Hi,
I have the best parents in the world, and my dad is the most giving, loving human being I ever met, but he made me really really mad this week with the way he treated his cat.
My dad has a cat called Maria Gabriela, in Brasil. She is a mutt, and has been with him since she was a couple of weeks old - his girlfriend rescued her from the streets and gave her to him. He never got her fixed, and things got complicated the last time when she was on heat. She started sprying, and one of the places that she marked was his pillow. He forced her to smell the marking, gave her a slap on the butt, and was pissed at her for the longest time. When he told me that, I got really really upset, and told him that she is only a cat, and that she doesn't understand his way of disciplining her. I thought him the recipe to clean the spots (vinegar, hydrogen peroxide and water), and urged him to get her spayed. He had an appointment scheduled to the vet, but he had a heart attack, and everything got postponed. He recovered, and she stopped spraying.... until that she got on heat again.
She started marking everywhere, and he had the last straw when found out she had marked his clothes in the laundry room. He promptly told the maid to get her and take her to the plaza in the city center. His though process was: There are plenty of cats in the plaza for her to have sex with, and she will be happy there.
Of course he didn't tell me anything...
A month later, last week, he was sitting on his apartment, and heard a scratch on the door. My nephew opened the door, and there she was, as if nothing happened.
Now, here is the amazing story: She had never been out of the house, except to go to the groomers once a month, and to the vet. She walked over 5 miles back home, waited on the lobby for someone to open the door, waited by the elevator to get in, got into the elevator, and somehow got to the second floor in front of his door!!!! The porter didn't see her, and neither did anybody else in the building. The stairway is locked, so is the lobby...
So my dad took her in, and can not believe that she found her home!
He took her to the vet to have her fixed, but because he was going out of town the next day, he left her in the vet for the surgery and to recover until he gets back on Monday.
Oh man... I was furious with him... It is hard because he is truly an amazing person, who will give anything he has to help others... But I couldn't contain myself, and I yelled at him...
He told me to not worry, because after what happened he will never ever do this again... He now understands (i hope) that he is her daddy, and that he needs to take care of her for life...
My dad is a very educated person, with post PHds in Italy, has written books in his area, but when it comes to animals, he just doesn't get it!!!
I told him that if he doesn't want her anymore, to send her to me, and I will take her...
My question is, how do we gently educate people about animals? What can I do to help? At least I convinced him to spay her... I think this is a start....
Please please don't hate my dad... He is truly wonderful, and I love him more than anything...
I have the best parents in the world, and my dad is the most giving, loving human being I ever met, but he made me really really mad this week with the way he treated his cat.
My dad has a cat called Maria Gabriela, in Brasil. She is a mutt, and has been with him since she was a couple of weeks old - his girlfriend rescued her from the streets and gave her to him. He never got her fixed, and things got complicated the last time when she was on heat. She started sprying, and one of the places that she marked was his pillow. He forced her to smell the marking, gave her a slap on the butt, and was pissed at her for the longest time. When he told me that, I got really really upset, and told him that she is only a cat, and that she doesn't understand his way of disciplining her. I thought him the recipe to clean the spots (vinegar, hydrogen peroxide and water), and urged him to get her spayed. He had an appointment scheduled to the vet, but he had a heart attack, and everything got postponed. He recovered, and she stopped spraying.... until that she got on heat again.
She started marking everywhere, and he had the last straw when found out she had marked his clothes in the laundry room. He promptly told the maid to get her and take her to the plaza in the city center. His though process was: There are plenty of cats in the plaza for her to have sex with, and she will be happy there.
A month later, last week, he was sitting on his apartment, and heard a scratch on the door. My nephew opened the door, and there she was, as if nothing happened.
Now, here is the amazing story: She had never been out of the house, except to go to the groomers once a month, and to the vet. She walked over 5 miles back home, waited on the lobby for someone to open the door, waited by the elevator to get in, got into the elevator, and somehow got to the second floor in front of his door!!!! The porter didn't see her, and neither did anybody else in the building. The stairway is locked, so is the lobby...
So my dad took her in, and can not believe that she found her home!
He took her to the vet to have her fixed, but because he was going out of town the next day, he left her in the vet for the surgery and to recover until he gets back on Monday.
Oh man... I was furious with him... It is hard because he is truly an amazing person, who will give anything he has to help others... But I couldn't contain myself, and I yelled at him...
He told me to not worry, because after what happened he will never ever do this again... He now understands (i hope) that he is her daddy, and that he needs to take care of her for life...
My dad is a very educated person, with post PHds in Italy, has written books in his area, but when it comes to animals, he just doesn't get it!!!
I told him that if he doesn't want her anymore, to send her to me, and I will take her...
My question is, how do we gently educate people about animals? What can I do to help? At least I convinced him to spay her... I think this is a start....
Please please don't hate my dad... He is truly wonderful, and I love him more than anything...