Seanan McGuire (seanan_mcguire) wrote,
Seanan McGuire
seanan_mcguire
  • Mood: enraged
  • Music: There is currently no music. Stand by for all-clear.

And then Seanan got angry.

I am, to a degree, a public figure. I know that. I am also a low-level enough public figure that I am accessible, unlike, say, anyone who's actually famous. That means that some of the things I do and say will be judged in ways that will seem unfair to me. I know that, too. I've basically come to grips with the fact that if I want to be an author, and if I want to make my living doing this, I'm going to have to deal with people judging me. That being said...

Don't you ever, ever insult my cats. Don't you ever, ever imply that I own them because they're "status symbols," or because I am in some way taking pleasure in the knowledge that other cats are being put to sleep right now. Lilly, Alice, and Thomas are my companions. They are my friends. They are the closest I intend to come to having children, and while I may be up for judgment, they are off limits. Leave my cats the fuck alone.

Why do I get my cats from reputable breeders, rather than from the local shelter? A whole bunch of reasons.

I do it for the health of the cat. When I visit a reputable breeder, I can not only meet the kitten I'm hoping to take home with me, I can meet their parents and grandparents. In the case of Alice and Thomas, I met their great-grandfather. I want to know that my cats have a good genetic shot at a long, happy life.

I do it for the temperament of the cat. I have had incredibly sweet, loving shelter cats in my life. I have also had bitter, terrified, xenophobic shelter cats who couldn't be integrated into a household, because they were too damn scared. I want a kitten that has been socialized and loved, and that has been bred to have a good personality to go with those good genes. I want a Lilly, an Alice, a Thomas, a Ripley, a Toby, an Alligator.

And yes, I do insist on kittens whenever possible. At best, I'm bringing home a new cat to an adult who isn't sure about the situation; at worst, I'm bringing home a new cat to two adults who already think there's no room at the inn. I am loud. I move quickly. I go away for long periods of time. I do things the way I do things, and a lot of adult cats can't adjust to me, no matter how hard we both try.

There are cats in shelters. There are cats in rescues. There are cats in need of homes. But I am not in the market for an adult rescue, and the kittens don't need me to be the one that saves them; kittens stand a much better chance than adults. Why do I know this? I know because I have volunteered at shelters and rescues and free clinics since I was twelve years old. Just like I know that I want as complete of a genetic profile as possible on my cats, because I buried so damn many of them when I was bringing them home from the pound.

My cats are not a zero-sum game. Bringing Thomas home from Betsy's didn't kill a kitten somewhere in the world that was waiting for my love; if it hadn't been Thomas, it would have been no new cat at all. Do I wish that there were no cats anywhere in the world waiting for their forever homes? Yes, I do. But that doesn't mean we shut down the breeders, abolish the breeds, and become a Domestic Shorthair and Domestic Longhair-only world. It means we breed responsibly. It means we support the shelters. It means we spay and neuter our pets.

And it means that my cats are not fucking status symbols. They are not somehow less worthy of love and comfort and a place to sleep than cats who have been abused or abandoned. They are exactly as worthy of all those things. And they are getting them from me, as will all the cats in my future.

If you can't be nice to my cats, you leave them the fuck alone.
Tags: alice, cats, cranky blonde is cranky, don't be dumb, lilly, thomas
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  • 263 comments

alicetheowl

May 12 2011, 23:45:42 UTC 6 years ago

I admit, when I first read about your buying from a breeder, I raised an eyebrow. I've always had secondhand cats, and I figured that was the only socially responsible thing to do. But, your life, your choices, etc., so I left it alone. Then you listed your reasons, and I realized I could get on-board with that. In fact, I've started looking at Siberian breeders, because I want a Risu clone. (She, it turns out, is a full-blooded Siberian, bred by disreputable breeders who took care of the litters of kittens by shooing them outside to fend for themselves as soon as their eyes were open.)

My housemate has cats who her then-boyfriend got for her from a "free kittens" ad for a Christmas present. Pixel and Puff are neurotic to the extreme. For a while, they'd crap on the floor whenever she spent the night anywhere but at home. Now, they do it all the time. I can't even TRY to pick Puff up, because I wouldn't survive the blood loss from his scratches. And they have terrible health issues, including the formation of urine crystals and that they're prone to UTIs. My housemate actually talks openly about how she anticipates they won't last much longer.

I love my Herc, and I wouldn't trade him for the world. I adore my Risu. But I am NOT going to risk picking up another Pixel and Puff at the shelter, when it comes time to find a new companion for Risu. I'm going to save up to buy a purebred, and I'm going to do my homework.

If I'm going to have a companion for about 20 years of my life, I want that companion to be healthy, a good personality match, and I want to know that I'm not going to spend the next 20 years quietly waiting for it to pass on.

seanan_mcguire

May 13 2011, 14:18:45 UTC 6 years ago

Exactly. And by donating to spay and neuter clinics, we prevent more unwanted cats from entering the world, while supporting the people who breed healthy cats that are wanted.

Disreputable breeders suck.

alicetheowl

May 13 2011, 16:44:50 UTC 6 years ago

Absolutely. And I'm disgusted with anyone who would make you point out that you DO donate to spay/neuter programs and have volunteered in shelters, as if you have something to atone for. They're your damn companions, and you clearly love them to death. If your hate mail writer can't see that, he or she has a severe reading comprehension issue.