Theme
11:38pm February 22, 2012

Disabled cats vs. cat books

Yes I’m writing a lot. I think because I’m nervous about my dad.

Just about every book on cat care I have ever owned says not to adopt a cat if the cat appears sick or disabled in any way. This really pisses me off because this has to mean that a lot of disabled cats die in shelters, if they weren’t killed just for being sick or disabled to begin with.

The thing is that, like disabled humans, disabled cats are cats. They’re not objects that you buy and then return if they’re defective, or fail to buy at all if you catch onto the defect soon enough. And despite the opposite route some people take (the oh so inspirational and amazing that they don’t just curl up and die thing), disabled cats generally either are okay functioning how they function, or become so after an adjustment period. They generally lack the cultural beliefs humans have about disability, so they angst about being defective less often. The thing is so would humans in societies that were more accepting. I mean there’s going to be things like chronic pain that will feel bad no matter what, but they tend towards being pretty resilient otherwise.

The problem is humans project our various cultural problems about disability onto cats. And since we control their life and death, the “I’d rather be dead” thing we have going on, becomes fatal to many cats who would clearly rather live.

(And then people make horrible statements about disabled humans like “We kill cats if they have this condition or another so why aren’t we just as merciful to humans?” No. Just no. Most times killing a disabled cat isn’t mercy, and the same goes for humans. Cats just have less choice in the matter. If disabled humans were routinely as powerless as nearly all cats against humans, they’d probably be killing us in far greater numbers. Just judging from how most people seem to view disability.)

Anyway, I didn’t use health when I chose Fey. Or rather she chose me. She had the runny eyes and nose that all the cat books say not to adopt a cat for. (Yes – even the equivalent of a cold is supposedly grounds for passing over a cat’s adoption, and thus making their death more likely.) And she was fine. She has what appears to be a nerve disorder causing chronic pain and occasional twitching in one of her legs. She clearly loves life, unless you press on any part of her where that nerve goes. (The vet said she’d never seen a cat communicate so specifically where her pain is located.)

Anyway I wish humans wouldn’t project our own standards of disability on cats. Because cats operate on very different standards. Not because they’re amazing inspirational creatures. Just because they’re cats. There are lots of rescues serving disabled animals so definitely look into them if you’re thinking of adopting.