Breaking Through, Travelling On

Watty, that's appalling. I'm so sorry that for some peculiar reason you were turned down for giving a loving home to a cat.:eek:. I feel very sad both for you and the cats that you would have loved.

I've had to veto a pair of homes (just 2 in about 10) years and I know from other rehoming staff/volunteers that it is a very rare occurrence with them too. Obviously your person was a real jobsworth:mad:

One of the homes I didn't think suitable was very small and chaotic with so many other pets(4 cats, 4 rabbits(and one of them was pregnant), 3 gerbils, 2 dogs, 3 guinea pigs, and 6 children under 8 years old. They all seemed to live indoors and there wasn't room to swing a cat (excuse the pun:o). There didn't seem any set place for the pets to eat or sleep. Some cats were eating off the table and another one off the worktop where the human's food was being prepared. There were all sorts of skirmishes breaking out among the various species even in the short time I was there. One of the cats looked absolutely terrified and stressed by one of the dogs.The rescue cats I work with had all had a bad start in life and needed somewhere a lot calmer and quieter than that, and a safe haven where they could feel secure and wouldn't be competing for space and attention.

The second one was like a photo spread from Homes and Gardens. Room after big room with cream carpets and upholstery, dozens of very expensive fragile-looking things displayed on every surface. They insisted on a kitten, not at all interested in an adult cat with an established docile personality. Anyone who has ever owned a kitten knows that they love to climb and play:j. You can't be watching them every minute of the day anyway (any kittens I had got up to all sorts of mischief:rotfl: but that's what kittens do and we love them for it) and this couple were professional people who were at work all day and out doing a lot of socialising several evenings a week. I just imagined a scene of kittenly destruction of their immaculate home meeting them whenever they came back:eek:. I just can't understand why they wanted any kind of pet never mind a kitten that needed and deserved so much love, attention and time. My conscience made me veto this couple.

I'm still feeling sad for you, Watty. I definitely wouldn't have vetoed you:). Most people go to work these days, I used to myself and worked long hours too, but I was at home most evenings (or OH was if I wasn't) and we were usually there most of the time at weekends. Cats like some time to themselves anyway;)

This working couple were workoholics, involved in very long commutes (the husband was out of the home from 6.30 am to about 8.15pm and often went in at weekends too. The wife left with him and wasn't home herself until about 7.30. That's a long time to leave a small kitten home alone:eek:. At weekends they went out visiting friends/family and in the week they often went out for meals on the way home from work to save cooking and so got home very late. They thought it was amusing that they had such a beautiful home and were hardly ever there:eek:

An adult cat would still have lacked the attention it needed but a kitten? No way! They wouldn't even consider a kitten a few months old, it had to be a tiny one just old enough to leave it's mother.

As for roads, I know exactly what you mean. I live in the country where the traffic flow is very sporadic on our narrow and twisty road. There have been so many cat fatalities in our village I suspect because the occasional car is so unexpected and takes the poor things by surprise. I think cats soon have the sense to realise that a busy road spells danger. Cats round here often just sit in the middle of the road having a good wash:eek: Then a motorcyclist or boy-racer comes screaming through. My heart stops whenever I hear one.