Whose cats are they (really) when a mother finally agrees to get cats for her teenage children years before they move out on their own, and refuse to take any responsibility for the animals? Does it become (just) the mothers responsibility, for the rest of time, to care for family pets after years of caring for her children?
— yer momma
This article appears in Nov 19-25, 2009.
yes
You got the cats, you look after them.
Or make soup out of them.
I’m sure you could have foreseen this.
don’t have a golf club handy?
if you let them get a cat then …yes. it’s your house and your rules. if you don’t clarify prior to purchase, the burden should surely be on you imo.
ya, if a mother makes it her house and her rules ONLY, the burden is hers. if, on the other hand, the home is considered everybodys home, then the children have responsibilities. nobody should get a free ride after their twelfth birthday. don’t the children love their cats? who walks awy from animals they truly love? nobody.
I’m not sure I would let my teens get pets if I didn’t want to take care of them. I guess it would depend on the teen and their plans. For instance, a teen going to university can’t have pets in residence, and might have a hard time finding an apartment with roommates who don’t mind the pets. Most people I know who left their pets at home did want to take them when they were done school… but in the end, if I were a parent and was stuck with pets I didn’t want to take care of, I would probably say to the kids that they should start looking for a better home for their pets – either their own, or someone else’s.
Op is just a mother venting. She knows she has to suck it up if the kids decide their being inconvenienced takes precedence over any promise they made years before. After all, Mom doesn’t mind. She just wanted to go on record as saying, I MIND!
I can’t believe you actually had to ask that and couldn’t figure it out on your own. Yes, they are your responsibility. What a stupid question.
I used to have a piranha (well, I had two… sharky and george, but sharky eventually ate george….) that eventually got big enough to need a 35 gallon tank.
Let me tell you, you can’t very well move that fucker very easily….
mom sucked it up like a trooper and took care of it for all the school months for me.
thing was vicious and actually jumped out of the tank if you left the goldfish dangle too long over the water when feeding time came around.
btw, all the goldfish were called bob… because eventually they all did.
Pets should not be gifts in the first place.
For one thing, you are not likely to be sure the recipient wants the responsibility.
On top of that, I imagine the “gift” pets being the ones people pay for, and create a market for, rather than the ones from shelters. If you ever pay for an animal—I’m not talking about food or vaccinations here, I’m talking about the animal itself—you are part of the problem. You are helping fill shelters with neglected animals.
…not saying the second point fits the OP, but it’s something any pet buyers should take responsibility for, even if they are buying the pets for themselves.
dogma, do they have shelters for guinney pigs? ferrets?
I have no sweet clue to be honest since I haven’t been to a shelter in well over 15 years…..but don’t think they do get many abandoned littler critters to warrant your statement on every animal…
I was trying to be general to include dogs and cats, but you have a point.
As long as there’s no such thing as a guinea pig or ferret mill, it’s all good.
The issue with dogs especially, and maybe cats, is that people have ridiculous reasons for PREFERRING to buy one rather than get just any one (from family, want ad, shelter, etc). I think that boils down to some people being obsessed with BREEDS. By putting a value on dogs being ‘purebred’ and creating a demand for them, they fuck everything up and end up creating an underclass of mutts some people think they are too good for. It’s a load of shit.
Actually, No Dogma, some people prefer different breeds of dogs and cats for reasons such as allergies and personality traits. I’ve heard dalmatians can be temperamental and, thus shouldn’t be around kids, for example.
And I have two ragamuffin cats — one doesn’t look ragamuffin, but they both are at least half the breed (they have the personality). They were abandoned kittens — and I gotta say, these are the most pleasant cats I’ve ever encountered, and it’s all because they have breed traits of a ragamuffin. So next time around, I’m definitely getting more ragamuffins, even if that means getting one from a breeder.
Please check shelters first, Pretty Kitty. …and then online/paper ads for giving away kittens. Just don’t inject money into the situation (breeders) and you won’t be part of the problem.
I’ve actually never bought a cat before, ND. I’ve always gotten orphans — I just happened to be lucky and found a pair of ragamuffin siblings. If I could find one at a shelter, cool, if not, I may go to a breeder, because this breed is unbelievable.