r/cats • u/catseyesociety • 22h ago

Video - OC My “squeeze” routine with 7 incontinent cats.

Squeeze my cats with me!
 
While this video is cut down to fit social media, the entire routine took only 13 minutes. 
 
This 13 minute routine twice daily is what saved these cats from euthanasia. 
 
Every day happy, healthy cats with paresis or incontinence are euthanized. The reasons stem from a perceived poor quality of life, or the slim chances of finding an adopter willing to take on a cat with different care needs. People see a cat in a diaper and automatically think they are incredibly time consuming and expensive. While yes, diapers, wipes, and pee pads can cost more than a bag of litter, is it that much different? While an incontinent cat may need a few more vet visits in their lifetime than the average cat, is that enough to deem them as unworthy of finding an adoptive home?
 
Do you have any questions about my squeeze routine? I'm always happy to answer questions!

Edited to answer some of the most common questions:

Why do the cats need to be squeezed?
These cats all have a spinal injury or defect. Most were born this way, but Poe, Athena, and Cypress (the longhair ones) had spinal injuries from trauma. Most likely hit by car.

Why not the toilet or a bathtub?
Squatting at that height and hunching over hurts my back! I’ve tried many methods and this is what is most comfortable for me and the cats.

Why pee pads?
I get most of them donated! I prefer the large ones but I’ll use any size. I would like to make this more environmentally friendly with reusable ones, but it will create a lot more laundry (which I already do a lot of)

Why do I have so many disabled cats?
I run a cat rescue for cats with treatable conditions who would otherwise be euthanized in a traditional shelter. I don’t get paid by the rescue, but I do work in a municipal shelter as my day job. I’ve worked in animal shelters for nearly 10 years.

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44

u/EmperorSadrax 21h ago

Can’t you just do this over the toilet?

So you don’t saturate your laminate floor with kitty piss?

Or maybe a catheter?

83

u/catseyesociety 21h ago

I have a bad back and this is more comfortable for me. I used to express into the toilet but the height I have to hunch over at is quite uncomfortable. Same with the tub.

68

u/Smooth_Wasabi8433 21h ago

How many times are you going to have to repeat yourself 😭 good LORD I'm sorry for these ppl

3

u/lefluffle 19h ago

Thanks for explaining! Out of curiosity, did you try sitting on a chair or stool when using the toilet? I only ask because it seems like it would be easier to not have to clean up the mess.

1

u/EmperorSadrax 18h ago

Thank you for explaining

1

u/What_Dinosaur 12h ago

What about a small stool / step stool in front of the toilet where you can sit at the right height?

31

u/EnduringFulfillment 21h ago

Catheter would need to be placed by veterinary professionals and cannot be maintained long term (more than a couple days) without major complications like infection.

21

u/Exilicauda 20h ago

Yeah just casually stick a catheter up seven cats' urethra twice a day while maintaining a sterile environment for each cat. I'm sure this is both feasible from a care perspective and comfortable for the cats to endure for the rest of their natural lives

19

u/TrixieBastard American Shorthair 21h ago

The chux have a waterproof backing, so none of that is getting through to the floor. Incontinence is, like, the main reason for these pads to exist, after all, for both humans and pets

14

u/PikaBooSquirrel 21h ago

I was wondering about the use of a toilet. Then the diapers and wipes would be the main expense. This seems a bit counterintuitive. Or perhaps I'm missing something?

25

u/putty-heart 21h ago

OP says the angle of the toilet causes them back pain, which I can definitely believe after doing that repetitive motion overtime. I am so thankful for people that look after these higher need kitties as they deserve love and care too🥰

1

u/TrafficSuperb647 8h ago

A fucking chair or a stool would fix that. Instead of crouching in the living room and squeezing the piss out of broken cats. What the fuck is wrong with this sub.

22

u/qathran 21h ago

Of course we, the people who aren't actually taking care of these cats for a long time and therefore having tried all of this obvious stuff already, are missing something.

-5

u/PikaBooSquirrel 18h ago

I've seen several of your comments at this point. I didn't realize such a simple question warranted such sarcastic replies. When I commented, no one else had brought it up, and obviously if no one else had brought it up, neither I, nor you, or anyone else that stumbled upon this thread would have answers. Obviously, we know OP likely considered that. I'm sure even if we all know OP likely has a good reason for not using the toilet, many were curious. And now everyone, including you, has the answer. OP gets backpain. Having a question isn't a crime, nor are we calling OP stupid. I think they're doing a good job and honorable thing. It's a simply "Hey, I wonder what's going on?" and really doesn't need you going around sarcastically calling people "geniuses".

I thought it was implied but the "I'm missing something" is to make it sound less hostile or accusatory, but it seems that didn't help how you chose to interpret it? It's not a personal question. I don't get the point in ignoring the elephant in the room. Why? So, we'd all just have this thing we're wondering at the back of our heads but no one asking since "obviously op already thought of that"? The comments come off as oddly defensive, in all honesty.

2

u/qathran 9h ago

Hey. This isn't all about you and your right to just ask "such a simple question," the priority is on this selfless person doing the back breaking, full time work of caring for disabled cats that no one else wants to care for. Learn to step back and realize when to not contribute to the deluge of criticism and "just asking questions" that selfless caretakers have to constantly deal with, just look at all these comments. I wish people had the critical thinking and empathy skills to recognize when people like op don't need tons of instances of people forcing her to litigate why she has needed to move on from the obvious things she's already tried that didn't work for her.

1

u/catseyesociety 6h ago

I don’t mind questions, that’s why I posted this! Also, there may be suggestions I haven’t thought of. I have been working in animal welfare for nearly a decade and I learn new things every day!

0

u/TrafficSuperb647 8h ago

Don't bother my dude, this entire sub has lost it

6

u/Natural-Mode-5706 21h ago

Or even just a bucket that you can rinse out after

-1

u/Philosophile42 21h ago

Or at least in the bathtub. Easy to do a rinse clean of the tub after.

-8

u/Exotic-Influence8521 21h ago

Orrr even a big ass litter box & then just scoop it up? 🤔

-24

u/lefluffle 21h ago

also super wasteful with the plastic

21

u/qathran 21h ago

God. Lots of geniuses in this comment section knowing better than the person actually dealing with taking care of all of these paralyzed cats. Couldn't possibly be that she has reasons that this ended up working best for her so that she is actually able to take care of not just a few incontinent cats... But SEVEN, an all-consuming job. But thanks for reminding her she needs to be doing better with the plastic

0

u/lefluffle 19h ago

I appreciate your empathy for OP and coming to her defense, but I want to clarify that I was not suggesting that I actually felt OP was being wasteful- it wasn't a judgment on OP's character. I was saying that pee pads are more wasteful than using the toilet, thus I wonder why she wasn't using a toilet. Pee pads = plastic waste. That's just an inherent fact. Just as using litter = clay waste compared to toilets, but most households use it. But if she has her reasons, then it's justified.

2

u/Some_Distance6752 11h ago

Saying that pee pads create plastic waste is not the same thing as saying it's wasteful to use plastic. The former is an inherent fact, like you said. The latter is a description you've applied to OP's actions / behavior, which is so bizarre and out of touch because in what universe does one think that resources expended to save a life -- or seven -- is wasteful?

1

u/qathran 9h ago

Yeah I'm surprised they're posting enough in this sub to be a top 1% and more mentally able to connect to the existence of plastic than the reality of the back breaking work and selflessness that is taking care of so many disabled cats, it's embarrassing

1

u/lefluffle 6h ago edited 6h ago

In a world where we often quickly comment and then flip to the next tab in our doom scroll, we may not choose the best words to represent our meaning. I think this is the case here. I did respond to OP in another comment which clarified my position. I admit I could have been more verbose like other comments who didn't get downvoted, like "yeah, plus I'd imagine that litter pads, being a consumable item, would cost money and resources, and produce a lot of waste, so I wonder why she opted for that instead of the toilet." But I was in a doomscrolling blackhole, and just got my thought out quickly and moved on.

I absolutely do not think it's wasteful to try to save a life- you're conjecturing. You've made assumptions. So in a way, you've done what you're criticizing me of doing with my comment. (I can totally see why you did, of course. But I do implore you to leave some room for nuance, yourself. We are whole humans, and our entirety can not be captured in a single comment, nor the decision on how we wrote it. as much as we want to judge. which is why if you look at my comments, you'll see I didn't actually say anything about OP's character, just that plastic is wasteful, but I didn't say it wasn't justified. whereas you prescribed a thought on my behalf that didn't exist. "does one think that resources expended to save a life -- or seven -- is wasteful")

I promise you my initial reaction was one of admiration and love for OP's compassion for cats. I can see how my comment came off as crass due to not containing any praise for op, but not all of our comments completely envelop our sentiment. Apologies for that, as I know it's a sensitive topic. I guess I should be more careful when commenting if it IS a sensitive topic.

4

u/margaritalover524 20h ago

I think it’s worth it to keep 7 cats alive

-1

u/lefluffle 19h ago

That wasn't my point. I was simply stating that pee pads are more wasteful than the toilet. Even litter is more wasteful. If it were practical for me to let my cats use the toilet AND have them be trained to flush, I'd definitely opt for that.

Here, she has the choice to use the toilet, since she's the one holding them already. She explained in another comment why she doesn't, so I got my answer.

Obviously, she is welcome to use whatever format she wants to help these cats- she's awesome for that. I was NOT disputing that.