Hey all. Having a rough time right now.
I never thought I would be a person who would rehome a pet. Providing forever homes to my cats has been super important to me, and I thought I could handle anything that came my way.
I have ten cats. I love them all dearly. The first cat I adopted, the rest were strays I took in, most of them coming from a pregnant stray I took in six years ago that had a litter of kittens (I kept all of the kittens). I tried to do everything right. All of the cats stayed indoors and go to the vet 1-2 times a year, and even considering the number of cats, they get along fairly well, especially if I keep the Feliway diffusers running.
I never wanted to admit it to myself, but ten cats is overwhelming. Keeping up with the litterboxes? Huge amount of work. I have several Litter Robots which are wonderful, but several of the cats refuse to use them so I have to put out regular boxes, and given the choice, the cats prefer those. One of my cats won't use any litterbox consistently and I have to put out puppy pads. Vet thinks it's anxiety-related, I tried meds for awhile and didn't see a difference. Three of my cats have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and they are impossible to give meds to. One of my cats has asthma and has to use an inhaler, it's... fine.
Even considering the health problems, I can afford to keep the cats, but my house is an impossible disaster. It's just me and I am at my wits end trying to keep up with work, a normal household, and caring for all of the cats. It's been a problem for years, but I kept telling myself as long as the cats were healthy and happy, I could deal with it.
Shiloh, as I mentioned, has litterbox issues likely stemming from anxiety. Kismet gets stressed from being around Peridot, but she has a lot of space to get away from him so I didn't think it was a big deal. She's been losing fur, but she was one of the cats diagnosed with cardiomyopathy so the vet focused on that and we never got back to the fur thing. Recently had another vet appointment with Henna, and she's also losing fur, likely from overgrooming. The vet said stress, and that's when I finally got hit with a clue bat. The cats aren't happy either.
What am I even *doing* if all of us are miserable anyway?
This is the hardest thing I've ever done, but I'm rehoming some of my cats. I feel so sick and so ashamed of myself that it's gotten to this point, but I don't know what else to do. I can't fix this.
None of them are going to a shelter, I'm talking to some friends and friends-of-friends to find homes. I have a maybe from some friends who live 14 hours away for two bonded cats (haven't decided which two yet, we need to discuss which would be most suitable), but today I got my first yes from a friend who lives about three hours away. She's going to take Peridot. I think it will be a great fit, they have another cat with a similar personality and I think they will get along well, Peridot's a total cuddly sweetheart and I think he will enjoy having more humans love on him... But now that I have a yes, I realized this is real, it's happening.
I love Peridot so much. He sleeps with me every night and lets me hug him -- I always wanted a big, goofy, friendly cat like him, and when he showed up at my door and was perfect I was so happy. But realistically, of all the cats I have, I know he's the best fit for my friend's home. Also, he might be the lynchpin of the overgrooming stress in the household (if it's not the sheer number of cats alone that's doing it). But I hate this. I hate that he has to go. I don't want him to go.
Just wanted to vent about this crappy situation I put myself in. I wish I could do better.
I never thought I would be a person who would rehome a pet. Providing forever homes to my cats has been super important to me, and I thought I could handle anything that came my way.
I have ten cats. I love them all dearly. The first cat I adopted, the rest were strays I took in, most of them coming from a pregnant stray I took in six years ago that had a litter of kittens (I kept all of the kittens). I tried to do everything right. All of the cats stayed indoors and go to the vet 1-2 times a year, and even considering the number of cats, they get along fairly well, especially if I keep the Feliway diffusers running.
I never wanted to admit it to myself, but ten cats is overwhelming. Keeping up with the litterboxes? Huge amount of work. I have several Litter Robots which are wonderful, but several of the cats refuse to use them so I have to put out regular boxes, and given the choice, the cats prefer those. One of my cats won't use any litterbox consistently and I have to put out puppy pads. Vet thinks it's anxiety-related, I tried meds for awhile and didn't see a difference. Three of my cats have hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and they are impossible to give meds to. One of my cats has asthma and has to use an inhaler, it's... fine.
Even considering the health problems, I can afford to keep the cats, but my house is an impossible disaster. It's just me and I am at my wits end trying to keep up with work, a normal household, and caring for all of the cats. It's been a problem for years, but I kept telling myself as long as the cats were healthy and happy, I could deal with it.
Shiloh, as I mentioned, has litterbox issues likely stemming from anxiety. Kismet gets stressed from being around Peridot, but she has a lot of space to get away from him so I didn't think it was a big deal. She's been losing fur, but she was one of the cats diagnosed with cardiomyopathy so the vet focused on that and we never got back to the fur thing. Recently had another vet appointment with Henna, and she's also losing fur, likely from overgrooming. The vet said stress, and that's when I finally got hit with a clue bat. The cats aren't happy either.
What am I even *doing* if all of us are miserable anyway?
This is the hardest thing I've ever done, but I'm rehoming some of my cats. I feel so sick and so ashamed of myself that it's gotten to this point, but I don't know what else to do. I can't fix this.
None of them are going to a shelter, I'm talking to some friends and friends-of-friends to find homes. I have a maybe from some friends who live 14 hours away for two bonded cats (haven't decided which two yet, we need to discuss which would be most suitable), but today I got my first yes from a friend who lives about three hours away. She's going to take Peridot. I think it will be a great fit, they have another cat with a similar personality and I think they will get along well, Peridot's a total cuddly sweetheart and I think he will enjoy having more humans love on him... But now that I have a yes, I realized this is real, it's happening.
I love Peridot so much. He sleeps with me every night and lets me hug him -- I always wanted a big, goofy, friendly cat like him, and when he showed up at my door and was perfect I was so happy. But realistically, of all the cats I have, I know he's the best fit for my friend's home. Also, he might be the lynchpin of the overgrooming stress in the household (if it's not the sheer number of cats alone that's doing it). But I hate this. I hate that he has to go. I don't want him to go.
Just wanted to vent about this crappy situation I put myself in. I wish I could do better.