AskMe rerailing request

May 23, 2006 5:54 PM

Stinky Kitty vs. Baby? This post seems to be about to turn into a debate regarding kittens' ability to survive versus infants'. Very interesting.
posted by k8t to Etiquette/Policy at 5:54 PM (14 comments total)

We've been there before. The fact that people still post questions about cats (it's always cats, never dogs that raise this type of ire) amazes me.
posted by boo_radley at 6:06 PM on May 23, 2006

Well, that sounded interesting, but I didn't see any posts about baby vs. kitten survival. Were they removed, did I skim too quickly, or did you read too much into the posts?
posted by agropyron at 6:09 PM on May 23, 2006

Do a "find" for child?
posted by k8t at 6:11 PM on May 23, 2006

The OP has to get rid of a pet because it may pose a threat to his 2 month old child once it starts wandering around... he wanted advice as to how to find a new home for a kitty with a bit of a personality problem. Some posters are strongly encouraging him to keep it, some more strongly than others.
posted by k8t at 6:13 PM on May 23, 2006

I confess, I was tempted to suggest that the poster keep the cat and give away the baby, but I knew that (a) the comment would be deleted and (b) someone else would get around to it anyway. I'm glad to see that MeFi has not disappointed.
posted by Faint of Butt at 6:19 PM on May 23, 2006

Well, the point is that only the OP really knows his cat, and regardless of what anyone may think of the cat's existence prior to the posting of this question, very little of the moralizing "you bad pet owner" biz is really helping him out. Some people have a different standard than others for pets. I understand where the "pets are like kids" guy is coming from -- in a certain sense, a cat is never any mentally older than a human two year old, and they are incredibly dependent upon their owners for proper care -- but that doesn't make his information helpful. Anyone who's been to the Humane Society's webpage can wax poetical about the responsibility one takes on when adopting a pet, but whomever that happened to be might also just be a bit of a pedantic, unhelpful person. Hell, it wouldn't be helpful if the OP was "I think my cat is and has been depressed for eleventy billion years. Please hope me."

At some point, people will just be helpful and cease with the browbeating in Ask, yes? Or no. Damn.
posted by Medieval Maven at 6:23 PM on May 23, 2006

I dunno. If a cat got lost outside, what it's chance of surviving? I don't really know, but I'd think that it would be okay for at least a while.

(My only personal experience is in the Former USSR, when at really tough times a lot of people released their pets into the stress out of desperation. Lots of these animals survived and now, 15 years later, there are still massive street animal problems. In some countries, police have to go out and shoot dogs at night a few times a year to dwindle down the population and decrease competition for food. It is a sad night, but at least it makes the streets safer for walking around because at times when they dog population is high, the street dogs ARE much more agressive, especially if you have food. Anyway, so off topic...)
posted by k8t at 6:30 PM on May 23, 2006

into the stress = into the streets
posted by k8t at 6:31 PM on May 23, 2006

There are solid statistics about average age expectency of cared for animals that live mostly outside, not to mention abandoned animals. They do not live even remotely as long as their indoor brethren.

It's hard to understand how Russia could not possibly be other than much, much worse in this regard—but it's my personal experience that stray cats in "colder" climes (like here in Albuquerque and most places I've lived) are much rarer than in the indisputably warmer climes I've lived such as Dallas (a dim memory) and Austin (a recent, fond memory). Austin was practically crawling with stray cats.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 7:41 PM on May 23, 2006

All of cahlers' nauseatingly anthropomorphist responses deserve deletion.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 8:55 PM on May 23, 2006

At the point where cahlers says that his cat, dog, and child live happily together, I wanted to barf. Great for him, but that's not helping anyone answer the question.

I've known plenty of great pet owners whose pets needed to find new homes because it just was not working out, especially when children came into the picture.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 11:04 PM on May 23, 2006

you guys didn't hear? the smart money now is in a schlesingerian tough-love self-help, and the site name shall soon be changed to AskMetafilterToLectureYou.
posted by Hat Maui at 3:51 AM on May 24, 2006

I think we should put cahlers in a sack and drown him.
posted by jack_mo at 9:04 AM on May 24, 2006

Cahlers should get a time out from Askme for that disgusting display of unAskme-like behavior.

Just answer the freaking question or shut up!
posted by sic at 1:55 PM on May 24, 2006