Speaking of nightmares - that scenario you shared about that eldery cat. That's just horrifying! I hope you you had the sense to take him to a vet to get his injuries seen to instead of leaving him as he was because 'cats don't care as much as a human would'.
Of course I did. But "seeing" his injuries was definitely all a vet could have done. To be honest, we've had a small history with that particular vet because he lied and made me euthanize a dog once so we weren't going to trust him that much with this scenario. Of course, he gave us his bare-minimum prognosis and thought the cat wouldn't be able to close its mouth again (which I knew wasn't true because the cat was capable of moving its mouth, just couldn't close it). So we kept the cat in our upstairs bathroom (he, himself, chose to be in there to recover), my dad cleaned his face, and he eventually returned to normal. But it did knock his life down a notch. This was in an April, I think, and he died the next year's December.
And just like humans who hate the idea of using an unflushed toilet that's filled to the brim with waste, a cat would hate using a litter box that hasn't been emptied in awhile. It smells awful; and having to walk in that literal crap? It's unsanitary!
You wouldn't want to use a filthy toilet; why would you expect a cat to use a filthy litter box - whether that litter box is an actual literal box or an entire house that serves as one.
The point I am arguing, though, is do they even have a Litter Box at 14BLC? Cats don't necessarily need one to shit with. All a cat needs is a dirt pile. My two current brother cats do not use a Litter Box when they are in the house, they simply wait until they want to go back outside. As lazy as Chris may be, what stops him from simply opening the door anytime Lucy, Pollo or Sorbet start meowing to be let out?
Checkups once a year or so to keep them up to date on their shots. That's the least you can do for them outside of emergencies.
Yeah, you're right. But I live in a much different part of the world where animals have always thrived. Wild dogs and cats are everywhere in our town. I've seen like 12 dogs all in one pack walk out of my neighborhood to go out scurrying through the night. It can even still be a busy Friday night on the local strip and about five or so are walking the sidewalk because they know their town.
Then you got the small tourist trap I live on, nobody keeps their shi-zhu dogs on a leash and they commonly get let out. The local dogs are running at top speed on the forest streets for me to be finding them later at the bars enjoying Friday as well.
And then as for shots, well, the truth is, we've never needed to worry about Rabies in this area. The viruses cannot survive getting here. I don't know the scientific reason why, but its something we've simply lived with. We do get Heartworm problems though, so our dogs do get a Heartworm pill every month. And of course, we bathe our dogs.
The country even has its own unofficial National Dog, the Potcake.
And its true, besides getting the animal fixed, we've simply not taken our cats to the vet. There's no need. If we see something amiss, we talk, and ask our friends. We don't have much money here so we just have never taken our animals to the vet unless it was really necessary.
And to be honest, I could sperg on and on about how I've personally handled my pets. I had a three-legged dog once.
