Judged for being fertile? Would love to rescue...
Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 6:13 pm
Hi there,
I'm new to this and would really appreciate some honest advice (even if it's harsh).
I'm almost 30, just moved into a lovely new rented house, complete with a nice garden space (fenced) and cat flap. We're on a quiet road, I'm a nice area where there are no feral cats.
To give my feline history, I've grown up with cats - my parents have had 4, 3 of which have been rescue kitties. Of the rescues, One had cancer, one diabetes and the current guy is an amputee. I spent rather a lot of time with the diabetic chap as I was writing a dissertation at the time and learnt to inject him etc, but cared for all of them while growing up.
Now that my boyfriend and I have an appropriate home to accommodate a furry friend, I begun to look into rescue cats in my area. I found a particularly lovely chap - a big boy, who could do with losing a little weight (which, the rescue centre implied, would only be lost once he was out of the rescue scenario with lots of food on offer). He's has a tough life, and is clearly looking for lots of love and cuddles. Having liaised with the centre last week, I outlined that we both work, but that we'd likely be in for 2, but more likely 3 days a week as I have flexible working. We set up a meet.
Today I hear from the current carer (the same person) that my age, and presumed fertility (I say this as I firstly have no idea whether I can have children, and we haven't deduced, if I can, when we would - we're co-habiting for the first time, so it's likely to be a long while off yet) mean we're an inappropriate home for a rescue cat (as children can traumatise cats). I understand that him being home alone might have been an issue, and that's a reasonable point - I wouldn't want to upset him. But those aren't the terms that the conversation ended on.
Whether or not I'm right to feel aggrieved, I'd like some feedback on whether we could be an appropriate home for a moggy. We both have a lot of love to give, and I have significant experience. Are we really going to be met with this judgement if we pursue other options via a more traditional charity (battersea/cats protection)? I'm not going to be put off by this one incident, because I think animal rehoming is extremely important, but I'd be interested to hear thoughts.
Thank you,
LEC
I'm new to this and would really appreciate some honest advice (even if it's harsh).
I'm almost 30, just moved into a lovely new rented house, complete with a nice garden space (fenced) and cat flap. We're on a quiet road, I'm a nice area where there are no feral cats.
To give my feline history, I've grown up with cats - my parents have had 4, 3 of which have been rescue kitties. Of the rescues, One had cancer, one diabetes and the current guy is an amputee. I spent rather a lot of time with the diabetic chap as I was writing a dissertation at the time and learnt to inject him etc, but cared for all of them while growing up.
Now that my boyfriend and I have an appropriate home to accommodate a furry friend, I begun to look into rescue cats in my area. I found a particularly lovely chap - a big boy, who could do with losing a little weight (which, the rescue centre implied, would only be lost once he was out of the rescue scenario with lots of food on offer). He's has a tough life, and is clearly looking for lots of love and cuddles. Having liaised with the centre last week, I outlined that we both work, but that we'd likely be in for 2, but more likely 3 days a week as I have flexible working. We set up a meet.
Today I hear from the current carer (the same person) that my age, and presumed fertility (I say this as I firstly have no idea whether I can have children, and we haven't deduced, if I can, when we would - we're co-habiting for the first time, so it's likely to be a long while off yet) mean we're an inappropriate home for a rescue cat (as children can traumatise cats). I understand that him being home alone might have been an issue, and that's a reasonable point - I wouldn't want to upset him. But those aren't the terms that the conversation ended on.
Whether or not I'm right to feel aggrieved, I'd like some feedback on whether we could be an appropriate home for a moggy. We both have a lot of love to give, and I have significant experience. Are we really going to be met with this judgement if we pursue other options via a more traditional charity (battersea/cats protection)? I'm not going to be put off by this one incident, because I think animal rehoming is extremely important, but I'd be interested to hear thoughts.
Thank you,
LEC