Goddamned Feral Cat

The BBQ Pit
61

[QUOTE=Broomstick]
No, it costs a $60 dollar deposit to rent a trap. Let me explain this slowly so that you understand.

$60 dollars represents 2/3 of the grocery bill for my family for a week. In order to obtain $60 I would have to cut back from 3 meals a day to 1. For a week. Do you understand the problem now?
No, that is not what you said. You said I would have to give a $60 deposit and when I return it the deposit minus $5 per day would be refunded. Meaning they have my money.

Also, why do you assume I have a credit card? How the fuck do you think I obtain credit when living on such paltry resources? How the fuck do you think I can afford to pay any interest at all?
Why do you assume this cat is hungry? For all I know some idiot down the road is feeding it. We have a lot of baby birds and bunnies this time of year, the cat could be eating very well. What if it’s not caught in a day? If it takes 4 days I’m permanently out $20 - that’s 1/5 of the week’s food budget.
I need A JOB that PAYS A LIVING WAGE. THAT’s what I need. I get up in the morning, look for a job for 8 hours, then come home and work a couple hours trying to get a garden going. Sometimes, I get work for a day or two. I have a part-time job selling candy but it’s minimum wage and no more than 15 hours a week. I have no health insurance. I have a husband who requires daily medication to remain healthy, but we pay retail for it, except for the one prescription a sympathetic doctor is giving to us from free samples pharmaceutical reps. He is supposed to have quarterly blood tests to monitor his condition and medication levels, but since the cost of those tests for the uninsured is 150% of our monthly rent he is three months overdue and, frankly, I see no way that we can ever get these done for him, barring me getting solid employment. I am trading maintenance labor on the building I live in in exchange for some rent relief. I have a college degree and 25 years of working full-time behind me and yet that is the best I’ve been able to get in 6 months. The economy sucks, OK? That is why I am trying to grow a little food, so maybe we can get a few bucks ahead. Not thousands ahead, just a few bucks ahead. It boggles my mind that people can NOT comprehend that yes, it really is possible to be so poor that even $20 is a major expense.
Your solution is “cheap” for YOU - consider how “cheap” it would be for you to give up 2/3 of your meals for a week. That’s cheap? Think about it.

I am not out of options. I am out of options that involve a live cat at the end of drama. There is one option left, and it’s too bad for the cat.
[/QUOTE]

How in the world do you afford a computer and internet access on such a limited budget?
I am seriously not trying to be a dick, but if you’ve got a fucking long-haired wild rat ruining your attempts to cultivate food on your property, then kill the damned thing.
You seem to be having an attack of conscience over an animal that is directly impeding your food supply, no different than a coyote would if you herded cattle or kept chickens.
Just kill it and be done with it already. Quit hand-wringing. Problem solved.

I was warned by a moderator in another thread for advocating killing a feral cat because it may not have been legal, so I am warning myself this time for the same advocacy, just to be safe

62

[QUOTE=lisacurl]
Most shelters and rescue places require a donation or deposit for the animal traps because otherwise people have no incentive to return them.
[/QUOTE]

If it’s mandatory it’s NOT a fucking “donation” - it’s a goddamned FEE and they should fucking be HONEST and call it what it is.

Basically, I’m too poor for the animal shelters to be bothered with me. Yeah, forgot for a minute I’m a second class citizen because I’m living below the poverty line.

63

Broomstick, I hope the cat keeps shitting in your yard and spoils every scrap of your food.

I’ll remember your rude ire next time you need help with something.

Oh, and if you don’t know how “deposits” work on something like that, you’re a dumbass. Or ask. Your rude, nasty, hateful mouth was utterly uncalled for, seeing as how I was simply trying to help.

So fuck off, bitch.

64

[QUOTE=FoieGrasIsEvil]
How in the world do you afford a computer and internet access on such a limited budget?
[/quote]

The computer was bought and paid for 10 years ago.

The internet access was paid for about 10 months ago, when I have a very nice, solidly middle-class income. The truck I own was paid for 6 years ago. The car was paid off 2 years ago. My eyeglasses I purchased 1 year ago. Are there any other of my legally bought and paid for possessions you’d like to question my right to own? I’m sorry if you have trouble understanding that being out of work for 6 months can seriously fuck up your standard of living, but that’s the situation.

Of course, as a poor person I am supposed to be living in a cardboard box dressed in rags. God forbid I have resources from when I was employed, right?

BOOM - right there. ^ There it is - killing the cat may cause me legal trouble. How the FUCK do you think I’d be able to pay a ticket, fine, whatever? I’m trying to find a job - how do you think being in legal trouble would impact that?

Yes, I’ve heard of “shoot, shovel, shut-up” - but I don’t live in the wilderness. All it takes is one bleeding-heart neighbor with no comprehension of living on the edge to call the cops about the “animal cruelty” taking place in my backyard to make my life even shittier.

65

Generally speaking, Walgreens is always hiring. You apply online here http://www.walgreens.com/about/careers/default.jsp?foot=careers and then you go talk in person to the manager of the store you have in mind. You check back with him/her every couple of weeks. Go visit several stores if that’s how many are within reasonable commuting distance.

Pharmacy technician pays well over minimum wage; they’re getting $8.00 an hour to start, with raises for seniority and for passing different sorts of tests. It’s total on-the-job training, no experience required. If they’d hire my 17-year-old son, they’d hire anybody. :smiley:

Photo lab and Cosmetics get a commission on things they sell.

Management is physically quite demanding, lots of heavy lifting, lots of pressure.

Service clerk (checkout) is not a bad job for a retail clerk job. No heavy lifting, no cleaning bathrooms.

They offer medical insurance of some kind, but since I have insurance through the USPS, I’m not familiar with it. But I do know that it’s there, also a prescription coverage and dental (I think) plan. Anyway, check it out.

Plus, you’re exactly the age demographic that store managers are interested in–you’re not some twenty-something who’s going to get bored with it and take off for greener pastures. You’re stable, mature, and experienced. Give it a thought.

66

[QUOTE=Shayna]
Broomstick, I hope the cat keeps shitting in your yard and spoils every scrap of your food.

I’ll remember your rude ire next time you need help with something.

Oh, and if you don’t know how “deposits” work on something like that, you’re a dumbass. Or ask. Your rude, nasty, hateful mouth was utterly uncalled for, seeing as how I was simply trying to help.

So fuck off, bitch.
[/QUOTE]

Spoken like a true defender of feral animals overrunning the Earth.

They ARE a problem, and as the OP pointed out, he/she has examined his/her options and since you don’t live where he/she does, you don’t know what his/her local animal control office charges for removal, which, as the OP also pointed out in an act of guilty conscience that you should appreciate, is a death sentence for a feral cat anyway.
So why don’t YOU fuck off and try to have some empathy for someone who has clearly maintained their relative poverty and is trying to actually come up with a humane option for this crop-ruining, flea-infested animal that is rendering his/her source of inexpensive food inedible despite his/her hard labor.

Unless of course you’re the local “crazy cat lady” that owns 25 felines that emit the odor of ammonia and feces that can be detected from a mile away, then of course YMMV.

67

Who says shooting is the only option? Put a nice dish of antifreeze out by crappy land and chances are damned good Mr Kitteh will be shitting his spleen pretty quick. It’s a nasty way to die but it is definitely quiet and has plausible deniability of being a total accident. Better yet a bit of rat poison in a can of tuna and Bob’s yer uncle.

68

[QUOTE=Broomstick]
BOOM - right there. ^ There it is - killing the cat may cause me legal trouble. How the FUCK do you think I’d be able to pay a ticket, fine, whatever? I’m trying to find a job - how do you think being in legal trouble would impact that?

Yes, I’ve heard of “shoot, shovel, shut-up” - but I don’t live in the wilderness. All it takes is one bleeding-heart neighbor with no comprehension of living on the edge to call the cops about the “animal cruelty” taking place in my backyard to make my life even shittier.
[/QUOTE]

Hon, turn the entire problem over to your landlord. Seriously. He knows what you’re trying to do, he’s in sympathy with you–let him deal with this. Any legal problems that incur (and I doubt they will) will be his. And if he truly is in the habit of shooting off his gun at things, I’m positive that he knows the drill, and knows exactly how far he can go before irritating any bleeding-heart neighbors.

69

[QUOTE=Shayna]
Broomstick, I hope the cat keeps shitting in your yard and spoils every scrap of your food.
[/quote]

Nice - I thought you empathized with my situation and were willing to lend me money. Didn’t you say that? Oh, sorry, I guess I wasn’t properly grateful and groveling to you, didn’t kiss your feet for your awesome generosity.

Since you have done nothing to help me this time, how would that be a different approach next time?

I DON’T HAVE A CREDIT CARD - do you not understand that? NO CREDIT CARD. Do you understand how deposits work without credit cards? With real money.

Your help, which would require 2/3 of my food money for the week to implement, was not practical. I’m sorry, that’s not good enough for the situation. What would HELP would be someone lending me a goddamned live trap but NOOOOOOOOooooooooo, no one LENDS them out, they require a “donation”, which is really a fee, which is out of my reach. You don’t get to be the hero in this case, because nothing you offered was helpful.

Ditto.

70

[QUOTE=SmartAleq]
Who says shooting is the only option? Put a nice dish of antifreeze out by crappy land and chances are damned good Mr Kitteh will be shitting his spleen pretty quick. It’s a nasty way to die but it is definitely quiet and has plausible deniability of being a total accident. Better yet a bit of rat poison in a can of tuna and Bob’s yer uncle.
[/QUOTE]

The major problem with this (setting aside any humanitarian and/or cruelty issues) is the very real chance of inadvertently poisoning someone’s very nice pet who just happened to get off leash or out of the yard and who picked the wrong tasty-looking food bowl to sample.

71

[QUOTE=Broomstick]
The computer was bought and paid for 10 years ago.

The internet access was paid for about 10 months ago, when I have a very nice, solidly middle-class income. The truck I own was paid for 6 years ago. The car was paid off 2 years ago. My eyeglasses I purchased 1 year ago. Are there any other of my legally bought and paid for possessions you’d like to question my right to own? I’m sorry if you have trouble understanding that being out of work for 6 months can seriously fuck up your standard of living, but that’s the situation.

Of course, as a poor person I am supposed to be living in a cardboard box dressed in rags. God forbid I have resources from when I was employed, right?
BOOM - right there. ^ There it is - killing the cat may cause me legal trouble. How the FUCK do you think I’d be able to pay a ticket, fine, whatever? I’m trying to find a job - how do you think being in legal trouble would impact that?

Yes, I’ve heard of “shoot, shovel, shut-up” - but I don’t live in the wilderness. All it takes is one bleeding-heart neighbor with no comprehension of living on the edge to call the cops about the “animal cruelty” taking place in my backyard to make my life even shittier.
[/QUOTE]

Relax, I am on your side, although I support an action that may be illegal to rid yourself permanently of this feline nuisance.
I apologize if I was harsh with regards to affording internet access…I suppose that if my wife and I suddenly lost our jobs tomorrow that my financial situation would resemble yours in half a year.

My biggest impediment to growing any kind of food-related garden is deer, since I sadly chose to buy a home in a suburban area of Cincinatti that prides itself on it’s relative “woodsy” feel (meaning you’re not allowed to kill the deer), which of course has encouraged the local population of deer to reproduce alarmingly without any natural predators outside the random coyote.

It sucks, but I suppose it’s OK because my 6 year old son can watch a fawn tumble it’s first few steps from the view of our deck…while I keep imagining the tenderness of it’s loin, the amount of venison jerky I could have made, etc.

Sucks for you that feral cats have zero food value for humans.

72

Broomstick I sympathize with your plight. BTDT.
I know it’s been awhile, but I would just like to remind you that there were no cats at the airport the last time you were there. :wink:

{{{{Broomstick}}}} Hang in there, things will turn around.

73

[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose]
Hon, turn the entire problem over to your landlord.
[/QUOTE]

I spoke to him. He’s currently laid up from a knee infection and “procedures” to deal with it, but he said he’d help me out as soon as he’s walking again. (Did I mention things have been really in the shitter of late around here? Not just for me, either.) I may lose everything I’ve planted up until now, but there’s time to get a second planting in the ground. I’ll just be eating dandelions* instead of spinach and turnips til the new stuff comes up.

  • no, I’m not joking. I froze about 2 pounds of them today to save for later.
74

[QUOTE=Broomstick]
I froze about 2 pounds of them today to save for later.
[/QUOTE]

Okay, now we really need a Mr. Yuk smilie. :smiley:

75

The landlord held off on sending his son to mow the lawn until I was done gathering them.

76

[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose]
Okay, now we really need a Mr. Yuk smilie. :smiley:
[/QUOTE]

Actually, they’ve got a reputation for being better tasting than fresh baby spinach, AIUI.

77

[QUOTE=Broomstick]
I spoke to him. He’s currently laid up from a knee infection and “procedures” to deal with it, but he said he’d help me out as soon as he’s walking again. (Did I mention things have been really in the shitter of late around here? Not just for me, either.) I may lose everything I’ve planted up until now, but there’s time to get a second planting in the ground. I’ll just be eating dandelions* instead of spinach and turnips til the new stuff comes up.

  • no, I’m not joking. I froze about 2 pounds of them today to save for later.
    [/QUOTE]

Sounds like you may need to ferment them and make some dandelion wine. This is from a fellow Indianan, FWIW.
Take the edge off and all.

78

Is there a freecycle near you, Broomstick? On ours, people can ask to borrow things. You might find someone who will loan you a humane trap. You could put up a wanted ad on craigslist too, maybe someone will be able to hook you up.

Also, have you checked online for a feral cat rescue? I believe there are some in Indiana, not sure where you’re located. Maybe if they are bleeding hearts enough, they will drive out to you and trap the cat, or loan you a trap and take the cat away.

I find it admirable that, considering your circumstances, you still find a way to care what happens to the cat. Good luck with your situation, and I hope you find a quick and painless resolution to it soon.

79

[QUOTE=FoieGrasIsEvil]
Spoken like a true defender of feral animals overrunning the Earth.

[/QUOTE]

BZZZTT! Wrong! Shayna was merely trying to point out that perhaps, JUST PERHAPS, there may be an option that might only cost $5/day. For this foul suggestion, she was roundly shat upon. She does not love feral cats, she does have empathy, and she was, in fact, trying to help. Next time, read for comprehension.

80

That $5/day option requires a $60 deposit. I do not have $60. I do not have a credit card. Yes, money at my household really is that tight. Whether she intended it to be that way or not, her “solution” is on par with Marie Antoinette’s “let them eat cake” which was uttered with complete sincerity as a solution to a bread shortage. It would have been fine - if there had been free cake.