For one, when all is said and done we’re going to be out at least $500 to have the cats vetted, get their shots up to date, get them fixed, plus all the associated costs -- litter, food, etc. That’s assuming we don’t find a health or behavioral problem that they haven’t disclosed to us for fear we won’t take them.
We can afford it, but I’m not going to say it won’t pinch. All our cats (including Maggie) are seniors, meaning they require expensive bloodwork every year. Two of them are on special, very costly diets. We love them, and we will jump through hoops to make sure they have what they need to be healthy and comfortable, but an extra $500 is still an extra $500.
On one hand, my inclination is to do whatever is necessary to make sure these cats are taken care of, because the alternative -- I’m positive -- is that they either dump them at the shelter or open the door and say, “Well, they’re cats, they’ll figure it out,” because that is what A LOT of people do. Especially ignorant people who take the “I’ve got a family to think about” approach to excusing their personal irresponsibility.
On the other hand, this is a really, really dangerous mindset to encourage by throwing money at it.
When we lived at the old house I used to volunteer twice a week to do the night shift at a local adoption center. Simple work, just come in, let the cats out to run around, scrub the cages, food and water, back in for bedtime. If anyone came by to inquire about a cat I took their info, chatted about the process, etc.
I was also sometimes called to the front in order to answer phone calls from people calling for the adoption center. Mostly these were people looking for a place to dump cats they didn’t want / could no longer take care of.
One time I had a guy whose intact female had just had a litter of kittens. I knew the lady who ran the place had a soft spot for kittens, so I said she might be able to take them once they were fully weaned.
He’s like, “Okay, so how much will you give me for them?”
“I see people charging like twenty, thirty bucks a kitten on Craigslist. There’s five kittens, so can you give me like $150 for them?”
“We don’t buy kittens. This is a rescue.”
“Yeah, but I’ve seen your adoption prices. You charge like $100 for people to adopt a cat. What kind of racket are you running? You should buy my kittens.”
A real conversation I had with a real person, who could not fathom why his complete disregard for an animal that he was tasked with caring for shouldn’t net him a profit.
For the same reason I don’t “rescue” bettas from terrible, sad little vases filled with plants at mall kiosks, there comes a point at which you can’t throw money at people. The lesson they walk away with isn’t, “I should use this money to fix my cat so this won’t happen anymore,” it’s, “Sweet! $150 and I’m rid of those fucking cats! Guess I’ll go buy some beer.”
