Saturday, May 12, 2012

Trying to find an Unknown Person...

It's that time a year again when I need to write a letter. The only problem is that I don't know who to send it to, so I thought perhaps, you might help. I don't think anyone reading this is the person I am writing to, but you may know them. You may be able to link to this, or re-post in its entirety. You might be able to print it out and stick it on a bulletin board somewhere. If you are at a college, get every last person in your school to pass this on.

You might have kids the right age to share this with, they might have friends they could pass on the message to. The internet is a powerful thing, and maybe, if enough people read this, the person I am trying to reach will see this.....

Dear Unknown You,

It's May. Congratulations on surviving another year, or your first year of college. I need to talk to you about something tho. That kitten you adopted last September when you went back to school, or away from home the first time, the one you loved, played with and cared for these last ten months, the one that comforted you, purred at you, slept by you feet at night, remember him?

The one you discovered when school got out that you couldn't take home, couldn't take to your internship, the one you had no place for? Remember him?

Well, good news. He's here. At my back door. And he's a little bewildered to find himself suddenly on his own. He's about 10-11 months old now, maybe a year.

I know you believe that Kitty-Kitty is a Cat, and can hunt, and it's summer and he will be fine, but I need to tell you, all Kitty-Kitty knows is that home is indoors and food comes from cans or in a bowl as lovely bits of crunch.

Kitty-Kitty has been looking for you, he's been to a lot of houses mewing and looking and hoping. He finally showed up at my place and he's really worried about you. He doesn't know me, but he knows I am like you and that when he mews at the back door, I will come out and fill up his bowl and talk to him.

Know too, that since you neglected to spay/neuter Kitty-Kitty, in this case neuter, Kitty-Kitty is most likely a father many times over, to some lovely girl Kitties in the same position.

I know you were thinking, no worries, someone will love him, he's so sweet, he'll find a home but get this: Kitty-Kitty is now MY FUCKING PROBLEM. I haven't dropped the F-bomb in my blog since last May when this happened, but get this too: I can't take him in, I already have more than enough rescues, but I, unlike you, can't just walk away.

I need to make friends with him, feed him, get his shots, get him neutered and find him a home because if someone doesn't he is going to die; scared, starving and alone, wondering what in his world happened for things to go so horribly wrong.

And I can't let that happen. If they cross my path, I will save them.

I wish you had had the maturity to have thought the same when you decided you wanted that Kitten.

Not so much love, but hoping you read this,

Quiche MeDeadly



77 comments:

  1. And furthermore....I have a momma cat (barely more than a kitten herself) and four kittens because you dumped her...and he got her pregnant (well, probably not him, since I live about 2000 miles east of Fablo,) and now I get to feed, socialize, immunize and spay five cats...and hope to find homes for them as well.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for writing it. I shall forward it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hit 'em again. Harder.

    Have someone post on the schools news site (bet they have one).

    ReplyDelete
  4. I live in a college town and have this happen to me all the time, unfortunately I can't afford to take them in and care for them until they find a place. I have to call animal control or if i can decifer the breed the local rescue group for them.

    cats are not apartments you can sublet when you realize you can't handle it over the summer they are living beings.

    I'll be posting this to my schools facebook app.

    ReplyDelete
  5. As AFP says: WE ARE THE MEDIA! Post this everywhere. It may save some..

    And THANK YOU!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I shall share it here in Aus too, especially in an animal welfare group I'm in - don't be surprised if you get lots of comments from my gang.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Anonymous20:44

    As someone whose beautiful kitten has just died, this fills me with so much rage.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This is such a sad, common problem. The college town I lived in when i was at university shut down its animal shelter because the masses of strays were simply overwhelming. They were spending more on euthanasia than food and electricity combined. I wanted a cat when I was living at college too, but I knew better than to get one when I was in such an unstable position!

    Thank you, Lorraine, for having a warm heart and for not being afraid to call out the thoughtless humans who caused this kitty so much pain.

    If I was closer, I'd adopt her from you.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous20:59

    Thank you for writing this. I hate seeing people just dump their kitties. There are so many strays in my neighborhood and around my college, and as much as I would love to take them all in, one cat is all I can afford. Rescued her from a shelter several years ago. Sharing this for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ugh. I'm in rabbit rescue -- what's heartbreaking is the house rabbits who are dumped in the wild post easter when they become too much work or need spaying/neutering. Most domestic bunnies last *days* in the wild if they're lucky.

    I think animal abandoners should be left in a small room with no food or drink for a while and see how they like it .. but I could be bitter..

    ReplyDelete
  11. We live in a college town (for now, Dan is job hunting!) and apparently far enough out that we don't get the strays. It makes me ill that any supposedly adult human could just dump an animal who depends on them for food, shelter, and company. Someone ought to do the same thing to them!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Something like this is the exact reason we have a feral cat problem in my neighborhood. We have had literally HUNDREDS of kittens born in and around our garage because people don't bother to spay or neuter their animals and they just let them go when they don't want them anymore.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thank you for looking out for this cat. There are a lot of hawks around these days.

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  14. Yep. Got 3 kitties of my own, 2 of whom were offpsring of neighborhood "unspayed and unloveds". All 3 of my girls are fixed, and they get locked in another part of the house when my birds are out. We are always careful. Currently, we have our own "kitty kitty" who has fathered several litters and is now a grandpa. No one will take him. He can hunt, but because of his meek and tender personality he is always at the losing end of a fight with a neighborhood feral cat. Mr. Kitty is not feral. He was someone's pet; they loved him and took care of him and he got very, very large. Unfortunately, they didn't love him enough to fix him. We can't take him in because 1.) We are at the maximum capacity for cats for Lincoln, NE. 2.) We literally have no room. Our tiny house barely fits us 2, plus the cats, plus the birds, plus our baby due in August. 3.) He may not know not to spray. I won't live in a house covered with spray. Therefore, Mr. Kitty hangs out near our back porch, purring, mewing, recovering from whatever ambushed him the night before. We throw a handful of food into a dish out there for him. If we took him to the Humane Society, he would be euthanized in less than a day. The local no-kill shelter has a 2 year waiting list. I don't know what else we can do, and he breaks my heart too much to stay here.

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  15. The local shelter would take good care of him and buy you some time if you can't find someone to take him in right away. Good luck.

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  16. Oh Quiche :( So glad you are there for him. I worry about the state of everyone's mind these days. No one seems to take responsibility. I know you find him a great home.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I totally love this!!! We have abandoned chickens, an abandoned who still needed his mommy and wud have died if my husband had not fed him every four hours from a doll bottle (he is now 10 and a big boy), all three of our cats came from a pregnant and nearly dead mama who we nursed back to health who died of complications during her spay cuz of the long term damage cuz sum1 cudn't spring for a $15 antibiotic. Let us not forget our nursery worker who took in the puppy someone THREW out of a moving vehicle into our driveway right in front of us. We helped him wit that vet bill too just cuz it was the right thing to do.

    Pets and farm animals are not not like paper dolls to b thrown away when they break, u have no more room in ur toybox, or ur just tired of playing with them. They are a responsibility...just like an infant. They are completely reliant on you for Everything.

    Those ppl just suck.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I totally love this!!! We have abandoned chickens, an abandoned who still needed his mommy and wud have died if my husband had not fed him every four hours from a doll bottle (he is now 10 and a big boy), all three of our cats came from a pregnant and nearly dead mama who we nursed back to health who died of complications during her spay cuz of the long term damage cuz sum1 cudn't spring for a $15 antibiotic. Let us not forget our nursery worker who took in the puppy someone THREW out of a moving vehicle into our driveway right in front of us. We helped him wit that vet bill too just cuz it was the right thing to do.

    Pets and farm animals are not not like paper dolls to b thrown away when they break, u have no more room in ur toybox, or ur just tired of playing with them. They are a responsibility...just like an infant. They are completely reliant on you for Everything.

    Those ppl just suck.

    ReplyDelete
  19. to draw on Master Shakespear again:
    The worm of conscience still begnaw thy soul.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Dear Lorraine,
    I am writing because it almost happened to me in college. I adopted a cat, and the cat made some friends at a senior retirement center. I finished school, graduated, had to move to another state, and in the upheaval of my move, *my cat ran away*. She was nowhere to be found. My parents and friends and relatives helped me look for her. My lease was up. The truck was packed. She was gone. I was heartbroken. I didn't know what to do. Fortunately I found my cat running almost mile from my apartment, just before I was forced to leave town. I think many of the college students might agree with you and be heartbroken over the situation too.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Ugh, not again! These kitties are lucky to have you but you shouldn't have to save them dammit.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Awww. It is this time of year again indeed.
    The Torre Argentina cat shelter has been calling for fostering homes for kittens that were allowed to be conceived and born and then tossed in the rubbish bins, where they were discovered, saved and then brought to the shelter.Kittens apparently need a feeding every 2 hours and they need more volunteers to help.
    A gorgeous kitty was abandoned at work just before Christmas - whoever did this must have known we cared - and after lavishing cuddles on every single person who passed him by, was finally adopted 2 months ago.
    Allowing cats to multiply and abandoning them is NOT OK.

    Pets are for life and not just for Christmas. They are a responsibility, just like kids. And people who are not able or willing to make the effort to treat their pets (or kids) with a minimum of care should not have any.

    ReplyDelete
  23. you have a kind heart.

    can we resurrect fiver for hope?

    ReplyDelete
  24. Yep. I got a cat that way. She was spayed, though, and I'm not sure whther she was dumped or gotten lost in the chaos of moving.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Blogger wouldn't let me tick. But now apparently it will.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Anonymous09:36

    Found this link in my Twitter stream and RT'd with pleasure. I adopted my first "all my own" kitten in grad school, only to find that at the end of my program I didn't have a job and a place to live the way I expected I would, and had to go back home (two states away) for a few months where there was no room for another cat. I got lucky. I ran into a lovely local woman, a dear older soul, who agreed to take him in until I could come back and get him. I put my things in storage with my landlady, went back home, worked a retail job for a few months, made some money, came back, retrieved cat and belongings, and moved to a neighboring town where I got a job and place to live. His foster mom had taken excellent care of him (and I'd already had him neutered so he wasn't making more kitties), and it all worked out--I'd meant to provide him with a forever home, and I did. But it was a close call. If that wonderful and willing woman hadn't shown up when she did, I don't know what I would have done.

    Collegians and others who know you are or could be in precarious circumstances, I know it's tough, but you're best off restricting yourself to enjoying the companionship of other people's animals until you can take more than just temporary responsibility for one of your own. Don't ever tell yourself these sweet domesticated creatures can fend for themselves. They can't. And if you palm them off on someone else you can't trust not to abandon them, it's just as bad. Find them REAL homes. And if you're reading this and you're young and have yet to adopt a kitten but will feel tempted to take one in next fall...well, now you know what NOT to do.

    ReplyDelete
  27. I hate that people do this, and I really hope that people will see this and think twice, or three times.

    Let us know if you need more 'fivers forHope' or other help to get Kitty-Kitty fixed and rehomed.

    ReplyDelete
  28. I love reading the stories from all of you. There's always a better way than abandoning Kitty-Kitty.

    I haven't gotten close enough to him yet to pet, tho we get closer every day. He looks so worried, I want him to be happy.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Anonymous07:16

    College town, huh?

    Could it be that these people are still under the impression that their mothers will simply pick up the slack for them?

    So very sad.

    ReplyDelete
  30. And, you know, it doesn't have to be this way at all. I'm infuriated reading this letter, and I will pass it on, but I also want to say...

    I got a kitten my first semester at college. He has lived, since then, in four dorm rooms, three houses, and five apartments with me across three states. When he couldn't be with me for a time period, for whatever reason, he stayed with a family member who had, in advance, agreed to be available if a temporary shelter was needed. He woke me up this morning by purring and drooling on me, because he is not as young as he once was, but when you get a pet, you commit to caring for them for their entire lives.

    The only thing I would add to your letter, Q, is that, with reasonable care, your college kitty will be with you through you entire young adult life. Through multiple relationships, through the birth of children, through establishing a career-- cats have a lifespan of 15-20 years indoors, and that's a LONG time to commit.

    If you get a kitten when you are 18, you should plan to have that kitten until you are 38 (which is an age that seems impossibly far away when you're 18)

    ReplyDelete
  31. Oh, blogger. Ticky box!

    ReplyDelete
  32. Adri - very true.

    My roommate came home with a kitten when we were in college, living in an apartment that didn't allow pets. That was the least of our offenses back then though. We hid him and fed him whatever we had because we were on food stamps. I was so pissed when she brought him home but then I fell in love. He was cross-eyed and klutzy but sweet. I kept him through countless moves, trauma and happy times. He just passed about 4 years ago at age 15.

    Ralph picked a week old kitten up out of a gutter in San Francisco in college outside of a Nirvana show. He fed him a tuna sandwich he had in the car. That kitty just died last year at age 19.

    It wasn't easy keeping either of those cats around but they were part of the family.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Anonymous09:13

    So many of us with the same story. Both my dog and my cat came to me this way--one a "can you watch her 'til I find a place?" and one, weak with starvation, who crawled into the back yard to eat birdseed. Would-be animal lovers and owners, it's a big step to take responsibility for another living being's life. They're companions, not accessories. They depend on you. Think twice, and then again, before determining that you "need" a pet.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Good luck to you and your lovely little friend!

    ReplyDelete
  35. Gods bless you, Lorraine - need a fiver for hope/Hope? Just say the word...

    ReplyDelete
  36. Unrelated to kitties - abandonned or not - but in case you guys haven't read Joan of the Dark's post on dating a roller girl, you should.

    How the poor kitty doing?
    Has a human be found for him?
    Do we need a hope fund?

    ReplyDelete
  37. New post? Please?

    ReplyDelete
  38. Anonymous20:58

    I have missed this blog, and Ms Lorraine's no-bullshit approach.

    I won't ask who this fool is that you're writing to. It won't help. I'm just glad you found 'kitty-kitty', and hope you find the right home for this boy. It's not easy.

    All my love, Lorraine,

    Verity

    ReplyDelete
  39. It makes me so angry when animals are abandoned like useless furniture once purchased to make a home homier, but left behind when the home situation needed to change. This is wrong in so many ways.

    Thank you for taking care of him, Q.

    ReplyDelete
  40. I know this got posted a long time ago, but it hits close to home. We have a 10-pound gray tabby (our smallest cat) because her previous owner thought it might be ok to let his cats fend for themselves. His job responsibilities had changed and he had to travel more, so he thought the best option would be to let his 1-year-old cats live outside. He lives in the mountains where there are mountain lions and coyotes and bobcats. We could only take one cat, but were able to find a loving home for the other, thank goodness. Like someone else said, kittens are cute, but cats can live 15+ years. Our three depend on us for everything and it pisses me off when people don't figure that out. I'm sharing this blog. Thank you for writing it.

    ReplyDelete
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  48. I will share this story

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  49. yes cats and kittens are living beings and should be treated as we treat each other!

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  50. cats are stunning clever creatures I hope you get sorted!

    ReplyDelete
  51. I hate that people do this, and I really hope that people will see this and think twice, or three times. Let us know if you need more 'fivers forHope' or other help to get Kitty-Kitty fixed and rehomed. buy facebook 5 star review

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