Mauser the cat

[Perd Hapley]

Long introduction, followed by a question.

The wife and I have a silly dog who spends a lot of time alone in the house, sleeping, or barking at the squirrels outside.  (I assume that's what she does.  I'd love to set up a few cameras to find out.)  She likes cats, and misses her kitty friends.  You see, she used to live with two mommies and two cats that she liked to play with.  But when I married one of her mommies, the other one got custody of the cats. 

So, last night we went to the humane society and got a two-year-old cat already known to tolerate dogs.  Toleration is the word, because Ginger is part Chow and scared of everything that moves (or makes noises) but is also annoyingly friendly with cats.  Her new kitty friend is very nice to her, and did not even scratch her.  We named him Mauser.  And my not-so-gunny wife thought of it, isn't that cool?

The question, then.  We paid the Humane Society $107.00.     What's that about?  When I was growing up in, say, the late 80's, you could usually find a few house-wives and their kids set up in front of the local Wal-Mart with a cardboard box containing surplus kittens and puppies.  These were free or at the most five dollars a piece.  I haven't seen that in a long time.*  Now, I never would have paid such an exorbitant sum, but the cat was already de-clawed, neutered, had a few innoculations, (they gave us a long list of shots that it needs next month ), a microchip and some other stuff.  The wife informed me that her roommate had paid $300 for these services.  And it seemed easier than following up on classified ads, looking for a cat that would be good with our dog and already have the "works" that would apparently run us into these hundreds of dollars.

*My dad's solution was to dispatch excess puppies with a .22.  Both are probably illegal today.  I'm always proud when I hear that another "puppy mill" has been raided.  I feel safer, don't you?   

[Leatherneck]

Buffy the cat came to us free with two pounds of green beans at the local farmstand. He was three weeks old, and part of a litter of barn cats. In Buffmeister's mind, he weighs 350 pounds and nothing can stand in his way.

Anymore, I think even county pounds have to recover costs sunk into the animals they let go...

TC

[HankB]

The question, then.  We paid the Humane Society $107.00.     What's that about? 

What that's about is you didn't choose to comparison shop or page through the classified ads.

*My dad's solution was to dispatch excess puppies with a .22.

Good for cats, too.

[Perd Hapley]

Hank, are you suggesting I would have better results if I put more work into things?  How dare you?!

[charby]

$107 is pretty cheap for what vet work has done to the cat.

Humane society makes you spay or nueter animals you adopt, actually its the smart thing to do.

I spent quite a bit of money on my lab as pup and for training that I couldn't do. I still got her spayed so I didn't have to deal with her coming into season. Plus I knew in her healthy breeding time period I was not going to be able to handle dealing with puppies. My next hunting lab, maybe more than likely the lab that follows my next I'll be able to.

Congrats on you adoption, I miss having a cat around.

-C

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Humane societies these days charge you for the service of innoculating, declawing, and spaying/neutering your new fuzz ball.  These are all things you would've paid through the nose to hire a vet to do had you taken in a free giveaway kitten.  You probably came out ahead, dollar wise.

[Perd Hapley]

I hope so, Mr. Headless.  But I think I will start calling you Jesse. 

There's a real dissonance here between this 100 dollar cat and my childhood.  Our cats never saw a vet's office, and roamed the woods at will.  Same for my dear, departed dog.  This was only twenty years ago.  I thought de-clawing was for pure-bred showcats.  Ah, the innocence of simple youth. 

[wingnutx]

I paid $90 for my cat from the shelter, which basically paid for neutering & shots.

My other cats I got for free, then had to have the vet neuter them and give them their shots.

the $90 was a bargain, in both money and convenience.

Also, it helps support the shelter.

I will never get my cats declawed, though. That is gun control for kitties.

[Felonious Monk/Fignozzle]

Charby's right as usual.
A hundred bucks is a bargain for the vet services you got.

Farm and rural experience with pets is very different than our sanitized, non-Ted Nugent version of life.

Pets in the country are just that; nice have around, but part of the circle of life.  Butterflies, hamsters, puppies & kitties.  All die.  Too bad, so sad, then we get a new pup.

In the 'burbs, they become part of the family, with little sweaters and booties, their own place at the dinner table, and steps up to the bed. 
When they die, we have them flash-frozen or stuffed or create a shrine and put them in a climate-controlled mausoleum, like they were aunt Tessie or something.

And as much as I've loved my pets, they're not human, they're still part of the animal kingdom and still retain a touch of the wild.  To each his own.