Overwhelmed with cats

Hoping for some advice. It's hard to find anyone to take me seriously. I have 10 cats of varying ages, a few "owned" and others taken in/born. I'm the only one working so my plan to have them all fixed and get shots has not panned out as I had hoped. I thought if they were taken care of before giving them to the shelter they'd have a better chance of adoption. Then for awhile the shelter wasn't taking cats due to having too many. They began accepting again so I took a female with weaned kittens in and it was a hot over crowded nightmare. Haven't been back since.

Our landlord is all over me to "get rid of" the strays that come around our place. We have a big porch and many come for shelter and security so they spend a lot of lounge time there. Local animal control won't pick up strays and the shelter puts them down immediately as they consider feral cats unadoptable. It's as if the landlord is making me solely responsible for controlling the cat population in our neighborhood. My boyfriend is constantly coming down on me about them as well. I contacted a local cat rescue type place and they cannot do anything but help get a slight discount for neutering.

I'm at my wits end. I wish I was one of those "it's just a cat" people, but I empathize too much. It hurts me to take them from a loving home to be put in jail with strangers, separated from each other and then killed. I've tried finding homes for them but people either have pets already or live where they can't have them. Though I will probably need to just face the fact that a bad end is inevitable, I need to try a bit longer to figure it out. My brain keeps showing me worst-case scenarios even if they do get adopted but I am now at least at the point where I am willing to take them to the shelter.

Sorry this is so long, hard to manipulate the posting on the phone. I might be slow replying as my times with a good signal are limited. I feel not so much like I am drowning, but as if I am being drowned. Thank you in advance for your advice and suggestions.

I do not have any advise on what you should do. But your post did bring me a smile on my face, since my faith in humanity as empathic beings is at least partially restored, in seeing one soul shine.

Thank you for being...

Water hose.

a reply to: torque

Hi
Im from the Uk so dont really know how your system works. i understand how you feel entirely. Hugs.
But do you have an against animal cruelty organisation like we have RSPCA as maybe they could take them off you for new homes (for the ones that could be homed) if you are desperate. What city do you live in by the way? Also prob best to try and get them neutered if poss as they will carry on having babies. I know there is a site online that a friend of mine used to get funds for his cat that he rescued that needed an operation so Ill try to find out what that was for you.
Bless you. X

a reply to: torque

Perhaps write or phone these guys for advice as well - www.natcat.org... or this
and ask for any places to take them for adoption the ones that you can....I also saw this site www.spcanova.org...
Ask them online or on phone for advice x
Some of the really feral ones are hard to home as they need to go to a place where they will be cared for as well as left alone like a farm or something....the best a person can do with those is neuter or spay them if you cant home them...the ones you can home then try advice from the above places...or find you actual SPCA in your area of Virginia.

I have rescued many cats over the years. Shelters around here and in neighboring States are always filled to capacity. You can only save so many and I know that is tragic, but true. It breaks my heart that so many animals are homeless. Too many people are irresponsible and don't have their pets spayed and neutered. Too many people think they want a pet only to be disenchanted and throw them out to fend for themselves.

I do hope that you can eventually find homes for the cats you have been caring for. Not much else to say really. I once got a lot of help from placing an add in Craigslist for a friend who desperately needed a home for a couple of cats. If the person couldn't take them themselves, they would give me other people and places to call. It worked and the cats found homes.

a reply to: torque

Put a clever ad in the newspaper...they will get adopted.

I really feel for you. We have 6 cats and counting and I've yet to be able to turn one away. Luckily I own my own home which means neighbours might get a little flabbergasted but that's about it. Started with 1 cat and a cat flap and the rest followed. They say cats talk and the strays in your area have obviously been contacting each other to recommend your porch.

Sadly I don't have any advice although the suggestions so far have merit and neutering is a definite must. We were luckily enough to have support from The Cat's Protection League with neutering all our boys but the idea is to release them back into the area they came from however by the time we'd kept them in to heal, they had decided they were moving in.

I really hope you find the answer somewhere - good luck to you.

Scally

I like cats, but ten....that is too much. You can't rescue every cat you find. If you feed them they will leave their homes and come live with their other feline friends at your house. Word travels fast amongst cats.

Hi

If your vet has a bulletin board for such things, perhaps you can do a notice with photos of the cats and their circumstances. Although some people after the death of their pet want a mourning period, others want another pet right away. Also, some people are very sympathetic to a pet in a desperate situation. My mom has a friend who went to a shelter to adopt a cat. She asked "which cat has been here the longest?" And it was an unattractive cat, but she adopted him because she was sympathetic to his situation.

Good luck and I hope you can find some good homes for the cats.

Sal

a reply to: torque

Heart aches for you, OP. Praying for your situation and that the landlord and bf will lighten up. If you haven't done this already, look for organizations in your areas that have funds for "spay and release." This way the cats get fixed even though they'd still be strays. is there someplace nearby to your house you could feed them so they get used to going there and not your place? Just a thought.

Anyway I feel for you and just prayed for your situation. Wish you the best.

I have one that wandered in that adopted ME . She had three kittens ( 3 weeks old) that I have grown very attached too , but I know I can not keep . One has had matted eyes that I have been dealing with and I think i nipped in the bud finally .

Her "boyfriend" hangs around and I have taken to feeding him . He is completely black ,I have named him Monster because of the looks he can give you . Everyone on the street hates him and treats him badly because he is a scrapper who will fight anything . Every time he shows up on the porch to be fed he is bleeding from scratches , one eye or the other is all jacked up , ears tore up . He is not the friendliest , he will not allow you to pet him unless he is eating , but I feel sorry for the little guy .

If I can catch him , I will get him neutered and hang on to him .

We are lucky , we have a group that takes in strays , unwanted pets and last chance pound dogs/cats . They get them vet checked , spayed/neutered and then foster them until they can be adopted . You may look into that in your area . There are little groups that saves animals and do not get much publicity all over the place . Petsmart usually keeps up with these groups and works with them on "adopt a pet" days so if you have a Petsmart near you , check with them .

I don't know where you're at, but if there is farm country around you, you can advertise to farmers. Most will already have their own barn cats, but ferals are the ideal cats to take in for barn patrol. They don't get too friendly, and they'll live rough only needing some daily supplemental food/fresh water and a place to sleep out of the worst weather.

Farmers will sometimes take a feral or three off your hands if they can be fixed first.

I used to feed a cat outside my window, and he would come back everyday. Then another cat would come. Anyway, after some time I would hear cats fighting outside etc. It was a tough life for that cat. Living through the winters with 3+ feet of snow, etc. Getting into fights with other cats and coming back with hideous gashes, injured limbs, etc. One day, that cat stopped coming after 4 years or so, where it used to come almost everyday. Anyway, after that cat, I vowed to not feed another cat outside my window. My reasoning was that it will not learn to hunt, or will not want to hunt, and become dependent on you, and at least, will not attract and riffraff to my window with cats fighting and mating outside.

It really sucks for them; cats were not meant for the city (living outside or inside). Maybe we should never have domesticated them in the first place.

I have a dog that does a fair job of keeping the property cat free.

a reply to: skunkape23

Many of my neighbors have cats that they allow to roam . They tear up my planters , ruined/killed plants , ruined potting soil or just shed all over my porch . That male stray cat Monster has taken care of my cat problem . He seems to stay out of my potting soil and keeps all other cats off my property and has even run a few dogs off too . I just have to put up with some angry cat noises every so often .

He is small in stature , but has a huge chip on his shoulder . He has no fear of man nor beast and does not back down from a fight . He actually allowed me to pet him this morning before his morning feeding , I may be growing on him .

originally posted by: nOraKat


Maybe we should never have domesticated them in the first place.

Are cats really , truly domesticated ? Dogs are easy to understand ... give them food , water , brush them , clean them , pet them and play with them and they are golden . They will wag their tails , jump around and bark like idiots with their tongues hanging out .

But with a cat you never know what is going on behind those devious eyes . They can take you or leave you . You tell them "NO" and they walk away with that haughty , I am better than you "cat attitude" . They are smart enough to use humans for easy food supply , fresh water , a scratch behind their ear when they deem you worthy enough to pet them . They are smart enough not to be subjected to some human pushing their asses to the ground while saying "SIT" over and over .

A dog wants to please a human , a cat wants a human to please them . A human can obtain a cat and that cat will judge you worthy or not . If it deems the human unworthy it will leave that human and find a more suitable match (That's how I ended up with my cats) .

No , we did not domesticate them ........cats domesticated humans for their own needs .

While you may be loyal to your vet, have you tried call other vets, in your town or others? I'm just wondering, because we have a vet in my moms town, that will fix any cat you bring in, for free. They have cleaned up the stray cat problem in this town fairly well, because he rents the apartment over the office, to one of his college aids, with the condition that they have to trap stray cats at night.

You might get lucky and find a vet that will do it for free, or very little cost.
If you do, PM me, I may be able to help some.

a reply to: torque

I am a member of a trap, neuter & release program, and I am the only person doing this in my neighbourhood. When mother cats and kittens come by regularly for food, I will trap the kittens first and take them in to animal control where I know (assured) kittens are the first to be adopted. The mother cat, if she is young and friendly, will go there too because I know she will adopted as well; after spaying.

However, for the true ferals where there is no hope of adoption, I will have them neutered and released back into the neighbourhood where they were born and will continue to hunt; although I feed them all as well. Feral cats actually keep the rat and mouse populations down and so neighbours should welcome them. Or take them to my sister's place in a rural setting where she will let them roam.

I must say that if you owned your own house/property, this would be so much simpler because you then don't have to follow anybody else's rules.

Some wonderful advice re: advertising or networking to find these cats homes has been offered, but I have noticed that if the animal is neutered and treated by a vet first, then people are more likely to adopt them. It seems people just can't afford to do what is necessary for their pets.

Just remember, you can't save the whole world, but I applaud you for trying to save a little patch of it.

Good luck and keep advertising and networking as best you can to find homes for these animals.

Sorry so long getting back. I'm grateful for the advice as I had not thought of checking pet smart or other vets. I'm trying to get good pics again since the ones I had were on a camera that was stolen. I'm going to make a flyer with a few on each one and see if they will put them up at some local vet offices. Some people said to just dump them at a farm but didn't want to do that. I didn't think some farmers might legitimately allow this. I'm surrounded by farms and kinda wild spots here in the Shenandoah Valley so maybe I can find one. I feel there has to be a way to work it so everyone comes out ok, just get so stressed and overwhelmed that I get brain-block and despair at times.

Stonecutter, I am starting to think they should train the door to door guys. They can work their way into places most human solicitors can't hope to enter!