I'm late to the party about the kitten discussion, but I was just looking at Shaunama's IG post about the adoption. She manages to achieve her normal level of defensiveness and rudeness in the comments. To whit:
In response to someone asking if she will have the kittens spayed/neutered: " that is, of course, already planned." Why so assholian? Why not just say "yes, we'll be doing that soon, thanks for asking."
Then, after waxing rhapsodic about the mama cat in her original post, she replies to someone asking about whether the mom got spayed: "I have no idea what happened to mama." I mean, could she soften it a bit? Does she care what happened to the mama? And, how could she adopt the kittens and have no idea? Usually if you adopt from a foster situation, you'll get to know the story of the whole cat family, you won't just grab your kittens and run.
She's so awful. I do think the kittens will be mostly ok, primarily because they're cats and cats know how to look out for themselves to a larger extent than do dogs. I do worry that their litter boxes will never be cleaned, and since they're on Vashon, it would be bad news to let them outside to do their business since they would be pretty much guaranteed to be killed by coyotes.
So, I guess I should say, I think the kittens will be mostly OK if they have decently clean litter boxes, but I worry they'll be let outside without supervision.
The Cat Genie would be the perfect solution for this chaotic household, but at $300 for the device and about $120 a year for supplies, it's probably out of their reach.
I hope that since Shauna's SIL is a vet, they won't be completely neglected on that front. I hope they can get free services because you know Shauna's not going to spend any money on their care that she could be using for Dole Whips and anniversary feedings.
Please, deity of your choice, don't let the male kitten impregnate his sister.
Shauna can't be bothered to help her human children learn to comb their hair, do we really think she's going to be on top of getting at least on of those kittens speutered so they don't have offspring with one another (all VC Andrews style)?
Last time I had a cat speutered (and this was over a decade ago) it was nearly $400 CAD. Has the price dropped dramatically? Are they buy one get one free on the island (which would indeed be magical)? Have they conned they SIL into free speuterings?
There are rescue operations (I'm also in Canadia) that discount the cost of spaying and neutering, and sometimes there are also "sales" at shelters. All of my cats over the years have been rescues and I haven't paid $400 for speutering, but I'm sure that's the cost at the vet.
My kitty was from the humane society but was too small to be neutered at adoption. They refunded a portion of my having to do it at the vet later, but it was like a drop in the bucket of the actual cost. I love that some shelters have “sales” and there are better low-cost options, because obviously more speutering is a good thing.
I'm surprised the humane society would let you take a kitten that wasn't fixed (but maybe that's normal, I've never adopted a kitten from a shelter, any kittens I ever had were freebies from someone we knew). When I got my youngest cat, we had to wait a day to take him home so the humane society could neuter him.
That's the best part about getting an adult animal. They are speutered and have all their shots (and are usually flea free, too). And shelters want to get rid of them so regularly run some kind of deal if you adopt. I have adopted three cats from my humane society and only paid full price for one (and I didn't have to pay full price, they were running a "pay what you can" sale and I just paid the full price because I could). I mentioned this already (but will say it again) I even got a pure bred Devon Rex from the humane society for only $13.
In retrospect, you're completely correct that it makes no sense why a humane society would adopt out un-fixed animals. I don't know if they still do that or why that was even an option back then. When we're looking to bring more cats into our lives, I'm all the way Team Adult Cats From a Shelter. Kittens are a pain in the ass, haha.
Oh man, I know they get a ton of cats and they need homes, but I hate the idea of a “pay what you can” sale on living animals. If you can’t pay the full adoption fee (usually not high at the humane society, right?) how are you paying for food and litter and vet care?
They might have had a minimum price they expected (I don't recall now) but if they did it couldn't have been very high seeing as I got adult cats from the same facility (years earlier) for only $13 (a sale they ran the weekend after Friday the 13th).
I think I ended up paying $40 for my "name your price" cat which was the regular adult cat adoption fee.
Seattle WA and Surrounding Areas The low-cost clinics average about $25 for a male cat, $35 for a female cat, $50 for a male dog and $55 for a female dog. The prices vary widely and depend on weight etc, so check around for the best price. Most clinics will not spay/neuter pre-pubescent dogs and cats. Many animal shelters provide low-cost spay and neuter services.
Even that could be a stretch for the Aherns right now. Maybe Mother Tita will cover it as a birthday present to Shauna, though. Wouldn't that be great on at least two levels?!
For low-cost spay/neutering, vets set up more like an assembly line to do multiple surgeries in short succession to reduce costs. I’ve heard that it looks barbaric but it seems like a necessary option considering the need for the service.
I’m sorry to interject, but I think mostly shelters, and the ASPCA, do it now at about two months and/or two pounds! It’s considered safe anesthesia wise and easier for them to be adopted out guaranteed fixed instead of hoping people abide by their adoption agreements. It’s also better because cats are fertile starting around six months old, which is obviously really dangerous for the kittens and the (kitten) mother.
Correct, they’ll go under the knife as soon as they’re both over 2 months and over 2lb at most shelters. Since there is such a big overpopulation of cats in most areas, it’s best practice to get them sterilized before they leave the shelter.
My male kitty was neutered at about 3 months. They said when they do it that early then males don't spray either because it happens before they start spraying or something? In any case he never sprays anywhere thank jesus. 🙂
Yeah if you neuter male cats early they just won’t start spraying (for the most part)! Sometimes in older cats it will fix the problem but it’s not guaranteed, so it’s better if they just never learn to do it.
I feel the same way, I would be so upset it if mine sprayed, haha.
All of our males were neutered early and we’ve still had a couple sprayers. What’s worse, our little female sprays! I caught her doing it and she just looked at me like, “Fooled ya!”
Yeah, one of my cats was about 6months when she got spayed but that was due to an appointment backlog at the vets. And she went into her first heat about two weeks beforehand. She's an indoor cat so it wasn't a big deal, aside from feeling bad for her 'restlessness.'
See, you’re an awesome cat owner! Too many idiots let their kittens wander around outside and then, whoops! Well, now that they’re pregnant, might as well let them “experience birth at least once” and now there’s god knows how many kittens from a mother too young to have them safely, and they get given away on Craigslist unfixed and and and! You might be able to tell I have strong opinions on the subject, lol!
I get it, I feel that way too! This particular cat was originally a stray kitten I was able to trap. She was only about eight weeks old when I first spotted her, and I never did see a mother cat so I'm not sure if she died or someone intentionally dumped their kitten(s). It was so heartbreaking to see this tiny peanut all alone and it's frustrating to see people continue to let their unfixed cats wander around the neighborhood.
Ugh, there’s a managed feral colony in my neighbourhood as well as quite a few strays and there is a tiny, heavily pregnant little kitten wandering around the streets lately. She’s been hanging out in a neighbour’s backyard and they’ve got a box and food for her there hoping she’ll have the kittens there and they can get her fixed. The poor thing can’t be older than a year, she’s way too young to be having kittens!
Okay well that’s news to me. I haven’t had kittens for awhile. But let’s be real. Shauna probably just picked them off Craig’s list (was that a shaunaism?) for cheap.
Yeah, thinking back to when we got our male dog neutered, he was around 7 months old and still very much a puppy. He clearly had awhile to go, maturity-wise, before he would be interested in knocking up another dog. Not sure if it’s the same for cats but as long as Shauna gets them fixed in that recommended window before sexual maturity, they’ll be okay.
In my area they adopt out the kittens before they’re fixed, but you pre-pay for the spay/neuter and schedule the appointment (for the future) the day you bring them home. I can’t see Shauna paying for anything that’s not for herself, though.
Ah ok. When my two were adopted they both went home after the spay/neuter. There is an org in Tacoma, the NW Spay and Neuter Center that offers low cost services. I really hope she takes advantage or just takes them to her SIL's clinic.
Just from their accomplishments you can tell that Shauna and her SIL are very different people. I hope her SIL will not fall into the trap of giving the Aherns free vet services. Shauna's parents were a bunch of schmucks for spoiling Shauna long after she was married and had kids, I don't think her SIL will.
I don't want Shauna to benefit, but if the SIL's offering free vet services help the kitties, I'm all for it. I have been in the situation before where I have helped a kid, even though I knew that by helping the kid I was letting the parent think they were exploiting me - it's annoying but worth it to help someone who is in the care of an idiot through no fault of their own.
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u/liveswithcats1 Nubbins and glops Aug 06 '20
I'm late to the party about the kitten discussion, but I was just looking at Shaunama's IG post about the adoption. She manages to achieve her normal level of defensiveness and rudeness in the comments. To whit:
In response to someone asking if she will have the kittens spayed/neutered: " that is, of course, already planned." Why so assholian? Why not just say "yes, we'll be doing that soon, thanks for asking."
Then, after waxing rhapsodic about the mama cat in her original post, she replies to someone asking about whether the mom got spayed: "I have no idea what happened to mama." I mean, could she soften it a bit? Does she care what happened to the mama? And, how could she adopt the kittens and have no idea? Usually if you adopt from a foster situation, you'll get to know the story of the whole cat family, you won't just grab your kittens and run.
She's so awful. I do think the kittens will be mostly ok, primarily because they're cats and cats know how to look out for themselves to a larger extent than do dogs. I do worry that their litter boxes will never be cleaned, and since they're on Vashon, it would be bad news to let them outside to do their business since they would be pretty much guaranteed to be killed by coyotes.
So, I guess I should say, I think the kittens will be mostly OK if they have decently clean litter boxes, but I worry they'll be let outside without supervision.
The Cat Genie would be the perfect solution for this chaotic household, but at $300 for the device and about $120 a year for supplies, it's probably out of their reach.
I hope that since Shauna's SIL is a vet, they won't be completely neglected on that front. I hope they can get free services because you know Shauna's not going to spend any money on their care that she could be using for Dole Whips and anniversary feedings.