This is just a reminder to stick to the topic and please be respectful when making comments. Thanks.

Sorry, i hate cats

Larissa, you are right of course, but I fear your words will fall on deaf ears. The anonymity which is allowed on Patch produces an unlevel playing field, serving to encourage the hateful and the profane, who are happy to take advantage of the forum by throwing rhetorical bricks and making vile personal attacks as they hide behind their computer screens unidentified. These individuals will try too get away with having outrageous comments appear in print until they are discovered. They succeed too often.

I feel bad that we have an over abundance of kittens as people aren't responsible for their animals. There is free/discounted spaying and neutering out there for pets. When people get tired of their pets instead of finding a good home for them, they either dump them off some where or take them to the humane society when they are pregnant or just had a litter of kitten.

It isn't the cat or kittens fault they are in this situation it is the owners fault for not being responsible for their pet.

We adopted our cat from the Humane Society on the north shore. She was the best thing to ever happen to us.

About 2 years ago my family adopted a puppy from the Western PA Humane Soc. From there we went directly to Petsmart in Pittsburgh Mills. We received a discount on all of our initial supplies because we rescued a shelter animal. We just needed our paperwork. We had no idea they offered such a discount. An employee heard us talking and asked us about our puppy. I'm not sure if they still offer that or if there is a minimum purchase, but just a FYI.

Mike Jones- I saw it and responded. I can't remember the person's name but would know it if I heard it. It was someone other than Watcher.

I just looked through my old emails. It was Watcher that said the worst comment that was deleted.

Wow, you people need A life.

Thank you for your decency, CC. Gretchen Fieser, the focus of the article, is a heroine to animals in need of a good and loving home (a home in which they will not be tied outside or kept on the front lawn due to the family not wanting to be bothered). She has made it her mission to match up such animals with families ready and able to adopt. God bless her and those with feeling and compassion for animals!

I thought the terminology for a young cat was kitten. However, this blog post repeatedly calls them “babies.” This personification of a non-human could be what rubs some the wrong way.

This is not to say that if someone chooses to have a pet, they are not responsible to take good care of it. It’s just to say that pets are well, pets. They are property that we own and we should take responsibility of ownership. That doesn’t mean we don’t get more companionship out of a cat than a car – although I know plenty of car lovers – but at the end of the day a cat is nothing more than a domesticated animal.

Maybe it’s because we don’t eat cats – as opposed to pigs, which are also domesticated – that some tend to assign a higher place in the “pecking order” than cats rightfully deserve. There are so many people – some I know personally – who actually believe their pets are their children. A good number of these people either never had children or they’ve left the nest. Maybe they’re filling some void with cats. To each their own I guess, it just seems sad to me.

All this to say, people like me who think folks who believe cats are people are a bit nutty need to be a little more understanding and in return those cat folks can’t ignore the fact that they’re a bit whacky.

Only on Patch can we have a discussion on the pros and cons of kittens.

I know we have some pretty drastic differences of opinions on just about everything these days - but I thought maybe we all could agree on the fact that kittens and puppies are deserving of being taken care of.

It's called humor, isn't always logical. Sorry if you didn't appreciate.

Time to lighten up and not be so Outraged all the time Mr. Citizen.

Yeesh indeed!!

CC, those who love and care for animals are good people. You are setting a wonderful example for others. As you know, the love and devotion that you provide them is returned to you many times over. Bless you...

I am a foster parent to a bunch of "babies" left behind because their owner did not spay or neuter. They are "babies" I am their temporary "mommy" so that makes them my "babies" and BTW I am far from nutty. Become a foster parent it saves lives and I have saved many. Thanks Gretchen for the great article. You are awesome.

I don't see what the big freaking deal is calling a kitten a baby. There are baby birds, baby bears, baby elephants... every animal has babies. And for those who harm animals, that is a sign of a sociopath. Another sign is not having a conscience (posting about it online).

It appears the long winter has taken a toll on the sensibilities of some residents of this forum. May sunshine soon appear to heal those who can be healed.

There is nothing wrong with calling them babies, afterall, they are babies. BUT, (there is the big but) If you actually start believing they are your baby there is a problem. There was a woman where my daughter worked years ago who had to request off because she had to have a birthday party for her dog. She also took baths with her dog. Now that is going too far and is SICK!

I would love to foster a dog if I didn't already have two. Kittens are so cute but I can't foster them since I am allergic to cats. I can see the problem I would have with fostering a dog though because I would become way too attached to it. I once worked where there was a kennel attached to the building where I worked and I was required to care for the dog during my shift. I hated to see certain ones leave even though they were going back to their home since they were lost. There was a rabbit one time in the kennel and it was going to be put to sleep. I couldn't bear to see that happen so I ended up taking it home. That is how I found out I am allergic to rabbits too. Luckily my daughter found someone where she worked that gave it a good home. So that made me feel good.

Totally with JS here. Really, 41 comments on a Humane Society article about kittens and questioning the correct terminology of what to call them?! Reading this makes me laugh my *@& off after a long week.

While I thoroughly enjoyed reading several comments about correct usage of proper nouns, and the right terminology by many of our local citizens, I have to wonder, do you all have NOTHING else better to do. Holy heck, wow. Rather than define kitten, babies, Mother, maybe go volunteer at a shelter or find some old blankets to give to an animal rescue league. The "Kittens slash/backslash/forward slash "Babies" would I'm sure be so appreciative. They hardly I'm sure care what they are called, they need shelter and food. Life is way too short peeps.

Sorry I could not reply to a few comments sooner, I do work and I had to care for my "babies". Let me start by saying, it is funny how one assumes I am a crazy cat lady. Sorry wrong. I foster because there are little living breathing lives that need to learn what is like to be cared for the right way rather than them being born into this not so nice world and then being dumped like oh well, not my problem anymore. There is a resource out there. It is called spay and neuter. There are programs if you can not assume the financial responsible alone. I foster because these little ones need to get well enough and big enough to go into their new home. They learn to live in a home because they have lived in mine. I do not think of my fosters or my own animals as my biological children or adoptive children but they are part of my family. I took on that responsibility. Owning a pet is a lifetime commitment, not a oh wow this puppy is cute let's keep him until he isnt cute and cuddly anymore. Without the shelter, where would they go? Without foster parents, how could the shelter fit every single animal in the building?

As far as the donating time at the shelter or giving blankets. I am an avid volunteer. I donate my time, my home, food, blankets and whatever else is needed. I do this because I have a heart. Maybe the few people who had such negative responses to this blog should donate half of their time to a great cause like this shelter. Maybe you should come walk a dog, cuddle a cat, clean a cage,foster an animal or better yet come shake a staff member's hand or a volunteer's hand and say hey job well done. Maybe if you actually did this, it would take some of the coldness out of your heart. I could care less what you assume about me but don't knock the great job these people do. Don't knock a great article about what they deal with because people breed animals rather than spaying/neutering with no regard of where they will go or who will care for them. As I said in a previous post. Great job Gretchen on a well written blog. The negativity will bring forth the positive.

You are doing a great job Dee. I would if I wasn't caring for my mom 24/7. My son volunteers over there and walks dogs.

cc
5:09 pm on Sunday, March 24, 2013

Margaret, they are just as bad as the people that take their pets to South Hills Village in their Coach or LOUIS VUITTON bags. I was talking to someone at the ATT Store who had a diamond collar around her Yorkie neck and an outfit that match her own.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Why would you care so much what other people and/or their pets wear?

Be sure to watch this video for greater detail than the text offers. I feel sorry for people who can't comprehend how an animal can make such a difference in a human's life. Best wishes to Jesse Knotts and his beloved Koshka.

http://www.kfvs12.com/story/21676965/soldier-risks-it-all-to-save-cat-in-afghanistan

" 'You lose faith in a lot but sometimes it's the smallest things that bring you back,' [Staff Sgt.] Knotts said.

It was a lesson Knotts took to heart on Dec. 8, 2011, when a suicide bomber targeted a military convoy near his base in the Maiwand District of Afghanistan.

'I was so devastated that I lost all hope. Two of my friends were violently taken away,' Knotts said.

Knotts was crying in his office when Koshka came over and crawled in his lap.

'I'd lost hope in myself. I'd lost faith. Then all of a sudden this cat came over and it was like ‘hey, you are you,' Knotts said."

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Posted especially for all the Outraged Citizens who feel the need to criticize or ridicule what they just can't understand.

@cc – Thank you for weighing in there – so way after the fact – with another definition for "baby" that it’s a non sequitur to the discussion. Also, I never stated there was an “over abundance” of the use of of the term “baby,” I stated it was used “repeatedly” – there is a difference. All things considered, you’re doing a heckuva a job Brownie.

@FMD/cc – I never stated FMD was a “crazy cat lady.” What I stated was there is a reason that “crazy cat lady” is a colloquialism for a female that’s a bit nutty. Reading comprehension could be your friend if you introduced yourself.

@PITT983 – That’s why I’m here. We all need a little humor with the weather so terrible outside.

@Vitucci – And yet you felt compelled to comment, negating your entire post.

@nofire pits – You mean like ridiculing the use of fire pits? I find the hypocrisy rich when the pot chimes in calling the kettle black. You might also benefit from a refresher in reading comprehension as I don’t knock pet ownership, or deny there is a level of companionship.

@OC I know plenty of men that have lots of cats..I guess that makes them "crazy cat men" a colloquialism for a male that’s a bit nutty

Speaking of babies, many of you are acting like one!