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 :(
Original Post by dove2424:
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!
haha... well said! I am SO sorry about your cat =( I just lost my cat to my moms damn hybrid (evidently animals can't hear them or something)...
I couldn't agree more with le3's post. I commend you on not whopping those 2 kids upside the head because I would have for sure. I have a dog that is very small in size; and I get so nervous with him around strange people because I feel like he's so helpless!!
I feel so bad for your cat to be in pain; and for you and having to be so scared and nervous. I really hope that he feels better soon!
Seriously though; consider the small claims court for the vet bills. This whole situation is BS; from the children thinking that is ok to do to animals; to them not being repremanded. Good luck!!
Holy crap, that's terrible! I'm mad right there with you, man.
I'd say maybe also try to talk to your mom again about this. It is seriously not okay to force you or your cat to be in a position to have to defend yourselves against violent brats - even (especially!) family. If you have to babysit them again, don't be afraid to be assertive with them. Even if their parents don't discipline them appropriately, that doesn't mean YOU can't, especially if they're behaving so badly in YOUR house.
Even though you live at home and can't exactly forbid people from coming over, at least the next time your cousins come over you can shut the cat in your room or somewhere else where the little monsters won't be allowed.
I would call their parents myself if I were you. Even if you can't demand that they help pay for your cat's vet bills, you can at least let them know how upset you are about the whole thing.
i agree with pretty much everyone. That's friggen animal abuse on the part of those stupid kids, and if the parents don't see it or do something about it they're gonna turn into those kids who torture small animals. I'd demand some help with the bills.
now, if you want to be CATTY (buahaha) about it, tell the whole family *evil laugh*. I just really hate people who a) don't reprimand kids b) don't take responsibility for anything. :( i'm so sorry for your cat that's sooo sad. my cat had that sort of injury once (self inflicted, silly thing) but it was sooo tragic and a very long road to recovery. good luck!! <3333
I have to say while their behavior is not good, it might not be completely their fault. True, their parents should be responsible, but children often act without thinking and while the 6 year old may have known better, I'm not sure a 4 year old would.
When I was 5 or 6 I "broke" our dog. I didn't in any way mean to hurt her, but she had gotten out of the chain link fence, and when it had happened before I had watched my brother put her back over by picking her up and "dropping" her on the other side. Of course, he was a lot taller than me, so he leaned over the fence and then put her down. I knew if she got out of the fence she might get hit by a car. So, when I saw her outside the fence I caught her and sort of "threw" her over the fence. I wasn't meaning to hurt her, I was trying to save her. Unfortunately she broke her leg :(.
I would show the kids some attention and love. They are starving for it and are not getting it from their parents. Ignore them and alternately yell or hit them and kids or pets will grow wild. (spanking is better than ignoring them.)
Proverbs: He who fails to discipline hates his child.
PS. It sounds like each kid wanted to hold the cat at the same time - they may have been fighting with each other. In which case they were not 'mean' to the cat just thoughtless and childish.
I admit, I've pulled my cats tails a few times (to get them away from the neighbors cats, to stop them from getting hit by cars, or from destroying stuff), but never hard enough to hurt them in such a way! And I'm a teenager! Those wild hooligan children must've pulled with all their might.
You should definitely make your relatives pay for the surgery; after all, their children are the ones who caused the whole mess, so they are therefore responsible!
My son is autistic and for a long time you couldn't just tell him "no". Discipline worked the opposite with him-really. One time we were visiting relatives and he got obsessed with their cat and started chasing it. We told him no, explained why. The cat finally went into another room. My son disappeared for a minute and came back, white as a ghost. I knew immediately. I asked him, "did the cat bite you?" He denied it but I'm pretty sure that cat got him.
Best discipline ever. He hasn't teased a cat since.
Wow! I'm SO freaking pissed! I live with my parents as well, but I would have SLAPPED them! And I would make it CLEAR to their parents that I would leave the house with the cat if they ever came back with those undisciplined brats. They should be paying for that bill!!
I am the parent of three, one of whom has autism, and two cats. First, let me tell you my heart breaks for your poor kitty. I love cats. But, as a parent of an autistic child, I don't believe in jumping to conclusions about poor parenting, or the kids being "brats." Do the children have any medical or neurological issues that need to be addressed? My son wasn't diagnosed until age 6, so it's possible that there's something going on that hasn't been or can't be diagnosed yet. As a parent of an autistic child, I am used to being accused of being a bad parent when my 8-year-old has an autism-induced meltdown (never mind that my 10-year-old is very well-behaved, and my two-year-old is well-behaved for a two-year-old). I certainly don't mean to make excuses for anyone, since I don't know this families' circumstances, but I think it is appropriate to keep an open mind and not assume the worst about this family. My husband and I were going crazy from age 3, when we figured out something wasn't right with my son, and age 6, when he was diagnosed. Even now, each day is an adventure.
It also sounds like this happened pretty quickly--even the most attentive parents cannot prevent all incidents like this from happening. That having been said, if the parents knew the children's tendencies, they should have been watching the children a little closer. And they should DEFINITELY pay for your cat's vet bills. I don't think that's even open for discussion.
Good luck, and I wish your kitty well.
While I agree that the children are not any I would want to have around, it sounds more to me that the parenting they are receiving is pretty awful. I wonder if they get any attention at all.
Sorry about your kitty though. While I agree the parents of the children should pay for the vet bills, your parents might realize it simply is not worth the hassle of getting that money out of them.
Hope the kitten feels better soon.
Give the kid's parents the bill... and tell them that if you EVER see those kids anywhere NEAR an animal ever again, you're calling the cops and reporting them for animal abuse.
I would highly recommend CAREFULLY documenting all the injuries, making sure to keep all bills and things in order. If you really think they (the parents) should pay, definitely pursue it but keep your facts straight. If they refuse to pay even part of it, take them to small claims court. There's no excuse for children that age tearing a cat apart (even if in such a "small" way).
Original Post by kajikit:
Give the kid's parents the bill... and tell them that if you EVER see those kids anywhere NEAR an animal ever again, you're calling the cops and reporting them for animal abuse.
I rather agree with this post. Grrrrrr.
Get well soon, Kitty.
Yes, it is bad behavior and the kids part...but what the heck was the father thinking to allow this to happen? Yes, the father should be given the bill. He let his children dig out a cat hiding under a bed and then let the injure the cat.
One, for the safety of the children, they should be taught not to go after cornered animals (yes, I know, we all wish they'd gotten bitten a few times and scratched, but they need to be taught animal safety). In this instance they got lucky because the cat didn't injure them (betrayal of the cat's trust in all humans). Two, they should be taught how to treat animals properly. Kids often do not have any idea of how strong they are and how delicate other people and animals are, especially when you push and pull at them in ways that their bodies are not designed to. Until they can prove that they are responsible with animals they should never be left alone with any animal.
This is potentially an opportunity to teach them while they're young instead of having them continue to be careless.
Hey guys give Lighterose some help. Her mother didn't want to take this to the kids parents.
So you can log your weight -- which allows you to do the following:
- Plot your weight curve
- Analyze the trend of your weight (see under Recent in the figure above)
- Determine the projected target date (see under Overall in the figure above)