Mary Allen
Unfortunately, there are many people who want to give up their cat because they have gotten tired of it. This is almost always bad for the animal, but sometimes the best solution.
[lwptoc]
Employees of animal shelters know this all too well: the cat has to go, often for reasons that no animal lover can understand. Sometimes allergies are asserted against the owner – which of course can hardly be verified. Usually, however, the point is that a carelessly acquired animal will eventually become “annoying”, especially if it causes problems, scratching the wallpaper and furniture or eating the plants. Or when it gets old and vet bills go up. When the new friend doesn’t like cats or a child is born and suddenly there is no more time for the cat. There is help and solutions for all of these cases, but mostly the owners are determined to simply give up the cat as soon as possible.
But there is also the opposite case – that it would be better for the cat to find another home for it. It’s a paradox: while some people can’t get rid of their animal fast enough, other people don’t manage to part with their furry partner, even though they know that the cat is unhappy with its living conditions.
Because there can be good reasons for separation. Charly’s owner, for example, is sadly looking for a new home for the 13-year-old tomcat because she was transferred to the field service and now has to go on business trips frequently. The senior is a pure apartment tomcat and now even more than before alone and without work. Out of grief and boredom, he has already eaten up a lot of excess weight and can only move sluggishly. At his age, you shouldn’t expect a conspecific to him. So he should get a new home. Not an easy step for humans and animals, but better than the current situation.
Threatening Creates Fear and Tension
Another case is that some people want to keep several cats, but the socialization does not succeed despite all efforts. However, if an animal is being bullied, overtly or subtly, and this condition persists for a long time, isn’t it more responsible to seek a better place? One often hears the phrase that animals don’t have to love each other. They’re just supposed to get along. But does it really work or is it just based on human wishful thinking? This is difficult to assess even for experienced cat owners.
Flip, for example, is the youngest cat in a group that already has two tomcats and one cat. She is rejected by all three animals and sometimes even attacked. The physical attacks subsided after about six months. But the little cat is scared and skittish and will run away as soon as it sees the oldest tomcat. She only wants to go into the garden when the other three animals are in the house and only secretly comes to cuddle at night. Humans must keep the four cats permanently separated.
Even if a traffic rule has been created, who can come and go where and when, and there is enough space for all four cats so that everyone can avoid each other – that’s not a nice and happy cat’s life. Therefore it would probably be better to find a new home for the little gray tiger, either as a single cat or a place where she can live with friendly and social fellow cats. Because even subtle constant stress can make you ill. Even if the tufts of fur don’t fly every day, cats have mastered the fine art of threatening. Staring at each other’s favorite spots, standing in front of the toilet when one of their own kind wants to go about their business – all of this creates fear and tension.
But it also happens that a single animal terrorizes an entire group. This does not necessarily have to be the long-established cat. Sometimes the newcomer waits a while and then suddenly decides that they no longer want to share with the first cat or cats. Like Pitt, a powerful black cat on a horse farm. He had to wait so long for a home that he now apparently no longer wants to share: not his food, not his toilets, and certainly not the attention of his people. He harasses Lucy, the landowner, and even chases her out of her hiding places, into which she has withdrawn in fear.