 |
 |
feeling: eh...
listening to: lix - Gekijou
Hm... kind of a sad/frustrating/disappointing story...
A little background first though. While I was in Japan in April, my brother got remarried again. His new wife brought her two daughters, ages 8 and 13, into the family (my nephew's 10). They had planned to get married in July or August or something, but well, stuff came up and they sort of had to push the date forward.
Anyway, as I've mentioned on this blog in the past, my brother has a cat, Spotty, who's maybe 6 years old or so now. She's... not a social cat at all, even though she spent the first half of her life entirely indoors and was only allowed to start going outside after bro had her spayed just a year or two ago. Actually, she's normally okay, even if not friendly at all... but after living all her life with bro's very noisy son who can't travel from one room to the next without sounding like a herd of elephants and would rather scream than talk and thinks it's funny to chase cats around and intentionally make loud noises near them (such as toy whistles and real drums and trumpets) just to see them freak out, Spotty grew up with absolutely zero trust in humans. The only person she'll even allow in her personal space is my brother, but even he can't really hold her or handle her like your typical cuddly kitty or anything.
Well, then his new wife and her two girls moved in, and they decided they didn't like Spotty because all she ever did was growl and hiss at them from the highest vantage point she could climb to in the house. Never mind that the kids think it's hilarious to grab at her and chase her and throw things at her just to make her growl, until they get bored and the laughter turns to complaining that she's mean and they hate her.
So today I heard the news that they got themselves a new kitten, in hopes of having a family cat that would better fit their ideal of a cuddle-kitty. And Spotty, it seems, has been forced to live outdoors for the rest of her life so she won't torment the new addition.
To be honest, I'm not too fond of Spotty myself, and I'm one of the biggest cat people you'll find anywhere. After we had to keep her here for a couple weeks and all the constant fighting and stress she caused my own baby, Ginger... not to mention the slashes and scars she left all over me while she was here... I kind of got fed up with her. But it still makes me upset that they would throw her out and replace her like that, when her personality really isn't her fault. If people just let her be, she's fine. It's not like she goes around attacking everyone; she just reacts when she's being tormented or cornered, but otherwise she just tries to keep to herself and stay away from little kids who think it's funny to terrify her. I almost wanted to offer to let her live here, as I know she'd do fine in a quiet, peaceful environment with no children (or other cats, now that Ginger's gone)... but no. Even if my parents do decide they want a pet again someday, I intend to keep them from ever getting any more as long as I live. Not after the way they acted when Ginger was sick and died.
I don't want to get into that here, though. It still makes me furious and depressed all over again to remember it. I suppose I still haven't entirely forgiven them, and possibly never will.
Anyway... yeah, despite my own feelings about Spotty, I feel bad for her. No cat deserves to be completely thrown out of her home and replaced like that, as if she's an old toy or something that needs to be replaced by the latest model. I'll be amazed if the new kitten doesn't turn out exactly like Spotty, considering the chaos it'll be forced to grow up in... and if it turns antisocial too, I suppose they'll throw it out to compete for outdoor survival with Spotty (if she's not roadkill or coyote food by then) and bring in #3.
So yeah. Meh. I miss having a cat... wonder if I'll ever have another one...
comment! (1)
dragged from Becky's stream of consciousness at 6/18/2012 11:15:00 PM
|
|
