Eli

Fleurpy Friday

Macro Kitties

I am loving the second of my new lens because I'm able to take photos of the kitties where they live - all up in my face!  These boys are so demanding and so attention seeking that it is almost overwhelming.

While there has been some improvements at this point, there has also been a disturbing amount of sneezing going on.  I am hoping that it is just a passing thing and it isn't URI starting to break.  As you can see Radar has "Horner's Syndrome" going on.  It should abate with some time, mean while I'm keeping his eyes moisturized and treated with a triple antibiotic ointment.  They do not eat nearly as much as I would like them to, but they are eating.  and they are able to find every single dust particle in that room and cover themselves with it daily :)

Trapper (the larger of the two black kitties) also has a black pigment spot on his right eye.  You can see it in that first photo but only if you know to look for it.  It is in the very outer corner of his eye, and being black it looks very much like part of his eyelid.  I doubt it is anything to worry about, but I will be mentioning it to the shelter when they go back for adoption.

Wordless Whisker Wednesday

What I know - Being neutered is a good thing

Spending time on the internet in the world of cats and dogs (and any other animal that is routinely neutered) you come to realize there is a lot of people who like to joke about the animals being upset at the lack of sex organs...

I have to tell you, every time I see something like this I cringe.. I just want to stand up and yell - do you have ANY idea what you are doing??

Yes, it fun to anthropomorphize animals, and this in particular is so easy. Who can't imagine what it might be like to wake up and find ourselves altered and our reaction to the situation..

But really all you are doing is adding fuel to the fear that having animals altered is bad for them in some way. People actually fear how their pets will react to being altered. They think male cats and dogs care about 'being a man' and will miss their testicles once they are gone. They fear that that the pets will be traumatized some how by it all. So they don't do it. (as seen in the show My Cat from Hell, season 3 episode 6 with Khrys and Michael)

We know what happens when you leave animals intact. They breed like.. well like animals. and if you do keep them inside so they can't get in contact with another intact animal, well they still act like hormone driven animals and less like pets. The spraying, the marking with claws, the restlessness, the wandering, the defensiveness... (yes, there are people who keep intact animals for reasons of their own choosing and put up with these side effects, but I am talking about the general public and the general feelings about this)

Hormones are incredibly powerful things. Males are driven to mark and defend their territory and seek out females. Females also defend their territory to protect the resources for rearing offspring. Heat cycles are uncomfortable, and cause pets to act much like teenagers hopped up on hormones, but with out any moral center to guide them...

I so wish we could change the conversation. Instead of anthropomorphizingthese animals into being upset that they have been neutered, why can't they be thrilled? no more fights, no more scraping to defend territory. no more time trolling for babes or going into heat.. they get to relax, settle down, and enjoy the finer things in life like a warm bed and a full meal and not be distracted by procreation.

Please, let us change this conversation. Tell everyone you know that a neutered animal is a happy animal. That they do not regret or lament the lack of sex organs nor the overwhelming and uncontrollable urges that come with them. Let us look at this as a right of passage. An assent into "manhood" or "womanhood" if you will. All cultures have their rights of passage for children becoming members of society.. lets make this one a good thing for the pets..

(and while I'm talking about neutering, please note I did not say spay/neuter or the new designer term of speuter. While the general public calls a female operation is called a spayed and a male surgery is called 'neutered' it is just the politically correct way of saying castrated - for the exact same reasons as above. People just do not like the term. "Neuter" is actually a gender neutral term for removing sex organs and works perfectly in both instances.)