My fears for my kittens may have just spawned into reality

Post Reply New Topic

Read this. It will help you to understand my fears much better than if I was to tell you personally:

- - - - - - - - - - - -

Once again I am to spend the night pondering a question that has lurked within my mind.

Let it not be assumed that this is like the prattling of last night, for when you compare the two articles of work my former writing is selfish in comparison. No, this writing is not just about me, but about the five fluffy bundles of fur that reside down stairs, and the lives that I may, perhaps, have sculptured for them.

Allow me to identify these five beauties, for I cannot begin to speak until you know them as your own:

Tulip, a female with a half pink, half black nose. A fun loving and affectionate creature.

Spot, a small little runt, grey with deep blue eyes. He is so young, and yet so strong.

Gremlin, a large boy whose ears as half pink and half black. Sweet, crazy and lively.

Slinky, the calm little guy with a face like his fathers and a body like his mamas.

Chanel, the young female with a splotch of pink on an otherwise black nose. Adventurous and most loveable.

Those are, in my mind, my children. Jemima is truly their mother, for she was the one who gave birth and raised these babies, but for the moment I still see them as my own children. And just as any parent faced with my predicament would react, I look to the future with dread as I contemplate their fate.

Each of these kittens has a home, one where I will be able to keep in contact and watch as my kitties mature with age, and so there is no reason for me to fear in that regard. And yet, it is these homes which strike fear into my heart whenever I think of them, for I am unsure of what I have condemned them to.

Baby Spot is staying with us, and so he is safe. Whatever the future may hold, he will always be with me, or at least with my mum or dad. I hold no concerns for him over his future home. And neither do I with Slinky, who has become a much loved kitten in the space of a day. Two friends and their families wish to adopt this little kitten, and no matter which he goes to I am assure he will be loved and cherished by all members of the family. He, neither, is a concern.

Gremlin and Chanel are yet to have their fates decided, and whilst I am assure that one will be safe I cannot foresee the future for the other. For I have two families lined up for them, one of my own blood and one related only by marriage. One of them, the one I am most content with, have already begun to safety proof their house and prepare themselves for the new arrival. The small child, a girl, prepares with delight, for she is excited to be getting a kitten.

The other is a single woman, my uncle’s sister-in-law, a gothic kind of woman whom I have only met upon occasion, but whom I know to be a cat lover. She already has a cat, a sarcastic ragdoll whom I adore.

My fear for the kitten comes not from her, but from my uncle’s wife. For she has proven to be rather occupied by the looks of the kittens rather than their personalities. She has commented upon their ‘poor markings’, a comment which much displeased my parents who are proud of the fine litter their cat produced. I cannot help but wonder if perhaps this woman with have her sister’s disregard for personality, and focus entirely upon the looks. It is something I doubt, but never the less fear. Oh, one could not imagine the fear in my heart as I pray for these kittens.

And then there is the final kitten, Tulip. Poor, dear little Tulip. One whom I fear is doomed to a life of abuse and reproductively.
Tulip is going to my cousins, a section of the family who are known to never neuter their pets, nor to value their lives in a meaningful way. Their cats have each borne a litter, and in turn have become anti-social and vicious creatures. They do not understand the finer aspects of life, that it is not right to allow a cat to become pregnant every time she goes into heat. They own the father of these kittens, and try to pressure me into mating him with my own queen again. But I digress; I will start on that matter later.

Tulip is a fine kitten, one whom I always believed would become a fine young cat with a good temperament. However, because of my foolish mistake, I fear that she will become what their other cats have become; ill tempered, over bred, broken felines. For they see nothing wrong with the way their cats live, even though the youngest abuses them in a harsh manner. They thought that as we were going to keep a male from the litter, we would breed both mother and son together. Such foolish, cruel hearted people.

It is these same people who have tried to pressure me into breeding my queen again, as I mentioned before. Now, I am in no way to be persuaded in this matter, and it is not the constant pressure that angers me so much; it is the fact that they suggest it out of little more than greed. For they wish to breed my queen so that the next litter can be sold for money, and so that they can keep some of the profit. With such ignorance, is it possible that they will attempt to breed Tulip with her father, purely so they can label the kittens as ‘Purebred Ragdolls’ and sell them on to a pet shop, the same way they suggested we do? I do not out rule the possibility.

It was I who was meant to find these kittens the best homes possible, and yet I have failed. I have failed myself, my queen and most importantly my kittens, especially Tulip. For I have let them down. I know that should any harm come to these kittens as a result of my own stupidity, I would be unable to stop myself. If ever found out Tulip was pregnant, I would either be so enraged I would attack members of my own family, or I would be so distraught that I would slit my own wrists. Perhaps both would occur, I do not know. All I can say is that it would be my fault entirely, and I would rather die than allow a creature to live in such conditions.

Before the kittens were even born, I drew up a contract. I was determined that I would not allow these kittens to ever fall into the wrong hands, and if they did I would be granted the power to stop it. In it I listed the rules of owning my kittens. They cannot be declawed, must be neutered, cannot be allowed to roam free outdoors and, perhaps most importantly, should they before to be in poor condition I would have every right to remove the kitten from them.

I thought that I had done well, and yet when I told my parents I could tell that they were mocking me. They saw it as another one of Fire’s childish ideas, and it angers me. They don’t believe I meant what I said about making people sign a contract.
But I do. I have never meant something more in my life. A contract is legally binding, and I am doing this to make sure that should anyone EVER harm my kittens, I have every right to take the kitten away. Because I know that I would never be able to live with myself, knowing that I had condemned a kitten to a life of hell. I would kill myself before I allowed such a thing to happen.

their yours. If you knowingly give them to people who won't take care of them. I mean, you can always say no.

I have three cats which I can't keep, and it is very hard for me to let them go. I have six others, which are probably too old to rehome seperately (three are 8 months, two 1 1/2 years, and one 2 1/2 years), but I would not give them away if they weren't. My reasoning for this is purely because I don't trust anyone with my cats, whom I've loved and cared for from the minute they were born. But financially and mentally, I cannot have nine cats running around any more.

It has been my fault, at least the two 4 month old ones, as they're bred from brother and sister - in my defence, however, we had got the brother an appointment for the snip, but it seems as though he got one in there beforehand! The mother of the other seven, has just escaped every time we've saved up to get her done, but it seems she is a monogamous cat, and only mated with the same tom! She has had three litters.

One is going to a married couple who has had a kitten from my house before (it was my housemate's choice, even though I had to care for it when she moved out), so I know they'll look after him. This one is ok.

Another is going to a good friend of mine with a three year old daughter, now this is a bit iffy for me, because the kittens are not used to small children, but she is a very loving, quiet, happy child so it should work out fine. She lives a few streets down from me, so I will be checking up on the situation. I have already told her that if she or her daughter have any problems, just swallow pride and give him back.

The third one is going to my husband's friend's girlfriend, who is having it at her nans because her parents don't want a cat ( ), and they've only been going out themselves for a few months. I have STRESSED to him that if there's any problem, bring him right back. He knows how much I love my cats, so hopefully he understands. I'm starting to have doubts it's ever going to happen (the giving him to her thing).

The last two are four months now, and I'm starting to struggle with them. The other is nearly three months, but can go at any time as he's been the most easy-to-raise kitten I've had, just waiting for new years.

It's taken me a lot of effort to sort this stuff out, so I understand your predicament. Just remind yourself that cats are VERY independent and hardy creatures, and if they're not getting love at home, they will do everything in their power to go elsewhere. Who knows, they may even turn up again at your front doorstep! At least they're all going to family in one way or another, so you can keep your eye on them.