we will have a whole tribe of "special" kitties. Our 3-legged Tiki has convinced us that picking cats based on color/breed isn't the way for us. When our brood has grown old and thinned (I will not cry I will not cry), we will never have this many cats again. But every one we do bring in will more than likely be missing a limb or something.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
mallochai Newbie

mallochai

Posted
  • Author
Posted

My concern when I saw her was how she felt, what her insides looked like, whether she was in pain. It sounds like her owner cared for her as best as she could, but the whole thing is so... desperate. Imagine living only one day, not actually experiencing anything but confusion and pain. *shudders* Or even worse... to feel nothing at all. I understand the nightmare feeling, bean.

Critter... you rule. seriously. Any time I see a stray, I want so badly to take it home so that it doesn't freeze, or get picked up by animal control, or die for some other reason. But then, I'd never be able to stop once I started. Getting my puppy from a rescue service was my effort, and the best I could make really. I love him dearly, for all his little faults and personality disorders.

I have a deep soft spot for suffering animals. I'm no PETA activist, but sometimes, I think if I was much more insane than I am, I probably could be.

But don't worry, I'm not insane, and hopefully won't EVER be. Just sympathetic.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Fierce Critter Newbie

Fierce Critter

Posted
Posted

Critter... you rule.  seriously.  Any time I see a stray, I want so badly to take it home so that it doesn't freeze, or get picked up by animal control, or die for some other reason.  But then, I'd never be able to stop once I started.  Getting my puppy from a rescue service was my effort, and the best I could make really.  I love him dearly, for all his little faults and personality disorders. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Awww. That's nice of you to say.

With every one we've brought in, we've had to question whether, in the long run, that's making life NOT as good for it and the others. There's a matter of, "with so many, can you afford quality food? Can you get each one vet care when it needs it?" that sort of thing. Thusfar, we haven't had any problem in that direction.

But we also have had to steel ourselves, toughen-up and realize we just cannot save ALL of them. When you realize that each day brings so many unwanted animals into this world, you have to look at the big picture and learn to say "no, I can't do it all."

It's one of the hardest lessons I've ever had to learn in my life. That, and learning when you just have to let one go, as we did our beloved Jack who was born with FIP and lived barely a year.

But Tiki has been the biggest lesson for us. We really have picked our cats mostly based on "I want a black one" and "Now I want a white one, too" or "I want a Siamese". Never more.

I walked into the shelter area of a vet who did rescue, intending to bring home a little gray kitten I'd seen on a previous visit. When the "handler" took me in to the cage area, the gray guy was gone. Then I noticed a little black cat seemingly hopping in one if the upper cages. I realized she was missing a front leg, so I asked about her. The handler told me she'd been there since before Christmas (this was March or April), had been hit by a truck and nobody would adopt her. So I asked to see her.

When the handler opened the cage door, Tiki slammed herself into a back corner of the cage and did her best to avoid the handler. I was appalled, I'd NEVER seen a cat act like that before. I suspected then, and now, that though the vet himself might be a kind Samaritan, his handler might be abusing her charges.

The handler got ahold of her, and put her in my arms. Tiki latched onto my shirt with that one front paw so tight, it was as if her life depended on it. She put her head under my chin, and wouldn't move. I could FEEL the fear, a deep dark terror, just overwhelming her. I fought back tears and there was NO WAY IN HELL I was going to put her back in that cage. So I didn't.

Tiki has pinkies (humans) who love her. Good food to eat. Friends to play with. One of the kittens who came after her "adopted" her as his mother, and I have video of her looking TOTALLY confounded at the kitten "suckling" at her abdomen.

But most of all, she has soft chairs to curl up on, and every night, she sleeps in bed with us. And just as I once felt her inner terror, today, her appreciation & comfort are oh-so obvious.

I'd have a tribe of Tikis any day. The rest of my cats (& dog and rabbit) are wonderful, I wouldn't - couldn't - give up a one. But our future is giving a home to some of the most unwanteds we can find. Because we want them all the more.

tikisits.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Fierce Critter Newbie

Fierce Critter

Posted
Posted

Whoa. I so didn't find her gross, disgusting, or even ugly. Incredible is more like it. Fantastically unique.

I'd say too bad that they never live, because I'd love to take one in. But on the other hand, some idiot would decide to start breeding them, and then we'd have another "purebreed" with inbred health problems being passed on ad infinitum.

My Phoebe is only half pure Persian, and due to an inbred facial deformity, her tear ducts aren't shaped right and all her tears run down her face, staining her. So she faces a life of either daily face washings (HATES THEM) or stained fur around her eyes (cat tears turn dark red/black when they dry).

She doesn't know what she looks like, so we only wash her enough to keep bacteria from being able to grow. I can't imagine the problems purebreeds have.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
The_Dark Newbie

The_Dark

Posted
Posted

It was a horribly deformed mutant. It's mutation was so bad that it could not live on it's own. What was it's quality of life? If a human was pregnaunt and the doctors detected this kind of mutation, the pregnacy would be terminated long before the child ever had to endure life like that. I'm not rude, I'm mercyful. i think trying to force the thing to live was the more heartless thing to do.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Msterbeau Collaborator

Msterbeau

Posted
Posted

It was a horribly deformed mutant. It's mutation was so bad that it could not live on it's own. What was it's quality of life? If a human was pregnaunt and the doctors detected this kind of mutation, the pregnacy would be terminated long before the child ever had to endure life like that. I'm not rude, I'm mercyful. i think trying to force the thing to live was the more heartless thing to do.

While I generally agree with what you're saying... you could have been a bit more tacftul.. :whistling

*Sits back to watch Brenda and the other ladies kick Mark's ass......*

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ginevra Newbie

Ginevra

Posted
Posted

I have to agree with Dark on this one. After having been raised on a farm and seeing animals that were mutated or hurt beyond monetary care and having to deal with the consequences after, it's just more kind to put them down and have done. Nothing hurts more than having to put down the family pet because she got run over with a car rather than to take her to the vet because you can't afford it. It hurts to have to kill an innocent calf because it has a hunchback and its quality of life would be nil. So rather than let it suffer, you end its life to prevent the suffering. It's not heartless. It IS merciful.

As FC said, no doubt someone would want to start breeding that sort of creature, which is a genetic mutation to begin with, and make a new breed which would be full of all sorts of its own genetic mutations.

I'm sorry it was born this way, I'm sorry it died so quickly. But it's probably best for the situation that it happened quickly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
bean Newbie

bean

Posted
Posted

Whoa. I so didn't find her gross, disgusting, or even ugly. Incredible is more like it. Fantastically unique.

I'd say too bad that they never live, because I'd love to take one in. But on the other hand, some idiot would decide to start breeding them, and then we'd have another "purebreed" with inbred health problems being passed on ad infinitum.

My Phoebe is only half pure Persian, and due to an inbred facial deformity, her tear ducts aren't shaped right and all her tears run down her face, staining her. So she faces a life of either daily face washings (HATES THEM) or stained fur around her eyes (cat tears turn dark red/black when they dry).

She doesn't know what she looks like, so we only wash her enough to keep bacteria from being able to grow. I can't imagine the problems purebreeds have.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Purebred Persians can often be born without noses. It has something to do with a defect in the gene that makes their noses flat. The original Persian cats did not have flat noses, but some jackass thought that looked good and so the trend started. These poor animals have to suffer because some rich snots want something to make money from.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Mikielikesit Newbie

Mikielikesit

Posted
Posted

ewwww... I would have thumped that one on the head.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yup a good thump on the head always fix's thing's such as that. I was also raised on a farm and had to deal with situations such as this but not that extreme though. I have had to stretch a few necks in my time, but that is how life is on a farm. It is survival of the fitest and animals such as that do not have the strength or life force to live on their own the only way it survived to birth was on its mothers life force. It would be neat to be the first one on your block to have a cat from outer space...........OK you can smack me now :nut

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Forum Statistics

    38.9k
    Total Topics
    820.4k
    Total Posts

  • Who's Online   0 Members, 0 Anonymous, 106 Guests (See full list)

    • There are no registered users currently online
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.

  I accept