General Hissy Fit Jones of the Kitzens Army for World Domination here.
.
.
This week the human leader of the United States called certain countries “shitholes.” When the world called him a racist, the president and his supporters claimed he was just saying what other humans think and say out loud in bars. When that didn’t work, he had his minions claim he never said it at all.
What does this have to do with me?
Just as humans rank the value of humans by how many green papers they have and what color they are, they also rank us cats by our value to them.
With cats, humans most value the ones they pay lots for. Those are the cats that are not normal, but are bred to be cute to hook humans into buying them. They’re bred with exotic cats. Bred to have flat faces, long furs or funny ears. Kinda like genetic engineering.
There are kittens and cats that are rescued and adopted. Humans now think it’s cool to adopt us, and that’s helped save a lot of our fellow Kitizens’ lives. Euthanization rates continue to decline annually as more of us are adopted.
But there are an estimated 30-40 million homeless cats in the US, and some humans think of us as nuisance cats, or the “shitholes” of the cat world. Some of us are strays that may have lost our way or were left behind. Others of us are feral.
We are vilified for spraying their stuff, pooping in their yards, leaving our footprints on their cars, and making loud noises late at night.
We are blamed for the decline in the numbers of birds around the world. We are accused of spreading diseases or causing injury to owned pets.
Humans say bad things about us, like homeless cats should be murdered because we do more harm than good. When other humans are outraged at their comments, those humans just say they’re speaking out loud what many others think but are afraid to say.
Hmmmm….. sound familiar?
I was born to a feral mother and when old enough was TNR’d. I initially came inside because I was very sick, and have lived inside since. I never have become a lap cat and had I not become ill would have spent my life outdoors. There I would have braved the elements and faced such dangers as leg traps, poison, starvation, and serious illness. My life expectancy would have been around 2 years, maybe a little longer if I remained in a cared-for colony.
Being a famous blogger, it’s easy to forget my humble beginnings. This week I’m reminded that I’m one of the lucky ones. Tonight there will be millions of cats hoping for a space that is safe and warm with access to water and food. Those cats know that while some kind souls are concerned for their well-being, others would just as soon see them dead.
I wonder if the people that sit in bars and call African countries shitholes are the same ones that say that about us?
Dogpaddling Through Life 
Hissy, this is a well thought out post. No wonder you have become a famous internet blogger. All 11 of us (and the beagle) are rescues. You have asked some very thought-provoking questions. Thank you.
Meow! One good thing about Trump is that more humans are showing their true colors, and us Kitizens don’t like what we see.
I’m sure there IS a connection, because both of these attitudes show little care for the others who are sharing our tiny, beautiful planet!
Meow! Of course I’m sure their denial system will convince them that is not the case.
Very true!
I love all kitties and feel they deserve a home no matter where they start from.
Meow! Sometimes home is outside. If only we could get humans to let them be there.
You are super wise and honest, Hissy Fit Jones. We think the ones doing the talking/judging and throwing around that shithole stuff need to look a little harder in the mirror.
I wish, but I doubt that will ever happen.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/kDkjJGSncuY?rel=0&controls=0&showinfo=0 … Much love and many purrs … cat.
Hello real kitty and waving pretend kitty!
They’d probably say that you’re a self-made cat, living the American dream.
The people that say those things don’t really think about why things are as they are – there’s always at least one human culprit!
Yeah I’m living the American Dream, but millions aren’t. They don’t seem to matter so much.
I hear you. They also manage to put the blame on those that need some help. 😦
The gap between the haves and have-nots is so wide I don’t see how any of us can cross the divide, fur babies included.
Makes me wonder too and it makes me think of how lucky the feral cats that have made their home in my dads garden where they have insulated shelters to sleep in and are fed daily he even gets them neutered and any medical treatment if they get sick and if they want to come in side they can come in and get warm if its really cold and they can stay inside if they want to but some of them wont they will only stay in the shelters because they are to scared and to feral to come inside.The ones that are tame enough live indoors and he re-homes them and any kittens when they are ready.At the moment he has 4 indoors and 3 outside….they are the lucky ones too.they were all abandoned at one point in their lives and eventually they have made their way to his house one by one because he cares enough about them all.He saved and re-homed lots of cats from where he lives over the last few years.We need a few more like my dad who care enough to help and be counted.Great post Hissy,xxx Rachel
Well mee-yowed General Hissy Fit!! LadyMum dee-spisess thee Hu’man you menshunned an wee tern thee chanelle as soon as hee comes on thee screen. Hee iss iggynorant an crude.
An so are any peepull who fink of stray katss an/or dogs ass nuisancess. Mee did not know yur story an wee iss a bit simmylar. Mee was born inn a barn to a feral Mumma. If mee an mee Brofur an Sisfur did not get so icky sicky at 6 weekss old mee wood have been a barn kat mee hole life. Thee lady who ownss thee barn called Feral Kat Rescue an a nice lady (Aunty Nikki) came fur thee 3 of us an tooked car of us till wee were all better. Wee were 4 months old bye then. Wee went back to the farm innto thee house! No barn fur us. Tangerine was adopted an mee an Tyerrone were putted uppy fur adopshun butt onlee mee gotted adopted bye LadyMum. So Tyerrone went back to thee farm an hee iss a house kat an happy. An thee best bit: LadyMum iss best furendss with thee farm lady who iss Mumma Mary-Ellen. How kewl iss THAT?
Mee betss thee Pressie-dent wood call mee a “sh*thole kat” butt mee wood not care. Littul wood hee know mee iss ackshully a Purrince!! So mee says “TTTHHHHFFFTTT” to him an “HURRAH” to you!
Sinseerlee, Siddhartha Henry =^,.^=
With the rise of capitalism has come the decline of empathy and compassion or all living beings.
It certainly has.
But never lose hope. I did for a while. But we now have what I hope is a government who cares. My hope is they will lead by example. Perfect they are not, but they are nothing like what came before and so I hope again.
What country do you live in?
New Zealand. Believe me it is not the paradise the outside world thinks it is. We have the highest rate of youth suicide in the world. In a population of approx. 4,000,000 we have over 400,000 children living in poverty. Under the last government our homeless numbers went through the roof. 70% of our lakes and rivers are too toxic to swim in because the government was more interested in keeping big business & big farmers happy as they merrily went along polluting everything in sight. But slowly we are seeing things now being put in to place that may reverse our travels on this terrible path we have been on. Don’t get me wrong. I moan about all this because I love NZ so much that it nearly broke me seeing where we were headed.
I hope our country makes the turnaround soon.
I went through 2 elections before ours did. Just hang on to hope and to your incredible compassion for animals. Keep doing what you can, when you can. I forgot the most important thing. The majority of people have good in them. Sometimes they just lose their way for a bit.
The lack of compassion in some people blows my mind, do they not realise that other creatures (people and animals) are capable of feeling pain, feeling scared? We should be working together to remove their pain and suffering not add to it – grr!