In the original post Liberal came into Sad and Deranged’s post about adopting a senior cat that had been dumped because someone had a new baby. Liberal came into that thread and tried to justify his daughter’s doing the same thing because it was not worth the risk to the baby, despite the fact the parents of said child still smoke. I questioned that going by facts he had posted and he accused me of saying things that were “wrong on both counts”. I objected to that and that is why I continued with another reply in that thread.
I had went by exactly what he had posted in S&D’s thread, and he calls me wrong? Then he has the nerve to call me a jerk and a troll? I’ve been here since '99 and have no history on the SDMB of being either a jerk OR a troll.
And now he adds the part about the cat MAYBE having some behavioral problems…why not mention those in the first place Liberal?
Sad and Deranged, I am really sorry about messing up your other thread.
So am I. So is she. I’m glad that you and I didn’t get sucked into all this. I still admire what you did, just as I said in your thread. I’m glad that, as things turned out, one statement I’ve not had to read is, “I’m just sorry it was at the expense of a baby.”
Well, it wasn’t a year, but it was a bit over eight months. My daughter was on the pill. The baby had not been planned. She waited eight months to hear back from all the people she had contacted and all the people they had contacted and any interested parties on the sites where she listed the cats. Nobody called. So, when it came to crunch time, she did not hesitate to make what I believe was a good decision.
Thanks. I’m glad you and I could work things out. I do understand that two responsible sets of parents could reach opposite decisions on this. She happened to fall on the side she fell on, and I’m really really glad. For me, I understand that it’s all just atoms. But I don’t think my wife could have borne another worst case scenario.
Because I didn’t have time to write a novel. I expressed my support for what Sad and Deranged did, and told a brief abridged story about my personal experience, seeking tolerance for people who’ve had to give up pets. If you had questions, you could have asked. Instead, you came off all half-cocked on a mission from god attacking my daughter. How the hell do you expect a man to react?
It mystifies me that you think dumping a pet when it might hypothetically, someday, in some faraway, magical land, give the kid a booboo, is a good decision. Your grand-daughter does not need to live in a bubble, and the cat was never, ever going to hurt the kid. Your daughter made a ludicrous decision.
Clearer to who, you? Who the hell are you? Have we encountered one another before today? Was I aware of your special comprehension needs? Backpedal, my ass. If you honestly believe that, as I typed, I was mindful of owing you a list of reasons, then you suffer from profound delusions of grandeur.
As this thread is about cats and not really infants, i feel it appropriate to let you all know how I dealt with a particular pet in my household.
I have never experienced a relationship with a cat. They don’t care for me and I don’t care for them. Yet the other members of my household love cats so I tolerated them. My reaction was to just ignore them.
One day, 4 am in the morning, I awoke when I felt a spreading warmth on my upright hip as I laid asleep next to my wife. It wasn’t my wife edging for nooky. It was our cat expressing her displeasure towards me by pissing on me. No human would have the guts to do that to me. I quickly realized i was dealing with a very intelligent and capable entity over which I had no influence at all. Next day that cat was taken to the SPCA. Fuck with me Cat? Fuck you ! I don’t like cats but I respect them like human beings. Fuck with me Cat, and I’ll scratch you out of my life like any other human being.
So Liberal, you have two cats and your daughter comes to visit. Don’t you think you better get rid of yours, too? They, too, might spit on the baby, thereby causing what harm? Why didn’t you take her cat, since you have had three in your large house before? And you love cats, you keep telling us so.
Regarding you explanation of why your daughter got rid of the cat, yeah, if you are trying to argue that it was a good decission, then you should mention aggression. That’s not special comprehension needs, it’s called making a point. If you don’t put information in your posts than people won’t get it. Sadly, I failed the mindreading couse again this year, so I sort of count on getting the ideas from you.
If you had explained that one little fact about the cat’s problems in the original thread, I would have accepted that, shut up, and this thread would have never existed.
Way to add in important facts about why she got rid of the cat on the second page of a Pit thread. And putting me down is not helping your case - you are acting like a jerk, dude.
I swore I wouldn’t get involved in this thread again, but I hate this line of thinking. He doesn’t need to write a saga and explain everything on his first post on something. This is what makes people not want to post. Dopers give everyone else the benefit of the doubt but each other. You never gave him the benefit of the doubt and went straight to accusing him and his daughter. You didn’t know every side of the story - not even one complete side - and yet you have been needling him over and over even when he tries to make peace or explain himself.
You are coming off looking worst in this argument and my sympathies, which were already with **Liberal **to start with, are now permanently there. It never even occured to you there might be a real reason - you assumed the worst.
I am so glad I didn’t have to make that decision.
Everyone told me I would have to get rid of my cat once my baby arrived. And I can certainly see why they would think that - Tarot has attacked pretty much every visitor to our home.
She is extremely territorial, jealous and a basically a 16 pound cat-bully.
I have had to rescue my sister-in-law because my cat wouldn’t let her down the stairs.
However, with my husband and I, she is a wonderful cat. She sleeps on me every night, and is waiting by the door every night for us to get home. I can’t sit down without her being on my lap, purring.
So we were really, really hoping we could convince her, or that she would somehow know, that the new baby was part of the family, and there for not to be hissed and clawed at.
Thank god (touch wood) so far it’s working.
I can’t even imagine having to spend every second worrying that the cat would go after the baby - you simply can’t be at arm’s length for every minute of every day.
A post about dumping a cat "or no obvious reason in a thread about rescuing a dumped cat - I would say that requires a little more of an explanation. Why wait until the second page of a pit thread to let it all out?
He finally explained it on the third fucking page of his own pit thread. An OP is supposed to be coherent and if you are making an argument, it helps to lay out the facts.
And trust me, nothing, except his next suspension, will keep Liberal from posting.
Huh. My folks had a cat when I was born, and then she died when I was five and we got my Fluffy. She was less than a year old when my sister was born, and we still kept her around-in fact, she used to sleep on top of my mother’s “bump”.
I’m not attacking your daughter, Lib, but honestly, I think it a bit hysterical and rather heartless to get rid of the pet. UNLESS you have problems, (allergies, the cat becomes aggressive, etc) really, there shouldn’t be a danger. And honestly, I have NEVER seen a cat attack a baby. Ever.
In fact, I can’t imagine growing up in a house without animals. If my mother had tried to get rid of Fluffy when she found out she was pregnant, we ALL would have missed out on a lot-that cat was awesome, and I STILL miss her.
Your mileage may vary, but I agree with Elza B and nyctea scandiaca-don’t get an animal unless you are prepared to care for that animal for the rest of its life. Period.
Have we encountered one another before today? Was I aware of your special comprehension needs? Backpedal, my ass. If you honestly believe that, as I typed, I was mindful of owing you a list of reasons, then you suffer from profound delusions of grandeur.