I feel bad, but I really want to get rid of our cats

[Anonymous]

I know this is a really old thread but it's made me feel better to commiserate with past posters. I hope everyone's situations have improved! We've had three cats and two dogs during our marriage and one by one the cats start having issues as they get over the ten year mark. The dogs are fantastic and I have no complaints. I sympathize with the original poster, as all the animal cleanup can be a pain. One thing a some of the posts I read brought up in my mind to share:

-puking: is it true puking that happens much later after eating or is it regurgitation which would happen soon after if not immediately after eating? One of our cats has regurgitated since he was a kitten no matter how good the dry food we fed him, I think mainly because he ate too fast, even with free feeding. I found putting golf balls in his food dish helped to slow down his eating and lessened the issue. He wound up getting diabetes from the high carb diet that is dry food. I switched him to all wet food of higher protein level and finally to raw because it wound up being cheaper and easier. He's now in remission from diabetes (cats can heal their pancreas- how cool!), and the raw food seems to have really reduced his regurgitation. It used to happen multiple times a week and now it's maybe once a month. The raw food isn't cheap but in the end it's been the best. It even helped him lose weight and I don't have to give him insulin shots anymore or check his glucose levels which were horrible experiences for us both.

Oh and prescription diets from the vet are pretty much a scam. Look into feeding all wet food or raw if you have the money. It's healthier for them if it's the right protein levels. Conventional vets don't get a lot of nutrition education (just like doctors) and will offer products put out by food manufacturers without really knowing much beyond what the manufacturers tell them. I've had vets try to get me to do their prescription diets with the threat that my cat would get lots of UTIs or that the diabetes wouldn't be under control, and neither was true. Do your own research and make a decision that's right for you and your budget.

Now to go clean the litter box...

[Anonymous]

I think it is cruel to take older cats to the shelter. Just do the right thing and put them down yourself. Better that than have them sit in a cage for 8 months and be put down by a stranger.

[Anonymous]

Smuggle them into the new Cat Cafe and then run!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we adopted these two cats as kittens about eight years ago. they've never outgrown their kitten phase. they're very energetic and mischievous. they have their annoying habits, as any pets do. one of them likes to scratch up our arm chair. one of them howls if we shut him out of our bedroom. (sometimes you just don't want a cat in your bedroom, you know?) We have child locks on our cabinets and doors not for our kids, but for our cats, who can open both and pull stuff out. when they puke (as cats do), it's always in the worst places -- on our couch and the area rugs, where it is the hardest to clean. (why can't they go for the hardwood or tile floors?) they track litter everywhere. and no amount of brushing their fur prevents huge amounts of fur coating everything we own.

I know this is normal cat behavior. and it's not the cats' fault. but I am sick of it. I spent hours per week cleaning up after the cats -- between the fur, litter box, litter all over the house and puke. I've really begun to resent them. I'd rather spend quality time with my kids than use up any free time cleaning up after the cats. when I get home from a long day of work, the last thing I want to do is clean a big gooey hairball off the couch.

in my dreams some nice family comes along and takes the cats away.

thanks for letting me vent.

[Anonymous]

Hello, I really can't understand people who choose to take on the RESPONSIBILITY OF HAVING Kittens! You had to know that they are work, It makes me crazy that when the cuteness of kittens starts to lose that adorable kitten mentality!! People really need to think before they adopt]

[Anonymous]

Op's cats are now 11 years old. I wonder if they've finally outgrown their "kitten stage" enough for the Op....

[Anonymous]

A pet should add value to your life either through play, love, emotional connection, whatever. When the pet becomes does not add value to your life, it is time to remove the pet. The humans in your life should not be less important or be afraid to live in the house. I love my pets, but hearing some of these horror stories makes me want to ask some of you if you think your pets are more important that the people around you. Take care and love on those pets!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A pet should add value to your life either through play, love, emotional connection, whatever. When the pet becomes does not add value to your life, it is time to remove the pet. The humans in your life should not be less important or be afraid to live in the house. I love my pets, but hearing some of these horror stories makes me want to ask some of you if you think your pets are more important that the people around you. Take care and love on those pets!

Some of them, yes. You'd never know that to meet me. But there it is. For one, my pets don't judge me like your post is doing.

[Anonymous]

What kind of cats? The ones I've had were very low maintenance, but maybe different breeds have different needs.

[Anonymous]

my wife has two cats.... she said they are family. she will never get rid of them. I am trying hard but I am to the point where my love for her will require a trip to the shelter with these two horrible creatures. They are rude... expensive, non compliant creatures. I am constantly having to get them off counters, they have peed in the house and broken items. Currently they clawed the sofa. They broke a family photo, almost hurt the puppy and one of them bit me. I am with you... I want to get rid of them so fast...I am married so anulling is much too difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:we adopted these two cats as kittens about eight years ago. they've never outgrown their kitten phase. they're very energetic and mischievous. they have their annoying habits, as any pets do. one of them likes to scratch up our arm chair. one of them howls if we shut him out of our bedroom. (sometimes you just don't want a cat in your bedroom, you know?) We have child locks on our cabinets and doors not for our kids, but for our cats, who can open both and pull stuff out. when they puke (as cats do), it's always in the worst places -- on our couch and the area rugs, where it is the hardest to clean. (why can't they go for the hardwood or tile floors?) they track litter everywhere. and no amount of brushing their fur prevents huge amounts of fur coating everything we own.

I know this is normal cat behavior. and it's not the cats' fault. but I am sick of it. I spent hours per week cleaning up after the cats -- between the fur, litter box, litter all over the house and puke. I've really begun to resent them. I'd rather spend quality time with my kids than use up any free time cleaning up after the cats. when I get home from a long day of work, the last thing I want to do is clean a big gooey hairball off the couch.

in my dreams some nice family comes along and takes the cats away.

thanks for letting me vent.

Use Yesterday's News and/or Feline Pine nugget litter and there will be no tracking of litter anywhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here --

Yes, this was a vent. I wasn't saying I was running off to the shelter to give them back.

Unfortunately we can't change the food. They're both prone to crystals in their urine, so they eat prescription cat food. That food doesn't seem to make them puke more than other food. As far as I understand, some cats just puke more than others.

We can't put the litter box in the basement, because we don't have one. We live in an apartment -- which also means no access to a back yard.

I'm not exaggerating when I say I spend hours a week. It's about 20 to 30 minutes a day (not always all at once).

The cat I had before these two was so low-maintenance. I barely had to do anything. He did not puke everywhere, track litter everywhere, shed everywhere. He didn't destroy anything. He didn't dig dirt out of our plants or knock over the garbage can or walk all over the kitchen counters (ew!) or any of the crazy things my current cats do. If I had two cats like my previous cat, it would be a piece of cake.

Again, I'm just venting here. And I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets as frustrated as I do!

No, throw out the prescription food - it's a scam to make money for your vet and Hills. That stuff is awful and chock full of fillers.
Feed them wellness or Soulistic. Chicken and Turkey and fish after you see if they don't puke up the poultry.
Trust me - don't buy the prescription stuff again. Their health will improve dramatically on better food. They'll even poop less.

http://m.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/soulistic-harvest-sunrise-chicken-and-pumpkin-dinner-adult-canned-cat-food-in-gravy
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002NJ5E3O/ref=psd_mlt_bc_B002NJ5E3O

Or any of the canned wellness:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s?k=wellness+cat+food+wet



For dry, but don't feed mostly dry:
http://m.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/wellness-trufood-chicken

Trust me - they are puking because that prescription food is crap!!!


Litter that does not track:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s_ss_i_0_11?k=yesterdays+news+cat+litter&sprefix=yesterdays+

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/s/ref=is_s_ss_i_4_12?k=feline+pine+pellets&sprefix=yesterdays+&sprefix=feline+pine+

We scoop this litter using Washington post (or, dog waste bags) bags - one bag into the other. Tie it shut, put it in the trash.

[Anonymous]

Wow, I am glad to find this old, yet never dead, post. I got two kittens when my kids were young (12 years ago). One was very tame, the other a little shy. I had owned the cats prior, each lived a nice life and died of old age (I adopted two of them as adults). I wanted to share my love of cats with my kids. My last cat had died about 3 years before I adopted these two kittens. Lo and behold - I found myself very allergic to them! I wasn't able to touch them and found myself allergic to my house. I was able to rehome one of them about 5 years ago.... But I still have one, quite feral, inside cat. I have done a couple of years of allergy shots, take regulate medication for allergies....and I truly wish this cat would die. I do feel terrible saying it, but is is true. I have had near constant post-nasal drip for 12 years. When I go on vacation I feel so much better, away from the cat.

[Anonymous]

I love my cats.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did it occur to any of you that the problem is not the cat but you? You all sound pretty horrible...

Well, I'm a NP with kids and I agree that you all sound horrible. And I had cats before I had kids, and then they all intersected when the kids were young. If you all hate your poor cats so much, just take them to a kill shelter and be done with it.

You never hear the crazy dog people go on with such malice regarding their disgusting beasts. Poor little cats out there...

PLEASE. These are vents. Just the fact that these posters are so frustrated and fed up yet refuse to abandon their pets says it all.