I cant adopt a cat

[GuppyDude]

ok i know what ur thinking (wtf)

my little sister loves furry animals and thogh we alredy have 3 cats, a dog, 2 horses, 2 birds, a hamster, and all of my fishes, she cant get enogh of em. while on the internet she came across a particular cat the she really liked, and i have to admit he was cool. my mom really liked him to and they talked my dad into letting them get the kitten. so my mom the next day goes down to the shelter and sees the cat. she fell in love with the littel guy and filled out the paper work. there were not enogh spaces to fit all of our animals so she just listed a few. on the list was one of our alredy existing cats. so the lady at the desk called up the vet to see if we had been takeing care of our cat, not only did the vet tell her we took care of our cat very well, he told the lady of the dog and 2 other cats we have, (which weren't listed as there was a lack of room on the paper.) the vet told the lady that our dog was indeed not fixed. so the lady at the desk tells my mom that she will not let her adopt the cat becasue my dog isn't fixed. my mom informs the lady that our dog is on an electronic underground fenceing system and nvr leaves the property. so of course teh lady has to bring up the fact that a female dog can wonder into my yard and my dog would........u know

ok for one, my dog is 8 years old, there is no point in getting him fixed now as the odds of him liveing another 8 years isn't 2 great even thogh he is very happy and healthy. we shouldn't be punished just because someone else out there cant keep their dog locked up, it unfair to us and the kitten we wantedto adopt. so basically they are saying they would rather keep the cat in a 2x2 foot cage than give it to someone who is careing enogh to give it a home. the kitten is alredy fixed so thats not like something to worry about and all of our animals are healthy and happy. you are talking to someone here who went out to buy baby food for a guine pig with a tooth infection, i cant beleive they would call us irresponsible pet owners just because our dog is still...a dog

 

[NinjaSmurf]

Perhaps you could nudge your vet into telling the shelter people that your dog can't or shouldn't be fixed at such an age. Personally I'd rather get my next pet out of the newspaper or something, I hate the way a lot of shelters want to know everything about you in order to get a pet. I doubt they'd ever let me adopt a cat (lol, like I need another one yet) if they knew I like them to be indoor outdoor animals (put out in the day, brought in at night, and only in a safe place, not like living in town), not to mention most of them are really picky about having a fenced in yard, when I'd rather have one of those long pullie system things than a fence, because fences can be dug under and jumped/climbed over. Not to mention I don't like the age they have started to fix young animals at, my friend has a male lab that got fixed at the 'new' youngest able age and it looks like it has a 'girls' part where the boys should be (i.e. it has no penis what-so-ever, just a little weewee hole mid way up it's belly, which just looks really wrong), not to mention a lot of them seem to get this weird hanging flap on their stomach that never goes away. I'd rather wait till they are full grown before nipping them, I'm sorry but it seems to me that it screws with their growth just a little bit...

 

[GuppyDude]

o yea, i know our dog lives outside and our ctas go in and out, im sure they would kick up a stink over that too. i live out in the country and dont really have to worry a whole lot about other peoples animals but our animals nvr leave our property so unless some one else is being irresponsible then i dont c why i should pay for it

 

[Kealey]

so unless some one else is being irresponsible then i dont c why i should pay for it

Sorry, but I agree with the shelter.
AND, if your dog got another pregnant, you would be just as irresponsible as the non-spayed female's owner.

 

[GuppyDude]

so they would rather keep the cat un a 2' by 2' cage for the rest of its life rather than adopt it out to a family willing to care for it, its stupid. ur right we should have had the dog fixed when he was a pup but its too late now, it would be pointless. i just feal bad that we arnt able to adopt and animal that needs a home and have to buy one who will probably get a home anyway.

 

[mm_simb]

At the shelter I work at they dont care if your other animals are fixed. They fix the animals that are adopted and that's it. What the owners do with the other animals in their house is their business unless you're doing animal cruelty. I do agree with the shelter about keeping a fenced yard and keeping the cats indoor. Cats are supposed to be indoor and either way a lot of places already have leash laws for them. Almost the same applies to the dogs. You can keep them outside but they can't be running free and another outside dog cannot have access to them. It's your responsibility to keep your dog safe since if there is no fence another dog can easily go into your yard and attack your dog or your dog can get another one pregnant. I do think that your dog is probably not in a good age to be neutered and you shouldn't have a penalty for not having it done earlier.

 

[MAM]

Most shelters have that policy. You should fix your animals not just to keep down the unwanted pet population, but also for health reason. Females that are not fixed can develop mammary tumors. And males can have health issues as well. We had a bassett come through our shelter, and well, lets just say he couldn't sit down. He'd never been fixed. And you can fix an dog or cat at any age, believe me. We do it every week.
To help get the message out there about spaying and neuter your pets, shelters won't adopt animals to you if yours are not fixed. Despite that fact that they usually fix the new animal. This also has to do with the fact that many animals that have not been fixed can often be more aggressive, more likely to be unpredictable, etc, etc.
Besides, the cat won't stay there forever. Because its a kitten, it has a very high likelyhood of being adopted in a short amount of time. Don't worry your head over that.
I also agree with shelters that won't adopt to people who let their animals roam free or keep their dogs outside most of the time. These days, its just not practical and some cases, right, to do that.

 

[GuppyDude]

well that is the thing, all my cats are fixed, and i live out in the stix, i dont mean the country, i mean there isn't a neighbor for a good mile, and i know my cats dont travel that no mater what time of year it is. and my dog is in a fence, and under ground electric fence, he's trained to it and has nvr gotten lose here. but despite my mom explaining this, they still wont let her adopt the cat. wouldn't they rather let us adopt an animal that is alredy fixed rather than have us go out and adopt an animal that is not fixed? and since we are "bad pet owners" how do they know we wont get that animla fixed? why not promote the decline of unwanted stray pets by giveing people animals that cant make more animal? 200 fixed cats were put to sleep last year because they didn't find homes at this shelter, i wonder why..

 

[mm_simb]

They don't put cats to sleep at the shelter I work at just because they cant find homes. They'll put them to sleep if they are sick or get sick. And they also just started a new program that saves healthy animals from euthanasia. They use to have to put them to sleep if they didn't have space in the shelter but now that's declining.
And I couldn't say that I would let someone adopt a cat if they're going to be able to roam free. I would most likely do the same thing that the shelter is doing. If you really wanted a cat you'd keep it wherever the shelter wants you to house it...but that's only my opinion. Plus, it would be unfair to let someone adopt a cat if they're going to let it roam free because they live far from anything and not let someone else adopt one who does live close by things. They just do it to everyone no matter where you live.

 

[GuppyDude]

well it would be plain unhealthy to let the animal sit around the house all day, my cats beg to be let out every morning and at noon teh return for a nap, rarely do they travel far from the house. they need exercise.

 

[mm_simb]

My cats don't sit around the house all day. They play around and have their sudden rushes of energy where they run about everywhere until they get tired. It's quite fun to watch. If the cats are doing nothing whatsoever during the whole day then something is wrong.
They get use to being in the house and the shelter cats are probably use to being indoor too. They just want a bigger space than some cage. I know if my cats get out they'll probably end up being run over by a car...even the one I just adopted a month ago.
But everyone keeps their pets in different ways and I'm not one to judge but the shelters have their rules and there is no way of getting by them unless you do what they want you to do.

 

[uabassoon]

I realize people have different opinions when it comes to having cats indoors or outdoors. I can see the pros and cons to each side, and have chosen to keep both of mine indoors only.

I find the statment that it would be unhealthy because the cats would just sit around all day rather insulting. If a person takes the time and gives their cat plenty of attention it does not sit around. My cats enjoy climbing their cat tree and chasing each other around the house, I use interactive toys so they run and jump. Both of my cats are able to get plenty of exercise indoors.

 

[plecoperson]

Im not sure what I think on this issue.

I agree that your average mutt should be fixed because they have no precious bloodlines to keep going...thats why our precious pet was fixed as a young'un. But what if you went along to get a kitty but you happen to keep a rare Dogue De Bordeaux (as an example) as a stud dog? Obviously he wont be fixed but just as obviously you wont be letting an expensive dog like that run about impregnating any ***** who happens to be in heat. Circumstances are all different.

 

[Raechal]

I would undertstand if the kitten you were getting wasn't fixed and your cats weren't fixed or spayed or whatever and the chance you might breed them and bring kittens into the world when there are already plenty of homeless ones that need homes...but just because your 8 year old dog wasn't fixed? That is kind of stupid I think. Just because your dog isn't fixed, doesn't mean you don't take good care of it. Although in females it can cause some disease if you don't breed them.

My mini schnauzer got a really bad infection in her uterus since she was just going through heat and never breeding. She had to have an operation which cost about $700 to take her uterus out and fix everything with her. She is 8 or 9 now and she just got her uterus taken out a few months ago. Now she acts like a puppy and is frolicking all over the house like a baby gazelle. She actually hops and gallops.

My other mini schnauzer is getting spayed tomorrow. She has a tumor on her back. I have no clue how she got it, but after we bought her about 5 years ago we found out she was interbred so she has some problems along with an almost blind left eye.

But in males, I don't think fixing them has anything to do with their health at all.

 

[Raechal]

P.S.-- Why don't you have one of your friends go in there to adopt the kitten that doesn't have any other animals or has all of their animals fixed. Then he can just give you the kitten as a "present"?