I have two “daughters”, a cat named LC and a bird named Andre. Both were adopted, except one was on purpose and the other an accident.
When I was living in Melbourne I adopted LC when she was a few weeks old and weighed about 800g. I searched for her for many weeks and I thought about it long and hard; do I want to be responsible for another life for the next twenty years?
When LC and I first met it was literally love at first sight and she has been one of the greatest things I have ever done with my life. Yes, she’s a handful. Yes, she takes up a lot of my spare time. Yes, she’s a lot of hard work. But she’s hilarious, affectionate, a tart (especially around males) and everyone who has ever met her says she’s lovely.
A few months ago, my then-boyfriend went overseas. He was the owner of the white cockatiel Andre (she’s a girl) who is about three and a half years-old now.
So he finally moved overseas I decided to look after her while he was away. I couldn’t bear to think that I’d never see her again or not regularly anyway. So, I took her in.
For those who don’t know Andre… she’s a white and grey cockatiel and she’s the funniest little bird you could ever see. She’s FAMOUS on Instagram and is one tough little angry bird considering there is a natural born predator around her 24/7. She loves plain cooked pasta, crunchy green vegetables and sitting on your shoulder til she falls asleep. She’s not used to everyone, but she does eventually warm up to you.
It was tough trying to keep LC and Andre apart or at least on terms when the cat didn’t want to eat the bird. I tried everything: I tried keeping Andre in the shower because it was the least likely place LC would want to enter. I’ve tried to keep her on the balcony but then she was frightened by noises, other birds and people, not to mention the weather isn’t awesome where my apartment is situated.
But with a lot of work and a lot of patience LC and Andre get along like a house on fire. LC knows that the bird isn’t something to eat or play with and Andre knows how to fight off the cat when she gets uncomfortable. All in all, all the girls at Atomic HQ were working out great.
Fast forward to when the ex moved back to Sydney. He doesn’t want to take Andre back and sent many texts and emails saying that if I was to give her back he was going to put an ad on Gumtree for someone to take ownership of her – someone who REALLY wants her.
OK. I want to just state that I have absolutely no qualms looking after a cat and a bird together. The issue was that I didn’t agree to take Andre in forever – only for the length of time that he was overseas.
I went over it in my head so many times thinking had I made a mistake somewhere? Was I in the wrong? Had I agreed to take Andre in forever and simply forgot? I asked all of my friends and family who knew I was looking after Andre – had I made a mistake? But they were all under the same assumption that I was looking after her short-term.
It really upsets me that he doesn’t care about HIS bird’s welfare. I’ve taken her to the vet, I’ve bought her toys and spent time with her and looked after her and not once did I complain or ask for any sort of financial help from him.
I even remember asking him when he was buying her from the birdman in Rosebery, Are you sure you want to be a pet owner? And his answer was always the same: YES! He loved birds. He wanted to buy one. So, why after a short stint overseas doesn’t he want his bird back?
His answer? “I don’t have room for a bird/pet in my life. Andre isn’t MY bird anymore.”
I’m sorry, but if you don’t have room for a pet in your life, WHY DID YOU BUY ONE IN THE FIRST PLACE?!
So I am now a single mother of two girls and although it does get tough at times having to balance sharing attention to the both of them, I wouldn’t dream of giving up Andre for the “convenience” of being just a cat owner.
It absolutely breaks my heart that people like my ex actually exists who will not take responsibility for their animals and think that it’s just as easy as palming them off to a willing participant or in my ex’s case, take advantage of person’s generosity.
People who don’t take any responsibility for their pets are disgusting! Even moreso, people who think a pet is a short-term commitment are repugnant human beings themselves. If you don’t want to put the hard yards in, don’t get an animal. Period. It’s just that simple.
Being an animal owner is a big deal. A VERY big deal. I’ve seen people buy pets because they’re so cute and adorable but they don’t even comprehend that animals take a lot of work. They need to be fed, they need to be groomed, they need to be taken out for walks, taken to the vet and given a comfortable home to live in. I also can’t stress enough how important it is for your animals to be desexed; it’s one of those fundamental things that should be done when you commit to a pet.
Hundreds of thousands of animals – dogs and cats mostly – are put down every year because they can’t find forever homes. It’s also alarming that a lot of the pets surrendered to shelters often occur straight after Christmas and New Years, because people give puppies and kittens as gifts and don’t think that perhaps it might not be the best one.
Lastly, if you are looking for an animal to be a part of your family, you really can’t go wrong at animals shelters: RSPCA, Cat Protection Society and Lost Dogs Home are ALL great places to start. Check your local vets if they have an adoption programs because nothing is more rewarding that giving a cat or a dog a forever home who didn’t have the best start to life.
LC is adopted because I wouldn’t even dream of buying her from a pet store. LC cost $130 and she came desexed, microchipped, wormed, deflead, fully vaccinated, along with about a month’s worth of kitten food and milk. (Read the love story of LC here.) Pet shops cost FIVE TIMES as much and that don’t even come desexed or microchipped; you’ve got do that yourself.
So, the moral of the story is… DO NOT be monster and buy an animal thinking it’s short-term. They will be yours for LIFE (or the length of their life) and you have to wholeheartedly put in the effort because surrendering an animal is cruel, heartless and should NEVER be done!
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