Cat Care

Last night a bloke around forty years old climbed into the front seat and proceeded to tell me about his expensive day. ‘I woke up to find the bloody cat was sick’, he moaned. ‘It couldn’t piss’. ‘You have a cat..?’. ‘Yeah, I know’, he said, ‘it’s sounds weird but my mother gave it to me’.

‘Mate, blokes don’t have cats', I told him, 'they have dogs. You know the old saying - dogs have masters, cats have staff’. ‘Well, this cat’s a bit like a dog’, he countered, ‘with a great personality. It follows you around and jumps in the bathtub and stuff’. ‘Fair enough then’.

‘Anyway’, he continued, ‘I took it down to the vet and it cost me $1500 to get fixed’. ‘You’re joking !’, I exclaimed. ‘Didn’t he give you the other option ?’. ‘What, have it put down ?’. ‘Of course’, I told him. ‘Always take the other option, otherwise those vets will rip you blind. It’s the biggest racket in town’.

He thought about this, then said, ‘Well, I suppose I wasn’t really thinking straight. Plus my sister knew about it and was calling me every ten minutes at the vets. So I guess I had to get it fixed’. ‘Still’, I said, ‘fifteen hundred bucks...how old’s this cat ?’. ‘Um, fourteen’, he sheepishly admitted. I couldn’t help burst out laughing, ‘You spent fifteen hundred bucks on a fourteen year old cat !? Are you on drugs ?’. Fortunately he laughed along with me, before hopping out in good humour.

Yes, I admit I was insensitive to the bloke’s feelings, and his exhorbitant cat, and now rightly deserve howls of condemnation from cat lovers everywhere. But there’s a million free cats available. Surely he could’ve told his family the cat didn’t make it, taking the opportunity to get a fresh one. How long do the bludgers live anyway ?

Disclosure : Cats don’t like me, but I’m okay with that.

Comments

[Jo]

Well I kinda think the same way you do but unfortunately my daughter doesn't. I recently paid $700 to have a couple of teeth removed from her dogs mouth. :-|

[Lee]

Well, I've got two cats. After my previous furry mate of thirteen years died, I got these two, brother and sister, now four years old, from a family who live around the corner from me. I went to get one kitten but being the softie that I am, I didn't want to separate them, so I came home with two! They were 6 weeks old when I got them and they are great. I've always had a cat..two a couple of times. I've had dogs, too at different times. I love all animals but I guess cats have always been my favourites. And, every cat I've had has been a character in its own right. Like any pet, it's what the owner puts in, in their care...I find it's those who have never owned a cat who are ready to denounce them. I have magpies walking inside the back area of my home, kookaburras, butcherbirds hanging around the back doorwaiting for hand-outs and the two cats less than a foot away...every time I call my cats, the birds arrive! The birds ignore the cats and the cats return the favour!

If where I live was conducive to having a dog, no doubt I would have a dog, too, but unfortunately its not suitable. Pets have the habit of getting under your skin and stealing part of your heart!

[Anthony]

Well, I reckon cats should be put down before there's anything wrong with them. My girlfriend and I were going on 4 week holiday so she put her cat in storage at the local vet at $15 per day. Since we were going to the vet anyway, I suggested putting the cat down for $75 and getting a new cat for $200 when we get back. She would save nearly $150 and since I was paying for the whole holiday it would help if she could bung in bit. I reasoned to my girlfriend the cat doesn't care about her; she's just the primary food giver. Also the cat was personality-free. Maybe she'd get lucky with a new cat and get one that had a bit of fun in it. Didn't work of course - the cat was boarded at great expense. But at least we got as far north as Newcastle in blissful silence...

[riley]

my family had a cat that lived until it was 19 .. although in its last few years all it did was shit everywhere and sleep

[Lee]

Boy! Anthony...I'd hate to have someone as cold-hearted as you for my boyfriend...well, I wouldn't. You'd be far gone out of my life with a callous attitude like that.

[steve at the pub]

A fresh wet catskin makes an acceptable emergency tyre patch, sufficient to get you to the next town.

Thus cats aren't entirely useless.

[Lee]

NWOC!

[Kim]

You are an unordained minister.

You have to listen to confessions of all sorts and deal with folks where they are.

Good on them, if they happen onya.

Hope you make a lot of mola tonight, too.

When's your next holiday in the US?

[Kitten Rex]

Meow. I'm a cat. We're worth it.

[adrian]

Kim, would love to visit but alas, no bucks.

[Nathaniel]

Gotta agree with you Adrian. My missus and I had 2 Huskies pure breds. 1 of them got hit by a car and suffered a broken hip. The vet wanted $1800, other bills needed paying, the car needed attention but what was the point? I just walked out of the room while she signed her life away. I loved that dog and still do but a spare $1800 isn't easy to come by driving a cab.

[ab]

I had two cats for a couple years. The kids stepmother sent them down from the farm(I should have known then), they destroyed everything in my home, stunk like skunks and only caught 1 mouse. I deduced they were the laziest, most useless things God ever shovelled guts into, and sent them back up to the wicked witch of the east!

In my house, if you don't work, you don't eat & luckily for the kelpie/red dog crs, she puts in her share, even if she is a nippy little biatch(not unlike her owner, really) so dogs aint just fer menfolk Adrian!

[Sally]

Funnily enough, there was a big story in "The Weekend Australian Magazine" on this very subject. How much is too much to pay?? One woman has spent $18,000 in vet bills for her Rottweiler!!!

[Lee]

I guess if she could afford to spend that amount, fair enough. I know I couldn't.

ab...I wonder why your cats stunk...mine never have, nor have they ever destroyed my abode.