I need a cat! but let me explain.........................

guess what. getting rid of a cat because it peed in your house IS cruel. you took the cat in, the cat was YOUR responsibility, and you ditched him in a shelter when he acted like a cat. between 4 cats, 2 dogs and 2 rabbits, my house always stinks in spite of my best efforts. doesn't mean any of them are going to the shelter, though. they are MY responsibility and i will follow through with it no matter what. if you had truely loved louie as you say, he would still be with you, smell or no smell, dirty chair or clean chair. frankly, the more you talk the more you make a liar of yourself. don't try to redeem yourself. you ARE cruel to animals and i stand by the fact that you don't have enough compassion to own a stuffed toy cat. and the dog ended up at your sister's. great. you failed that one, as well. and it's still insulting that you sign your posts about cruelty to animals with "god bless". that is an insult to god as well as those of us who are doing right by our animals. shel

Louie thought he had a home, and ended up in a shelter where unless it's a "no-kill" shelter, he was likely put down. Shelters are not happy places for animals. I've got a houseful of dogs and cats who thought they had a home and then discovered their "human" would no longer take care of them. These were sad, broken animals, many of whom STILL have issues due to their abandonment. Animals have feelings, and having their person disown them hurts those feelings deeply. I have a dog named Oreo, my SIL got him and discovered that nobody would take care of him. He was malnourished and not housebroken when I got him, he's on his third home - but no matter what, this is his "forever home" becasue to keep having to leave a family he gets used to is cruel. I've got dogs, cats and kids - every single day I am cleaning up somebody's pee, poo, or barf it is part of the job when you become a mother, whether to people or animals. My kids and my pets sometimes do things that I cannot explain, they get into mischief, but I love them just the same because that is what you DO when you commit to becoming a parent or an animal's companion/caretaker. Please, don't get any more animals - they do not come with any guarantees not to make a mess - EVER.

I've read through all the responses and it seems there is a first part to this story. Based on what I've read here though I will give my views. While you say you really cared for Louie, the fact that you got rid of him says differently. Ask yourself this, if one of your children had a condition that caused them to vomit often, would you send them away or deal with it? If one of your children had a bladder control problem, would you dump them to get rid of the problem? When you get a pet, regardless of what kind, you take on a responsiblity to provide care, love, attention and compassion for them FOR THEIR LIFE. You don't just ditch them when they get to be too hard to handle. I used to have 3 dogs, 2 male and 1 female. The female ended up pregnant and had 6 puppies...we had to confine them to the spare room while they were small. As they grew they clawed up the carpet, chewed up the furniture and went potty on the floor. There wasn't anything I could do but clean it up b/c the puppies were too young to find homes for. When they were old enough I worked hard to find good homes for all 6 and immediately got the mama fixed. The whole room was re-done but it was worth it b/c those 6 puppies got a good start in life. If your not able to commit to giving pets what they really need, I'd suggest sticking with something like fish that are very low maintence or stuffed animals. [b]~~AT PEACE WITHIN~~ **STAND STRONG IN YOUR BELIEFS**[/b]

I am afraid I dont have much sympathy either you have had many pets and discarded them quickly because they were an inconvenience to you it doesnt matter that they went to a shelter or a friends house YOU threw them away just because YOU couldnt be bothered with the responsibility that YOU took on in my opinion you shouldnt have pets you clearly dont know what it takes to take care of one people like you are the reason that shelters are so over populated and many animals have to be killed

i forgot to mention that since louie peed on your love seat, any other cat you get will probably do the same. it is "marked territory" now and other cats will want to mark over his scent. you may think you have it cleaned up, but the cats will smell it. there is no way to get the smell out so that other cats won't know. if you had bothered to learn anything about cats, you would know that already. shel

I have to agree with the other posters on this one. I would skip getting another pet. You obviously don't understand that no pet will be "perfect." They will all, at some point in time, do something that is likely to infuriate you. When my lab was about 8 months old, she chewed through my bedroom furniture like a beaver. My pit bull is almost 5 years old, and she still occasionally has a bathroom accident by the back door. These things happen. But my animals are like children to me. I wouldn't dream of EVER giving them up. EVER. It makes me tear up thinking about getting rid of even one of them. Instead, I solve the problem so it doesn't happen again. I have two very well-behaved dogs and an awesome cat, and they all get along and are the closest to perfection that I have ever come with animals. Me and my husband TOOK THE TIME to turn them into the fabulous pets that they are. We made sure they knew the rules and stuck to them. I exercise the dogs every single day. It is a huge commitment. There are days when I really don't want to go for a walk. But I go for them. That is what it takes to have well-adjusted pets. You have to spend some time with them. They aren't just going to know what to do on their own. I rescued a toothless pit-bull from a kill shelter a couple of years ago. He had never seen the inside of a house before, yet I had him potty trained on the first day of entering my house. Within a week, I had him leaving the cat alone. If you're not willing to mold the animal into the kind of animal you want living with you, you should not own one. Period.

i'm so sorry to say that sounds to me that you are not a pet person... a pet person won't just send her pet away to a shelter just because of the inconvenience that the pet caused... every pet whether it is a cat or dog will cause inconvenience and it is up to you how to deal with it... but you don't send or give away your pet just like that... now you want to look for another cat to catch the mice in your house... how can you be sure that you won't send the cat away again once it inconvenience you??? a pet is not for slavery and tool to do tasks for you... it is supposed to be your companion and make you happy... take care and have a nice day...

well linda,you are not atall heartless.each person has his or her perspective about anything and well,you have yours.i wouldnt see that as wrong.but you sure do miss him,thats why you need another cat!!!why not go for it???

Male cats do tend to mark their territory, and that is why anyone who desires a pet should have their cats seek information through a local vet or animal shelter on financial assistance with spay or neutering services, before before welcoming a pet home. These procedures usually take place after six weeks of the life of a pet, and I recommend it. I love animals, and many serve in one capacity or another. Cats in particular are great for elimating the mice population of a home, however, one must keep the cat indoors or supervise their outings so that these domestic cats do not intermingle with outdoor animals. The reason for that is that they can catch diseases and fleas. You don't want to bring that into the home. At home you must have a stable home with because cats in particular don't enjoy change; that is why they seem curious even when the home owner brings in a bag of grocery, and hide when strangers are in the home. Cats shed hair and love to sharpen their nails, so if you do not provide solutions for these you will end up with damaged furniture and furniture covering full of hair, and dust. Changing the litter box is a must if you want to elimate oder from this source. Dogs need a more hands on approach in maintaining as pets. If you travel or spend too much time away from the home, and can not affort a dog walker, skip on have a dog for a pet. Having children walk a dog is not a good idea, for adults looking to do harm to your children will approach your children wanting to pet the animal and end up abusing your children with time and confidences gained. I've now that this happens and more parents should be aware and advice their children not to talk to strangers when walking their dogs. Avoid having your children walk your dog, for your children's safety. Having a pet and having to give it up is not a bad thing as long as you find a loving home, and advice the new owners to return the pet if they no longer can keep it. Animals like dogs and cats have a much shorter life spand than children and caring for an animal such as these should not be much of a problem, like with other things, you plan ahead. We have to cats, and even with a voucher cash assistance to spay the cats, it cost us over $500.00 each to prep them for long term residency at our home. Then one of my cats got into an accident, and almost lost the use of her tail with a small fracture. That costed us another $200.00 to care for. Luckly, her tail is in full swing now. If you keep your cats indoor and feed them a combination of dry and moist food; we keep dry food available at all times, and feed the two cats combined with four cans of moist cat food. At 6 AM, at 12 PM, at 5PM and at 11PM, both cats share one can of cat food. I get the clumping litter, and clean it out every two days. I protect my cats from over handling at the hands of children and adults who visit the home. This works for us, and our cats are a major part of our every day lives. My boyfriend and I are complete opposites and share very little as far as everyday activities and hobbies, but the one thing we come together with, is the attention we get from our cats, and the loving attention we give to our cats. In fact, there will be times, that I lift up my cat and thank God for my little companion. I'll say, God, I know you created this cat to give me love, watch over my cats; thank you.

that's nice... help me so much

it's so nice.. help me so much

I acturally want to own a dog but because of my busy life so I can't feed a dog.Animals need to be taken care of because they are animals.Your condition is same with me! Good wishes!