~Tails from the Foster Kittens~

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

What I know - we all need to think for ourselves

So it turns out that I was recently kicked out of an online group for cats with out so much as a 'don't let the door hit you on the way out'. *shrug*

Why you might ask? I would to if I could. I can only guess it was my comment to a post about not removing the sex organs in cats. You see this is a group of holistic cat owners. I have ranted about them (and other online cat groups) before. Actually this was one of my most popularly viewed posts until fairly recently. This group has a wealth of knowledge on alternative treatments, using herbs and food to cure. They believe that proper nutrition will keep a whole host of issues at bay (including fleas if you can believe that) and are constantly stating that we should not extrapolate that what works for one species (humans, dogs, etc) would work in cats.

But then they would all too often start making assumptions for cats on what works or is in other species if it supported their theories or beliefs.

Their newest thing is that neutering cats is detrimental to their long term health. That by removing the hormones they go into menopause and all that this entails. I watched them explore those thoughts and the claims got wilder and wilder sometimes even equating what cats go through with their removal of their sex organs to what humans do when theirs are removed.

I still did not speak up. I have done a lot of reading on pediatric neutering because I have seven cats that were all neutered when they were 3 pounds or less. I have had two cats that blocked with urinary crystals. I've had a couple of overweight kitties over the years. So I read everything I could find, and I've looked several times over the years

I have watched hundreds of cats be neutered over the years. The younger they were done the faster they recovered. Many of the smallest ones came home and acted like nothing had happened, they weren't even groggy.. while older cats seem painful and are often groggy for the rest of the day.

So when this online group started saying that cats suffer from menopause, I simply rolled my eyes. I have seen so many cats that are intact that appear to be suffering because of it. Females in heat look like they are very uncomfortable, some almost as if in pain. Males need to dominate and battle others for territory and mating rights, to the point where they will damage themselves to do it. Still I said nothing. Exploring an issue sometimes can lead to new information.. new thoughts and ideas.. I'm all for that..

But when another member of the group started feeling bad for having neutered her companion, I could not stand in the proverbial corner and keep my mouth shut any more. I know this group has a small tolerance for thoughts that are contrary to their own and can come off as nearly rude when someone new comes in asking questions and is trusting of their vet or feeding dry food. A while back I said something about the tone and how they aren't being helpful when people get defensive and the tone changed for the most part (but not always) so my reply was as open as I could make it "hey, this is what I know, this is what I've learned, this is my experience, but I'm totally open to being wrong, if you know the studies to support your position, I'd love to read them"

Well when I went back to the group to look for a different piece of information I found I was no longer a member of the group.. like I said, with out even so much as an email explaining why I was kicked out. Was it just a glitch? Did someone hit a wrong button? possibly. I asked to rejoin the group, but I'm not going to be heart broken if I'm not 'allowed' in. I've never much liked being a part of a group where you aren't allowed to question the established believes of the people who are running it.. (sadly all too often I find this to be the case for veterinarians as well. If you have a vet that is open to your questions, bring them a plate of cookies next time you go in)

so.. one long rambling post to get to this. Do not trust me. Do not trust anything you read on the internet. Do your own reading. If what I tell you makes some sense, and you want to believe me, go look for other sources that support that thought. Do your due diligence and look for sources that support opposing thoughts. Read both.. see which one makes sense to you. Don't stop reading. If you believe something is true, it doesn't hurt to keep reading new sources to see what the new evidence for something is, because it is always changing. Like we all KNOW saturated fat is bad for us humans right?

Many of us don't want to do this, and I totally understand. I do my best to make it easy to understand why I think as I do by sharing links to pages or books that have taught me what I know to help you understand why I think as I do. To me that is the only way to make a compelling argument that holds water. If you run into someone who tells you that a cat suffers from menopause when they are neutered (or any other wild claim) ask them for some proof for that.. and if they give it to you, please share it with me because I would love to read it.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Charlotte's new toy

Charlotte is one odd little duck.. She doesn't much like playing with balls or mice (she'll play with mice when I'm not around) tending to prefer the fishing pole toy. So one day she was bored with that so I used the stick end to try to push the ball in the turbo track to entice her into playing with that and she fell in LOVE with playing with the stick..

No idea why she loved this so much, but she does, mewing when I take it away from her or stop playing..