Monday, July 7, 2014
Friday, June 27, 2014
The Plight of Feral Cats
I wish people who have "intact" cats - cats that have not been neutered or spayed - could see what I see. I have a small colony of feral cats near my home. It's small because of the horrible things that happen to the cats - things I see on a regular basis. It's not unusual to find a dead cat near my house. I've found dead adults as well as dead kittens. The cause of death is usually a mystery because there's no way to really know, unless the cat has been hit by a car, which has happened, even though I live in a low-traffic area. It's usually a good guess, though, that the dead cats or kittens were killed somehow - probably by another cat. A neighbor recently witnessed a male cat trying to kill a litter of kittens. She shooed off the adult cat and rescued the kittens. Two were visibly injured. The third seemed okay. I'm sure other litters of kittens have been killed. But it was, thankfully, done where I couldn't see it.
Because I feel it's less humane to feed them than to ignore them, there's often several small bowls of cat food on my front porch. I see the same cats visit for food on a regular basis. Some show up more often than others. One took up residence on my porch and was a regular fixture. "CC," as I called him, was starting to let me touch him and pet him without freaking out too much. He was a couple of years old, and had survived an incident long ago that left him dragging his back end around, rather than walking. I was going to have him put down if I could catch him, but he somehow got better and was walking normally after a while.
Today I found CC dead, in a dog house I put on the front porch for protection from the weather. I'm pretty sure the cause of death was a fight with another feral cat. His body was in pretty bad shape. Either he was trapped in the dog house and killed there, or he was severely injured and managed to crawl into the dog house to die.
It breaks my heart whenever something like this happens. And it really pisses me off because somewhere in recent history somebody decided to get a cat and not have it neutered or spayed, which led to a litter of kittens, then another, then another, which created this colony of unfortunate feral cats. I know that people can be incredibly irresponsible and, yes, stupid, and it no longer surprises me to see it. If those people could see what I see, maybe - just maybe - they'd do the responsible and humane thing and have their cats - and their dogs while we're at it - spayed or neutered.
Wouldn't you want to rid the world of a little bit of sadness and suffering if you could? You would if you'd have your pets spayed/neutered so they don't contribute to a growing population of feral cats.
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| This is a photo of CC that I took through my window. |
Because I feel it's less humane to feed them than to ignore them, there's often several small bowls of cat food on my front porch. I see the same cats visit for food on a regular basis. Some show up more often than others. One took up residence on my porch and was a regular fixture. "CC," as I called him, was starting to let me touch him and pet him without freaking out too much. He was a couple of years old, and had survived an incident long ago that left him dragging his back end around, rather than walking. I was going to have him put down if I could catch him, but he somehow got better and was walking normally after a while.
Today I found CC dead, in a dog house I put on the front porch for protection from the weather. I'm pretty sure the cause of death was a fight with another feral cat. His body was in pretty bad shape. Either he was trapped in the dog house and killed there, or he was severely injured and managed to crawl into the dog house to die.
It breaks my heart whenever something like this happens. And it really pisses me off because somewhere in recent history somebody decided to get a cat and not have it neutered or spayed, which led to a litter of kittens, then another, then another, which created this colony of unfortunate feral cats. I know that people can be incredibly irresponsible and, yes, stupid, and it no longer surprises me to see it. If those people could see what I see, maybe - just maybe - they'd do the responsible and humane thing and have their cats - and their dogs while we're at it - spayed or neutered.
Wouldn't you want to rid the world of a little bit of sadness and suffering if you could? You would if you'd have your pets spayed/neutered so they don't contribute to a growing population of feral cats.
I was tempted to post a photo of CC dead, covered with flies, but it's a horrible sight. Maybe it might move someone to have their cat neutered/spayed, but it's really far too horrible, so I won't do that. Not even to make a point. Also in respect of CC, the wonderful cat that he was.
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
F*ck Everything!
Yesterday was my birthday. Two people I know wished me a happy birthday - my brother and a former boyfriend. My brother sent me a card and wished me a happy birthday on Facebook, while the former boyfriend was only on Facebook. One stranger on Google+ wished me a happy birthday. I got some birthday acknowledgements from people who want my business or my money, or both. Those don't count. Silk sent me a $1.00 coupon which is actually very much appreciated, since I buy a lot of Silk Soymilk. (I quit buying cow's milk and started buying soy milk mostly because the soy milk lasts much longer in the refrigerator.) My mom has dementia and/or alzheimers (I'm not sure there's a difference), so she doesn't have to remember my birthday, and I don't expect her to. She did, though. She called me two days before my birthday and said she knew I had a birthday but couldn't remember the day. People forgetting my birthday hurts a little, but that's not why I feel the way I do.
There are days when I neglect to take my meds. If I do that two or three (or more) days in a row I get very angry and extremely short-tempered. I don't exactly "forget" to take my meds. I say that I "neglect" to take them, instead. I'll think about it and think that "this isn't really a good time," because it's too close to bedtime or something like that, and I'll skip the meds until it's a better time. But then I'll forget until later, when it's not a good time again. On and on it goes until I've skipped my meds for a few days and I'm ready to start killing cats. I haven't killed any cats as a result of skipping meds, but that's probably an accident.
I have a lot of cats, and they often annoy me to a breaking point. A few of them spray urine everywhere. I've had it on my computer, my coffee maker, up on the kitchen counter, all over walls and cabinets - everywhere - and it makes me want to scream when I am well medicated. When I've been off my meds it makes me want to kill them. Literally.
So I've been off my meds for a few days (took some a couple of hours ago) and it was my birthday and I'm out of money (like every month at this time), and my house is a mess and my yards need to be mowed. So F*uck Everything!
I'm sick of people. I'm really, really sick of people. I've all but given up Facebook for the last couple of weeks. I post things that are important to me and a vast majority of the time they go ignored by people who are my "friends." No they're not. They're "Facebook friends," which is a term that does not mean anywhere near the same thing as "friends," and which needs to be changed. Let's call them "Facebook connections." You can't ask for a favor. You can't ask to borrow money. You wouldn't expect them to help you move. You could pour your heart out to them, but they would only be confused, wondering why you're pouring your heart out to them. Did you possibly confuse them for someone else?
I'm a loner. I've evolved this way mostly by accident, but it suits me. I don't feel there's a person in the world who I'd want to "hang out" with. There's no one around for thousands of miles who shares my thoughts, ideas, definitions, etc. I have had people I've called friends in my past, but the Army always interfered and sent us off in separate directions. And since I retired in 1993, I've had no one I could honestly call a friend. That's okay. I'm not lonely. My dogs and cats (yes, the cats, too) provide me with any companionship I might need, and I don't have to compromise. I'd have to do that with any human companions - compromise. I'm not sure I could. When you reach your 60's and you've been alone for many years, you tend to not want to compromise with anyone about anything. Oh, the little things don't matter, like what to eat for dinner. But when it comes to big things like the color of the house (inside or out) or how many pets to have, I want my way. I guess this is more of a partner issue than a friend issue. Although, if I painted my house moss green and my friend hated it, that could be a problem, depending on how she/he handled her/his opinion.
Enough about my mood. I'll take my meds for the next few days and I'll feel fine. Yay for chemistry!
There are days when I neglect to take my meds. If I do that two or three (or more) days in a row I get very angry and extremely short-tempered. I don't exactly "forget" to take my meds. I say that I "neglect" to take them, instead. I'll think about it and think that "this isn't really a good time," because it's too close to bedtime or something like that, and I'll skip the meds until it's a better time. But then I'll forget until later, when it's not a good time again. On and on it goes until I've skipped my meds for a few days and I'm ready to start killing cats. I haven't killed any cats as a result of skipping meds, but that's probably an accident.
I have a lot of cats, and they often annoy me to a breaking point. A few of them spray urine everywhere. I've had it on my computer, my coffee maker, up on the kitchen counter, all over walls and cabinets - everywhere - and it makes me want to scream when I am well medicated. When I've been off my meds it makes me want to kill them. Literally.
So I've been off my meds for a few days (took some a couple of hours ago) and it was my birthday and I'm out of money (like every month at this time), and my house is a mess and my yards need to be mowed. So F*uck Everything!
I'm sick of people. I'm really, really sick of people. I've all but given up Facebook for the last couple of weeks. I post things that are important to me and a vast majority of the time they go ignored by people who are my "friends." No they're not. They're "Facebook friends," which is a term that does not mean anywhere near the same thing as "friends," and which needs to be changed. Let's call them "Facebook connections." You can't ask for a favor. You can't ask to borrow money. You wouldn't expect them to help you move. You could pour your heart out to them, but they would only be confused, wondering why you're pouring your heart out to them. Did you possibly confuse them for someone else?
I'm a loner. I've evolved this way mostly by accident, but it suits me. I don't feel there's a person in the world who I'd want to "hang out" with. There's no one around for thousands of miles who shares my thoughts, ideas, definitions, etc. I have had people I've called friends in my past, but the Army always interfered and sent us off in separate directions. And since I retired in 1993, I've had no one I could honestly call a friend. That's okay. I'm not lonely. My dogs and cats (yes, the cats, too) provide me with any companionship I might need, and I don't have to compromise. I'd have to do that with any human companions - compromise. I'm not sure I could. When you reach your 60's and you've been alone for many years, you tend to not want to compromise with anyone about anything. Oh, the little things don't matter, like what to eat for dinner. But when it comes to big things like the color of the house (inside or out) or how many pets to have, I want my way. I guess this is more of a partner issue than a friend issue. Although, if I painted my house moss green and my friend hated it, that could be a problem, depending on how she/he handled her/his opinion.
Enough about my mood. I'll take my meds for the next few days and I'll feel fine. Yay for chemistry!
Sunday, February 9, 2014
I'll Be Back
I'm going to try to start blogging again. Problem is, when I have something to say I can usually say it in a couple of sentences. I'm not one of these wordy people who can use paragraphs and paragraphs to express a simple thought. But I'll try. I'll have to think of something to blog about first, though.
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