Am I being cruel to one of my cats?

[Looking4new]

Thanks! I'm always trying to be as polite as possible so I don't ruffle the feathers of the report your post to the moderators bunch. So you would have said something to the effect of tell whomever to pound salt?:confused3:

Even that is way too polite. Unless the OP is relying on this particular relative for an inheritance, I would tell her where to go and how to get there, in no uncertain terms.

 

[chad22]

So you take a cat in out of the cold. Give him a warm house to live in with freedom to roam outdoors,provide it with quality food and vet care and you friend says you are mis-treating it and should take it to a shelter.

Your friend must have a little drug problem or something. If you want the cat I say keep it. If the cat thinks it is being mistreated, it will go elsewhere on its on.

Agreed. I don't think you're being cruel at all. I'd think the cat would be better off with you then in a shelter.

Thank you for taking in that cat and giving it a warm and loving home.

 

[Looking4new]

What CM said OR his parents had a cat and he mistreated the cat and it took a dump on his pillow, which he then laid on. hehe

 

[cqaigy2]

You are treating your cats very humanly. Keep doing what your doing. If you didn't want to be bothered to accommodating your big boy, you would dump him off at the shelter. :thumbsup:

 

[kcflhrc]

I inherited my daughters cat after she moved. It is a neutered male and it will attack my female cat for no apparent reason. Most of the time they will lay together and sleep together and generally be best buds. But something snaps every once in a while and he just attacks. I personally think he has some kind of brain damage but who knows. But, you are doing the right thing taking care of the cat.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Query here....back in mid winter of 2010 we had a cat yowling at our door, it was bitterly cold outside so we let him in and sheltered him overnight. Appears that someone dumped him off in the country...he was very tame around us and about a year old...obviously someone's pet. We tried to find his owners without success. So, he became OUR cat...with one issue: We have four others who have grown up together and get along well, but no matter how hard we have tried to get them accustomed to each other, this cat is not able to get along with our others. He will attack all of them without the slightest provocation and because he is a big boy he can do a lot of damage to the others. We have tried so hard to get him to accept them to no avail.

As a result, we have to keep him in another part of the house and away from the others. He gets outdoors every day of the year except when weather is extreme and he loves to roam. About two nights a week we close the doors to our living room and shut out the other four cats so this one can spend time with us. He gets premium food and vet care and is well taken care of.

Yet another cat owning friend of ours decries our treatment and says we are selfish and we should take this cat to the local shelter to quote: "Give him a chance to be an ONLY (emphasis added here) cat for someone else"...

And given the odds against him being adopted, are we being cruel and/or selfish to continue to keep him? Given his careless roaming habits, I am amazed he is still surviving. Am I wrong to continue keeping him or not? Thank you for any input.

I would tell your friend to kiss my arse and worry about her own health and well being rather than nose into something that is of absolutely no business of hers. I would tell her also that she would prefer that the tom cat gets put down in a shelter rather than live a good life in my home which is about a 99% chance that will happen to a 5 year old Tom in a shelter. They don't keep them long.

 

[JRobyn]

We have had two cats of different vintages for many years. One neutered male, one fixed female. Totally indoors. They are definitely NOT buds! They just barely tolerate each other, but rarely even hiss at one another. I don't consider it cruel for either one. But wife now REALLY wants to add a new rescue dog. THAT should stir the pot!

- Jay

 

[truckdiagnostics]

Retiredguy2,
Your relative/friend maybe projecting here issue onto you. My wife and i do a lot of work with the elderly. When in home care begins, if the home is unhealthily home services/social workers, begin to make suggestions that you need to get rid of your animals. I have gone into homes where one day there is the smell of cat urine and cats all over and the next week they are gone. You know darn well she took them out to the country and let them loose. Now I am going out on a limb with my tactless friend up there, but those "cats" are hunting killing the indigenous animals in the area. Which for him could be an issue. Cats are an animal! Go into a home sometime where the cats and the people are eating cat food out of the same dish. Lot more common than one would think. Personally I would be concerned about your relieve/friend. You did fine.

 

[Mace Canute]

Retiredguy2, your "cat owning friend" is clueless! Ignore what he/she has said and continue as you've been doing.

 

[Looking4new]

It seems to me that the OP has a lot of support here.