Am I Over-Sensitive?

[susiestar]

I just watched an episode of Animal Planet's Weird, True and Freaky that really bothered me. I know the things shown are strange, and that difficult children abound in this world. This was from the first season of the show and it had a section about "twisty cats" or "twisted cats". Some woman bred cats that would have to walk on their elbows or knees or had strange bends in their joints. It wasn't an "oh, gee, I guess I shouldn't do that". This was something she set out to do. She had one cat who walked like that and she thought it was SOOO CUTE. Some other people also were so sick as to find that "cute" so she bred them to be that way.

This woman is PROUD and says she has created a new "breed" of cat!!!!! She did say that she won't sell them to kids because they need more care but I don't want to know how that policy came about.

I was truly sick to my stomach when I realized that she didn't just inbreed her cats to make them painfully disabled, but that she is proud of that and thinks that watching cats walk around on their elbows is "cute"? Or am I the one who needs to say that the cats don't "look" like they are in pain so clearly it is not a big deal if she will care for them? I don't think I could EVER say that, though. Yes, the animals looked healthy and they played, but I don't know that we have any clue to judge animal pain by. Heck, people doctors sometimes still argue that little kids don't "feel" pain, or I have had that argument a few times over the years. We can tell when they are in severe pain, by their behavior changes, but these poor cats probably don't realize that all the other cats don't hurt that way though.

 

[keista]

Pain or not, it seems to me to be a deformity that has absolutely no benefit. The point of breeding changes is to bring out positive and desirable traits. This woman's take of desirable is extremely twisted.

I do not think you are being too sensitive, I think this woman should be locked up.

 

[susiestar]

Thanks. This is the kind of thing that if I said something to my mom she would immediately say I misunderstood the lady, etc... even when she hadn't watched the show. I have always been told I was "too sensitive" and that I blow stuff out of proportion by my parents, and sometimes that self doubt creeps in. not as often as it used to though!

 

[buddy]

Well everyone has a right to their opinion but no one has a right to intentionally create a painful situation for an animal and what I find the worst is that Animal Planet would give it even a second of attention other than to show her being arrested on Animal Cops.

 

[HaoZi]

OMW I'll be skipping that ep when I get to it, I've been watching that show off and on through Netflix and I couldn't bear to watch that.

 

[Hound dog]

Genetic alteration type breeding usually is for benefit, not to reinforce a deformity. This has no benefit. In fact, had the creator intended cats to walk on their elbows..........um, I can't in any way figure out how such posture would be considered "cute"......he would have given them pads on their elbows.

I'm none to please with animal planet for airing her either. And I haven't even watched it. But airing it gives her a sense that this is ok to do, which it is not. Sadistic, yes, ok no.

 

[donna723]

Nope, you are NOT too sensitive! What was the attitude of the show towards what this woman is doing? Did they condemn it (like they should!) or did they make it sound like something other people would like to try? I'm thinking like those people who intentionally breed the "designer dogs" which are basically mixed breeds with cutsie names. But what this woman is doing is so much worse. I am much more familiar with dogs than I am cats but the ethics of breeding both are the same. No RESPONSIBLE breeder would ever purposely breed an animal that had a genetic fault, especially a painful physical deformity, in the hopes that they would pass along that deformity! No way is that "cute"! What this woman is doing is dispicable! Cats were not meant to walk on their elbows and they will quickly develop painful sores and raw spots - they will practically be walking on the joints of the bones! This really makes me sick! We had a small kitten here that had gotten his paw stuck between my concrete porch step and the wooden stair rail. I got him out but for seveal days his little paw just hung there limp, forcing him to walk basically on his wrist. And in just a few days the hair and skin were gone and he had a raw spot there. Thankfully he began using his paw normally soon after and he's fine now. Also - you can't judge how much pain an animal is in by how they are acting. Most animals are much more stoic about pain than people are. Their instincts tell them that they will be vulnerable if they appear weak or in pain.

There are a great many ethical issues involved with breeding. Considering that there are thousands of unwanted dogs and cats being euthanized in shelters, the only reason anyone should be breeding is to better the breed. Every breed has its own list of genetic issues that can arise with them and be passed along to offspring. No responsible breeder would intentionally pass these weaknesses along to future generations. I am most familiar with Bostons since I have three of them. As an example, Bostons, as a breed, are prone to luxating patellas, juvenile cataracts that can cause blindness, and deafness in mismarked puppies that have white ears ... all of these problems are genetic and can be passed to offspring. No ethical breeder would ever breed these dogs and possibly create more deaf, blind or painfully crippled dogs that will require surgery. Through my Boston groups, I have known people who had very valuable show dogs who later developed luxating patellas - they were immediately removed from the show circuit and spayed or neutered so as not to pass it along to future generations. So the thought of this irresponsible woman purposely breeding cats with a painful crippling physical deformity because she thinks it's "cute" ... just makes me sick!

 

[susiestar]

it is season one episode 16, creature creations. Some of these poor cats are so crippled that it makes me cry. Even the ones who don't show pain have such challenges. I am FURIOUS with Animal Planet because they say that the breeder is a "renegade breeder" and they do have a vet who says that they are walking just skin with no pad, but they do NOT condemn it and they don't even mention how painful this would be for most cats. They say that the breeder "decided" not to commercialize this "breed" but does continue to have litters from the 2 adult cats who produced the problem. I cannot fathom how painful it would be for a cat to have the added weight of pregnancy on those poor legs. It is truly just sickening.

At NO point does ANYONE mention that the animals would spend every day in pain, that every movement has to hurt, and that it is sick. The breeder says that you can't "control" how it will manifest so it could do any of several things. They show many sick and perverse ways that the deformities manifest, and show a cat with severely shortened front limbs jump up onto a bed like it is such a cool thing to watch!

The stupid vet that they have talking about it NEVER comes out and says this would be incredibly painful, NEVER comes out and says it is wrong! She said it was EASY to get this, the adult cats had a litter with a mutation and so having more litters meant more cats with that mutation! WTH are they doing? Encouraging fools to do more of it??

I had to fight to not throw up after I watched it, and I went back to see what the vet said and still felt just as sick. I am working through some stuff and part of it is dealing with the constant message that I got growing up because fighting as a hobby was super upsetting to me as a kid. I truly have been told all my life until I met husband that I was 'too sensitive' and reacting like that is just not normal and not how reasonable people act. I think seeing this right now illustrates to ME that the messages I got from my parents are not right and that feeling sick because this sadistic breeding really IS normal.

So thanks for reinforcing that I should trust myself and continue working to edit my internal monologue to cut out the koi about being too sensitive. This is SAVAGE and awful and f I did NOT feel sick then I really would have a problem, wouldn't I?

 

[AnnieO]

You are 100% right Susie and NOT over sensitive. This is horrible. You know my version of God has a special place all set up for those who are deliberately cruel to animals... And it ain't heaven.

 

[buddy]

I imagine regarding the vet we might not know if he/she said it is painful. The editors/producers/directors of the show seem ok with this so they could very well have edited what the vet said to make it look like it is ok... maybe not but we wont know I suppose. Or if paying the person well, they can pretty much influence what they say. I really hold the producers and animal planet responsible for this coming off like it did. Really sad. It should be a report to cruelty investigators.