Accidental animal crueltyI once invented a brilliant game - I'd sit at the top of the stairs and throw cat biscuits to the bottom. My cat would eat them, then I'd shake the box, and he would run up the stairs for more biscuits. Then - of course - I'd throw a biscuit back down to the bottom. I kept this going for about half an hour, amused at my little game, and all was fine until the cat vomited. I felt absolutely dreadful.
Have you accidentally been cruel to an animal?
This question has been revived from way, way, way back on the b3ta messageboard when it was all fields round here.
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rob, Thu 6 Dec 2007, 11:13)
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I did touch upon this in a previous QOTW, but Hamsters.Yes. Hamsters. Russian Hamsters. 54 Russian Hamsters.
Started off as 2, which PetsAtHome (Formerly PetsMart) assured us were both female. We were also promised that, in the unlikely event that they either were a male and female, or were already pregnant, they would buy the babies off of us to resell. Off we trundle, with 2 little hammies and about £100 worth of Rotastak (This stuff).
Turns out they were male and female, and shortly had a litter or babies. Who then buggered each other, and mum, and dad, and got pregnant. And again, and again. Until we had (at the last count) 54 hamsters, in about 20 cages (to try and stop them shagging). My mum had to move into my room, because the cages took up her entire room. In that time, they died in a variety of ways:
Overeating
Broken necks (twisting in the bars or caught behind hamster wheels)
Broken backs (squeezing between bars and falling off the table)
Starvation (trying to squeeze between bars and getting stuck)
Cannibalism
Assorted ailments, such as diarrhea.
The original male actually outlasted all of his offspring, and was the only one to die of old age.
Oh, and when we went back to PetsAtHome, we were told they had a supplier, and wouldn't take ours. Even for free.
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Also worthy of note is my old cat, Pepsi.
He was an absolutely amazing cat - the first one I ever picked out myself (all of our previous cats were either wild ones who decided to live with us, or ones my Aunt brought with her). He was really affectionate, loved a game of 'stringy' (or anything you dragged along the ground that he could pounce on), and would normally be found in the morning in bed, next to me, head on the pillow, under the covers. When he jumped off of things he would make a little trill sound, which was adorable.
Unforunately, I think we over-loved him: We used to feed him whenever we went into the kitchen, because he knew how to work us. He eventually was diagnosed with Diabetes due to overweight, and we had to put him down because it was too expensive (daily injections, weekly vet visits), and my Step-Sister's cat went through the same thing, and I saw how bad he got near the end.
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OneSullenBrit *air sandwiches*, Fri 7 Dec 2007, 14:24,
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