My Guilt At Having To Give Up My Beautiful Cats
Once upon a time, my partner and I had three beautiful, tortishell cats. There was Lady, Shania and Sake. They were our babies and we had been their ‘parents’ for over three years.
We loved them to bits and were as responsible with their care as we could be. Most of their lives, they were indoor cats, as we respected the need to protect our native wild life. Lady and Shania did have two litters each, Sake being the result of one, but responsible owners were found for the resulting kittens and all three were promptly taken to the vet for desexing. No more kittens and we could give all our attention to our three gorgeous girls. (rest of article)
Life as a cat owner was grand. We had 3 of the worlds most gorgeous felines who loved us as we loved them and gave us much joy. They were our fur babies and we were content to let them be our babies, even if we couldn’t have babies of our own.
We were put in the position of having to give them up. An unscrupulous landlord who got quite nasty with us forced us to flee and move to a place where it would have been dangerous to have one cat, let alone three. The choice we had to make was for our furbaby’s safety.
I cried the whole time I was signing them to the animal shelter on the Gold Coast, and I cried for days afterwards, even though I should have been looking forwards to the birth of our first child.
I think I cried every day until our daughter was born, and then she helped me to see that I had done the right thing. I still cry a lot about what I had to do, and I feel as though I let my cats down, but did I? No, I don’t think I did.
Providing a secure home for them was even harder than providing one for my human family- we at least could have lived in tent (and did for a while). To protect our cats and prevent them coming to any harm, the only thing Les and I could do was give them up.
Believe me when I say that I cry all the time about this, because I do. Even now, the tears threaten to fall and are blurring my vision, so apologies for any spelling errors.
Yes, I still feel guilty about what we did, as I had signed onto being their ‘mother’ for life, and I never thought I would ever have to give them up.
The pain I still feel has stopped me from getting another cat, even though we are more secure now , and I wish I could get passed it. I love cats, they are such beautiful creatures, and I want one, but only if I can provide a guarantee that I can care for them as they deserve to be cared for, and I don’t think I have that guarantee.
Sorry to get all weepy folks, it just pains me to think that some jerk did this to me and my family.
Note: After writing this, we moved and are now in a position to have a cat if we so wish. Once more settled, we will be going to the local shelter to have a look at what is on offer.