My cousins broke my cat.

I've never had a great relationship with my cousins, or any distant family. But what USED to be a relationship is now down in the drains. I have these two little kid cousins- biggest brats you will EVER meet- they scream, choke people, disobey their parents (not that their parents discipline them much) and now, they've broken my cat.

They were tugging on the poor guy so hard (hes 10 years old too- hes not exactly spritely) and now he has a cranial cruciate torn ligament- in his knee. He has to have surgery, be put under anesthesia (sp?) and has a 4 to 6 months time of rehabilitation. I'm SO close to this cat- he's basically my best friend, and I cant explain how insanely FURiOUS i am with these kids. I repeatedly told them to leave my cats alone, and now look what happened!

He's having surgery monday, and its not exactly cheap. the family hasnt even offered to help paying- even though its their fault. They never discipline their kids- and i think i'm right in thinking that kids should know not to try to pull the leg off of a cat. They're old enough to- the kid that did it is in first grade.

Grawr. I'm venting. But i'm seriously pissed off. I'm so worried about my cat :(

omg. thats so obnoxious. how old are your cousins? I'm so sorry about your cat!

I think that is total bullsh*t (then again, I don't handle people who don't discipline their kids well) and I would demand that they pay for the bills.  That is so messed up. 

they're about 6 and 4- young, but definently old enough to not do what they did :( evil children...*mutters*

I think you need to tell the parents that the children are not allowed to visit at your house until they learn how to behave.

One thing I've learned in life, "Life is too short to spend time with unpleasant relatives."

Best wishes for your kitty.

*Hugs*

send them an invoice for the vets bills.

Holy crap, I am so angry on your behalf.  I would smack the **** out of anyone who manhandles my pets.  If these were my cousins? They'd be going home with my palm prints on their behinds.  I am not a violent person, but I DO NOT tolerate the abuse of animals.

Call them and tell them they have to pay for the surgery.  Hey, give me their phone number and I'll do it for you.

Okay. Sorry for my little rant.  I hope he gets better quickly, I really really do.

PS: In my cat's last year or so, he became arthritic.  We bought him one of those heating pads to lay on and it really seemed to help him feel better.

I would not allow children like this around my pets, kids or anthing else I value.

Don't be afraid to reprimand them. Really, you should yell at them for doing that, perhaps even spank them so that they learn their lesson. I wouldn't be afraid to scream at them. Do it.

They broke your cat? What the hell. Monsters.

I agree, a six year old should know that cats don't come apart like f*cking Legos, and the parents are just being irresponsible. I hope your cat heals and feels better : )

Your parent(s) should address this with the cousins parent(s). If they refuse small claims court is in order. So unfair for your kitty and ridiculous for you to have to live with. The cousins through their parents should be help responsible for the consequences of their actions.

Hmm I think that the cousins should not be invited back over until they have learned the proper way to play with an animal. You need to ask the parents to at least help pay for the surgery and explain to them that their darling children did this to your cat and it is only proper that they help pay for the damage that it caused.

EDIT.. I did not realize that you were a minor.. Yeah have your parents do the above and YOU cry the whole time.. tears totally work!

I am mad right along with you!  Poor kitty!!!!

I too would be calling them and asking them to at least help.  Their children did this and they ought to be held responsible for it, at least partially so.

And I agree with Moonikins.  I'd tell the parents the kids are no longer allowed in your home until they can learn to behave and learn respect for other living things!

EDIT: Sorry, I didn't see either that you live at home.  I'd for sure tlak to your parents about this issue and tell them how you feel about these kids. If all else fails, I'd darn sure lock the cat in your room next time they are over.

we are all on the same page here!

How did they get their hands on the cat?  Most cats do not stay around obnoxious children, they know better.  I get mad when kids even go chasing a cat down and scaring it without any injury.  Who was supervising these kids and why didn't the person stop them?

BTW, if you're going to have to deal with these kids, take some martial arts.  It doesn't take much training to stop a kid from choking you, but it generally takes a little to be able to do it without actually hurting the kid.

I would tell the parents of the children that they may need to have their children looked at for potential homocidal tendancies. 6 years old is WAAY too old to be playing around like that, choking people/ deliberately harming animals is a BIG sign for violent tendancies in the future. Tell you're parents that they should NOT allowed in your home (Parents included) until they are willing to re-imburse you for the damages done to your elderly cat, and reconsider psychological help for their children.

I am sorry for your cat, but I'm also worried about those kids as well, if they don't learn their lessons now that their actions have consequences, well, can their parents say 'America's Most Wanted'?

I WANT to make them pay for it- but my mother doesnt want to. Dont worry theres no way i'm letting them back in my house- I'm so angry at them.

who was watching them? well they made ME watch them for about 3 hours- and then i figured since they were with their FATHER for FIVE MINUTES that he would watch them- but i guess not. Their own father was watching them when they did it and he didnt even intervene.

I hate relatives :(

The cat was hiding under the bed- they crawled under it and tried to yank the poor kitty out :(

OK seriously, you maybe should talk to your Mom about these kids being psycho and being afraid for other animals and yourself.  This is NOT normal behavior for children!

Well I am on a slightly different page than ther rest of you (quelle suprise). I have a few questions for the OP before I make my decision on this.

Is your cat severely overweight? It's just I find it unusual that such a minor trauma (how strong is a 6 year old really) caused such a huge problem. This is something seen when a healthy cat falls out a window, not with the damage a 6 year old can do. Also, I find it weird that the vet is going straight to surgery and not a more conservative form of treatment first (like confining the cat to give the injury time to heal by itself and putting it on anti-inflammatory medication). Maybe it's so severe that that's not an option, what would I know?

As to the behaviour, I am on the fence too - I don't know these kids but I will say that when I was 4 I "broke" one of our cats too - it broke its leg when I put it on the slide. I didn't mean to hurt it (I truly did and still do love animals), I just honestly believed that because I thought it was fun the cat would too.

Don't hesitate to tell them that what they are doing is wrong, but if they don't have animals of their own, it is possibly just a lack of information and not some sort of malicious intent that makes them behave that way around animals. How will they learn better if you don't tell them?

I'm really sorry your cat is broken though and I hope he gets better really soon.

Edit: Ugh, I just read the bit about their father being in the room when it happened. He needs a smack in the mouth imo.

To answer your questions- no he's not overweight- he has been in the past, but he's at a very very healthy weight now, with no health problems.

I was wondering about conservative treatment too- but it turns out that this is too severe for that to work, and I dont want him to be in extreme pain for the next couple of months. i'm reluctant to do surgery , especially considering his age, but the vet thats going to do the surgery is experienced and I'm trying not to worry (its not really working)

This kid is stubborn and insistant- and i'm sure he was getting annoyed the cat wouldnt come out from under the bed and he just kept yanking and yanking. I really hope my cat  bit him. Hard.

And these kids dont have good intentions- they are tasmanian devils on speed.

Bah, it sounds like a case of bad parenting to me - and all too common phenomena these days.

I used to work in a cat hospital, which is why I asked, but don't worry about your kitty's age, 10 is not old for a cat, it's barely even middle aged!

My sister's cat lived until she was 22, my mother's cat is currently 17 (and still spry) and 3 of our other cats made it until 18-20.

I hope the surgery is quick and successful, and that you can manage to knock some sense into teach these kids appropriate behaviour around animals.