I'm totally with you on this one, Effie. I have only ever had cats, and they become like part of the family (as we speak Prim is squashed up against me fast asleep).
One of our cats had kittens years ago and we had to give them away at 12 weeks, they all went to good friends or neighbours apart from one, who went to someone we didn't know, and it broke my heart to see this little baby taken away from its mother, never to see her again. But they adjust so quickly, just as ours have in time.
But we apply our human values and think that they think the way we do, whereas in fact they DO cope so much better and aren't meant to stay together like us humans, in fact said mother cat didn't really want much to do with her babies once they were about 8 weeks old, she wasn't the most maternal cat...
And animals in cages, yes, I don't understand that at all. Poor things, it's not natural.
Funny also to read this as at the moment there is a cat stuck up my neighbour's tree, about 12 metres high and it's been howling for hours now. He called the fire brigade and they said he'd have to wait until tomorrow morning for them to do anything. The tree isn't climbable (for humans), and the poor thing is too scared to come down. We're completely powerless to do something and it's driving me spare
Hope it comes down in the night, it's dark now; and his owners are probably worrying about him because he's not home.
Sorry Effie didn't mean to hijack your thread...
Edit: cat was rescued by its owners at 10pm last night, so hurrahh!!! He's only a baby apparently, and is all fluff and no brain!
