Cute Kittens

[Elaine]

I jumped because the poster already has a thread about neutering where she could have asked that question.

The ruling should be not to allow publicising indiscriminately bred kitten which could be seen as advertising them. That is completely different from posting rescue kittens. The forum should not be used to brag or advertise kittens which have been bred for very selfish reasons.

[Kazz]

Originally Posted by Elaine

I jumped because the poster already has a thread about neutering where she could have asked that question.

The ruling should be not to allow publicising indiscriminately bred kitten which could be seen as advertising them. That is completely different from posting rescue kittens. The forum should not be used to brag or advertise kittens which have been bred for very selfish reasons.

Are not all litters that have purposely being bred, been bred for selfish reason be they moggies/pedigree/mixture of both. I agree whole heartedly that people should be actively encouraged to have their cats spayed/netured however I do not think "pulpit preaching" makes people sit up and think in fact far from it. Good debate but let’s try not to have people backing away gracefully..................frightened to contribute for fear of a verbal lashing.

[MrsH]

I do think that with rescue/feral litters we all tend to temper the cooing with regret and sadness that someone has been thoughtless enough to let these litters happen.

They are always beautiful kittens but noone expects us to say to their rescuers things like "Ooh, aren't you lucky being able to raise these beauties" our comments tend more to be on the lines of "At least they've got a chance now, poor little mites, their mother no more than a kitten herself...."etc.

It just seems to me that we can be thought of as condoning, tolerating or even welcoming backyard breeding by cooing over yet another careless litter.

[Kazz]

Originally Posted by MrsH

I do think that with rescue/feral litters we all tend to temper the cooing with regret and sadness that someone has been thoughtless enough to let these litters happen.

They are always beautiful kittens but noone expects us to say to their rescuers things like "Ooh, aren't you lucky being able to raise these beauties" our comments tend more to be on the lines of "At least they've got a chance now, poor little mites, their mother no more than a kitten herself...."etc.

It just seems to me that we can be thought of as condoning, tolerating or even welcoming backyard breeding by cooing over yet another careless litter.

I agree..............thing is how do we change the perception of people who think as say my parents do "good for a cat/bitch" to have a litter. This is an old wife’s tale but of course one which is ingrained. Some of these people will care greatly for their cat and try their best to find homes for their kittens. Then of course there are the shall we call them "professional" backyard breeders who breed purely for money with no care of the mother cat or for the health of the kittens. It’s a hard call do we alienate all or welcome all and try to convert from the inside?
We go round in circles, but I think opening the debate is always a good thing.

[Elaine]

Originally Posted by MrsH

It just seems to me that we can be thought of as condoning, tolerating or even welcoming backyard breeding by cooing over yet another careless litter.

That's it exactly, it has been said many times before but Catsey does condone indiscriminate breeding.
If people can go on being inconsistant with these things and encouraging foul breeding practices then surely I should be allowed to continue to "pulpit preach". I find it very hard to be clucking fluffy about the harsh reality that these people contribute to the feline over population and the stress it puts rescues under.

[Moli]

Our branch of the CP is bursting at the seams, got a call about 4 kittens, the woman had bred her cat last year and sold them for £80 each..(moggies) but she could not sell these 4, would we take them!!!!

[Elaine]

How exactly would your "convert" from the inside? See maybe my aproach does ailienate people but by the same token pandering to them allows them to think that what they have done is ok and only serves to encourage more.

[Kazz]

Originally Posted by Moli

Our branch of the CP is bursting at the seams, got a call about 4 kittens, the woman had bred her cat last year and sold them for £80 each..(moggies) but she could not sell these 4, would we take them!!!!

And there we go..............reality.................I don;t suppose she wants to donate the £80 per kitten from the last litter to the CP to help does she?

[Elaine]

Originally Posted by Moli

Our branch of the CP is bursting at the seams, got a call about 4 kittens, the woman had bred her cat last year and sold them for £80 each..(moggies) but she could not sell these 4, would we take them!!!!

That happens alot sadly. Rescues are only there to pick up the peices of the mess these people create. Or so it would seem.

[trick]

I'm not sure that the people who brag about kittens really want to listen to any advice about over breeding as they clearly don't think they are the problem, sometimes tactful education isn't enough.
We had loads of sick kittens this year, Flu,FIV, FeLV, heart murmers, epilepsie but the worst was to chlamydia which was passed on from mother to kitten and any other they come into contact with, it was so bad in 3 kittens from seperate litters that their eyes eventualy burst and had to be euthanized. Cute