Ryan, Debi, and Toren Cragun's Blog

You know why I hate pets?!?  Because the “owners” of said pets are so often negligent of the animals.

Why am I suddenly ranting about pets?  Yesterday a cat climbed up on the window sill of our neighbor’s front window just as a torrential rainfall hit and began having kittens.   Yep, kittens, on a windowsill, outside, during a torrential Florida thunderstorm.  Luckily our neighbor’s kids saw the cat and were concerned enough about its welfare that they got a box and some towels and made a nice little place for the cat to have its kittens.  But they didn’t know anything about cats giving birth, so they came over to our place and asked Debi if she did.  This happened around 6:00 pm.  I was shopping for food.

Debi spent from 6:00 until almost 10:00 pm last night delivering kittens (granted, the cat does most of the work).  She read up on what the mother needs and will do (clean, large box inside in a warm location; eat the placenta and lick the kittens clean, respectively), how many kittens will typically be born (3 to 6), and what best cat-birth practices are.  Debi cut and tied off umbilical cords, ensured the cat had clean towels to lie on, and provided the cat with food (I took care of Toren).  The cat ended up having 5 kittens before Debi called it a night and went to bed.  The neighbors put the cat in the washroom at the end of their carport for the night.

Okay, what does this have to do with me hating pets?  It kind of sounds beautiful in its own way, right?  Yes, it is beautiful and amazing.  But it’s also infuriating!

The cat has a collar (studded leather with spikes, of course).  That means the cat “belongs” (or belonged) to someone.  Where the hell is the “owner?”  Why isn’t the owner taking care of the cat that it allowed to become pregnant?  Why is this pregnant cat roaming our neighborhood and trying to give birth on a windowsill in a rain storm?

You see, I don’t hate the actual pets… I hate two related things: (1) the idea of owning another animal, and (2) said “owners” of animals who do not treat their animals well.

Raising an animal to eat it?  I can live with that.  Your intentions are clear from the start.

Buying a pet that you neglect because you thought, on a whim, that it would be fun.  Yeah, not a fan!

3-4 million cats and dogs are euthanized in the US every year. While lots of people have mixed feelings about government intrusion into personal lives, I don’t think people should be allowed to adopt a pet without a “pet license” (same goes for having kids, but that’s an even more controversial argument).  And, in addition to taking an extensive training course on taking care of a pet, I think people should also have to pass a “means” test to illustrate they have the financial resources to care for a pet.  And then they should have to wait a month to be able to get one.

Now do you understand why I hate pets?

We haven’t started trying to potty train Toren as he hasn’t shown all that much interest in it.  But it does seem like he can tell at this point when he needs to mictorate or defecate, and it seems like he can control.  However, he gives no warning as to when he’s going to do it (sometimes he’ll hide), but he does occasionally do it for show.

For instance, the other night Debi was getting ready to take a bath with him.  Toren had already gotten in the tub.  While sitting down, he proceeded to create a beautiful little yellow arch of urine into the water, smiling the whole time. He then stood up and grabbed Debi’s hand in an effort to get her to join in him the tub.

Apparently a distaste for bathing in one’s own urine is not a trait that has been selected for by evolution… :|