How the hell did that all spin out of control so fast??
So if you know me, you probably know that I'm slightly more attached to my animals than the normal person. So I do tend to get upset and overreact when something happens to them, keep that in mind.
My cat, who has lived in my house for close to two years now, is slightly antisocial, and, lets be honest, kind of a bitch. She hisses randomly at people and is rarely affectionate with anyone other than me and the person she decides is good enough to be her heated cushion at the time. But all in all, she's fairly self sufficient, does her own thing, and doesn't cause problems. Now, she's peeing blood and has an eye infection. What might have brought this on you ask? Probably my inability to enforce my own rule of : No pet in this house shall be unneedled, unfixed, or left sick. Unfortunately, adorable little Dante has been left both unneedled, and with a mild double eye infection (that at first was though of as allergies) for the duration of his short little stay at the house. He's a spunky little kitty, and therefore is quite fine eventhough he's not at the top of his game. Unfortunately, not so for my kitty, who picked it up and isn't dealing so well with her infection. Anyway, did some very angry house cleaning, roommate realized his slip up, and plans were swiftly made to rectify the situation and get them both on the swift road to recovery and healthy eyes as soon as possible.
Enter the idiot into the situation.
When the well known understanding in my house is that pets, if appropriate and healthy, may be allowed if everyone in the house is cool with it, what would give you the idea that bringing a cat home and installing it there before you even mention it to anyone would be acceptable?
Me:"How old is it?"
I:"Ummm, three months... No, maybe four months."
Me: O_o "O...k... Has it had all of it's shots and been wormed?"
I:"Yeah, the guy said it was healthy."
Me:"Ah.. What guy? What shots has it had? Did 'the guy' give you the vet record so you can tell your next vet what shots it's already had and where it is in it's worming medicine?"
I:"No, he said that she had all of them, but I could probably get it...Sometime..."
* Note: Kittens get several doses of boosters, at various stages, up to one year of age, to make sure they've got them all and stay healthy*
Me:"Alright, what did you plan to do with the kitten when you go to Alberta this winter for work for around 4-6 months?"
I:"I was going to leave it here....and my girlfriend can stop by and look after it when she gets the chance."
Umm, NO!!!!!
Me:"We'll have to discuss that later. Do you have a litter box, food, bowls? Anything for the kitten at this point?"
I:"I have a cardboard box with some kitty litter in it..."
And this was when I had to walk away. I really don't think we're going to become a three cat household.
Can you say impulse pet? Don't bring a pet home when you don't even know if the other pets are healthy, and when you find out they're not, just say you'll keep it in your room. Here's another idea: Run it past your roomates first, especially if you know that one is exceptionally anal about pets!!!@!
His response to all this? "Well, if it doesn't work out, I'll just take it to the humane society." I'm sure you can just guess how that went over with me. The humane society is a second chance for animals that can no longer live in the situation they're in. It's not there for you because you didn't have the common sense to think about it before you take an animal home from a petting zoo because it's cute, and realize two days later it wasn't such a hot idea.
Monday, August 21
