The arrival of Nanette | The Press

When I understood that I no longer had to fear looking for an apartment that allowed animals, which has become as rare as the pope’s poop as they say, I wanted a cat.

After a pandemic, the mourning of my in-laws, a move, work, the paperwork for an inheritance, and the signing of our wills, my lover and I, I needed a little light, let’s say . I missed the presence of a cat, something I hadn’t experienced for ages, and in the Usher house that I have often spoken to you about, there has always been one, for 50 years. Almost all stray and awkward black cats, tamed by my father-in-law, who could never be flattered.

Nanette, a little 4 month old British Shorthair, came into our lives and was quickly accepted by Angie, our beloved shih tzu, who I think needed a friend.

I had forgotten the grace and comfort of a cat’s purr. Nanette is becoming my stress ball that I fiddle with once an hour, while Angie continues her mission to make me laugh every day. In a week, they became friends like pigs and they now sleep with me in my bed. I have more and more the impression of being in the Beast Dialogues by Colette.

Growing up with felines as a child, I was convinced I was more of a cat type, before becoming crazy about dogs in my 30s. Nanette’s arrival confirms to me that I am both.

I’ve never been without a cat or a dog, but the commitment to an animal has changed a lot since my childhood. When I was little, we chose a kitten from the neighbor’s cat’s litter when the house cat had disappeared for good. I have never experienced the euthanasia of an old cat simply because in those days, cats disappeared one day in their adventures, run over by a car, murdered by psychopaths or loved elsewhere by money thieves. animals. Our kitties were free and returned home (when they returned) sometimes pregnant or pregnant. None were vaccinated or sterilized. We remember everyone’s name: Marmine, ET (the year of Spielberg’s film), Fifille, Tramp, Gobelet.

What I especially remember is that at the time, we never asked permission from the owner to have a pet, and we found our animals anywhere.

Times have changed. Unsurprisingly, while we are in a serious housing crisis, “one of the primary causes of abandonments is the difficulty of finding an affordable apartment that accepts animals,” Laurence Massé, deputy general director of the Montreal SPCA, confirms to me. Then come behavioral problems, especially for dogs, and this is one of the consequences of the pandemic when many people have flocked to puppies who have sometimes been poorly socialized, or who suffer from anxiety since their owners returned to the office or had a child. Finally, there is inflation. Costs for veterinary care and food can become a big problem for people in financial difficulty.

In short, the housing crisis, inflation and the impact of the pandemic have meant that the SPCA is experiencing one of its biggest years, as you can imagine. This is reflected in particular in the number of stray animals which are “disguised abandonments”, estimates Laurence Massé: 226 animals more than at the same period last year. It’s not that people are heartless, although there are some irresponsible ones; they are often taken badly and are afraid of being judged.

But at the SPCA, insists Laurence Massé, we don’t judge. We want to prevent and help. We offer adoption services where we try as best as possible to find the match perfect, the possibility of being a foster family if you just want to test compatibility with an animal, food bank and low-cost sterilization programs for low-income people (the Mittens program).

Because it is not because we are in difficulty that we should be deprived of the happiness of having a pet – for many people, it is often the rare happiness that remains.

Nanette’s arrival made me think a lot about adopting a cat. I took it very seriously, because for me, it’s for life, and I wanted it to go well with my dog. This is why you have to prepare for the arrival of an animal, never go there on a whim, and even then, you cannot avoid mistakes. I made every possible mistake with my first dog, Sissi, bought in a pet store (first mistake) 20 years ago, because I broke down in front of her sad eyes. Despite my stupidity, she was still an angel (a little neurotic) until the end, in my arms and my tears at the vet. But I’ve learned a lot about the responsibility of having an animal, and I often say that it was my two late dogs that taught me to be a better person around animals.

Before having Nanette, I spent weeks “doing my research”, I subscribed to lots of pages on Facebook, and it made me dizzy. I didn’t know there were so many cats and kittens to give away. I turned to a certified breeder, exasperated by an insane offer, who kept me informed of Nanette’s development until her arrival. When you think that they were nowhere to be found during the pandemic, enough for people to turn to rabbits… Besides, the SPCA had a large volume of rabbits after that, perhaps made worse by the explosion in the price of rabbits. lettuce at some point.

Looking at the number of kittens offered free like pockets of field mice, it is clear in any case that too few people have their cats sterilized.

Laurence Massé tells me a revealing anecdote: the SPCA had to collect more than 90 cats from a lady who had adopted at the start of the pandemic a male and a female who had not undergone surgery – which shows that these little animals can provide. “It shows the dangers of not sterilization,” explains Laurence, who points out that the SPCA also has a brigade that sterilizes cats living in communities – you know, those kitties who live part-time with just about everyone.

I end up asking if, in Quebec, we are behind when it comes to animal rights, if we haven’t remained a little in a 1970s mentality where we take and leave animals according to the vagaries of life. In 2015, there was progress, I was told at the Montreal SPCA: a new provision of the Civil Code recognizes that animals are sentient beings and not property. On the other hand, we are late with regard to the ban on animals in housing, clauses which have been abolished in France and Ontario, a key issue for the SPCA.

Also, only 2% of us in Quebec take out insurance for veterinary care for our little animals, compared to 30% among our Ontario neighbors – I am seriously thinking about getting into it for the first time, because I have had to take out my RRSPs to care for my dogs when they became old. It would be good protection for Nanette and Angie who are still young and who I want to keep as long as possible. I intend to give you their news once in a while, so be warned.