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Mackenzie was my favorite feral. I see him once a month or so, Zack
scares them all away most of the time. I do know he's alive, but that's about
all I know. Him and Spooky (the b&w FIV+ male) seem to have buddied up, as
they appear together when they come. Hopefully that brings them the safety of
numbers, at least. Rusty is now my new favorite, but only because he's the only
one determined enough to refuse to be run off by Zack, much to Zack's
disappointment. They fight constantly, but he refuses to give up his space (the
back yard). Zack owns the porch and the road, Rusty owns the backyard. It's
still up to debate daily though. Right now, I do have the cage mostly covered,
as I do HAVE to bring Zack inside for storms, as he freaks out when there's any
thunder at all. My main issue is my dominant male housecat, Doobie. He harasses
Zack, Zack harasses back. Even if I cover the entire cage with a blanket, and
only leave a little front of it uncovered, they will fight through the bars.
I've considered buying some Plexiglas, and making a custom cage cover to go over
it, with small bore holes drilled throughout the glass for ventilation. That
would at least stop the physical contact, BUT, it wouldn't stop the endless
"GRRRR,RRR,YEOWLLLL,HAK,SKTPFTTTT,YOWLLLL,KERTCH,HARRRR,SSSSSSSSSSSSSHHH,GRRRRR!"
that is the constant result of Zack and Doobie being within earshot of each
other. (I'm sure I couldn't afford the materials though, anyways) I also have no
doors in the apartment, other than the one that closes off the bedroom from the
livingroom or kitchen, and the one from the bedroom to the bathroom, so even if
I put Doobie in the bedroom area, we can't get any sleep, as he will dig at the
door for hours on end trying to dig his way into the room he's locked out
of.
All of this because someone lied to me about Zack to begin with, told me he
was friendly. He was supposed to come here as his last chance, to join the feral
colony. Instead, he harasses the feral colony so bad that they would rather
starve to death than come here to eat (I can only assume that's the fate of the
cats I have not seen in months).
It is still, and always will be, my opinion that euthanasia is far kinder
than any prolonged period in a cage. I will NOT cage Zack all winter, which
would be more than half the year here (7-8 months of temperatures below freezing
at night, and at least 3 months of temperatures below freezing day and night).
He was a very much loved housecat, and even having him live outside is not nice
to him, all of his life, he slept on the bed, and snuggled on the sofa, until he
came here, were he was thrown out, and never gets more than a pat in passing.
This life is just NOT fair to Zack, and as much as I hate to do it, I will
euthanise him once it gets cold if no home is found. Zack deserves to be a loved
part of a family, like he was before, not locked in a cage. Try it for yourself.
Do something illegal, and get put in jail for 3 months. I think you'll have a
different opinion of cage life afterwards. In our society it seems that the
worst punishment we can come up with for our most rotten members of society is
caging them. Yet we do it to animals all the time, innocent animals, who did
nothing to deserve to be punished. What a hypocrisy we live in. It really
saddens me. The fact that so many of us don't even associate the word "cage"
with it's true meaning is the worst part. We've let ourselves become numb to
term. Most of us, when we hear the word cage, we think of cute kittens, reaching
out through the bars, or an animal in intensive care at the vet's clinic, where
the cage protects them and keeps them still and quiet. Yet, the very basic
principal of the word cage SHOULD invoke a dire sense of loss of freedom. We
should envision prisoners of war, old style zoos, where big cats paced back and
forth in a 8x8 cage with sterile walls. A cage shouldn't be anything positive in
our minds, it should invoke a deep sense of LOSS. You wouldn't (and can't
legally) lock your child in his room for days on end, yet we have no second
thoughts on doing it to the animals we "save" everyday. Save from what, It makes
you think. Choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil, as they say
in politics. Really sad, in my opinion.
Phaewryn Please adopt a cat from Little Cheetah Cat Rescue!!! http://ucat.us/adopt.html
Low cost Spay&Neuter services in VT, and Emergency Financial Assistance for cat owners: http://ucat.us/VermontLowCost.html Special Needs Cat Resources: http://ucat.us/domesticcatlinks.html The Sofa Poem: http://ucat.us/sofapoem.html Please shop online through i-give and support the Feline Veterinary Emergency Assistance Program: http://www.igive.com/FVEAP Shop at GREAT stores, like Drs. Foster & Smith, Pet Food Direct, Musician's Friend, and LOTS more! It doesn't cost you a single penny more, and it makes so much difference to a sick cat in need! |
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