Am I crazy for considering this?

I'm having a heck of a time and I need some input from cooler heads - I would really appreciate any thoughts any of you could send me...

A few facts (I apologize for the length)...

I've had my 16 mth old cat, Oscar, for a little over a year. He was neutered at six months and has never sprayed.

I "cat-sat" another cat for three days several weeks ago; Oscar cried for four days after I returned the other cat, even though the two did not have much contact and I certainly never saw them play together. Obviously, my furry buddy needs a companion.

A little over two weeks ago, I rescued a calico cat and her litter of four. Abby, as I have named her, was dumped by her previous owner and had been fending for herself for, at best guess, about four months. Her kittens were five or six weeks old when I brought them home and had never been handled - they were quite the little spitfires. I am now fostering these lovelys for the Humane Society.

And here's my problem. I had originally intended to keep one of the kittens as a companion for Oscar, but now I'm having a wicked hard time not just saying the heck with it and keeping them all, incl. the mom. One of the kittens is just like Oscar and they will do very well together, one of them is my personal favorite 'cause he's just so gorgeous, another keeps following me around wanting to play with me, and the last one is just so sweet, how can I separate her from her siblings? And Abby, how can I send her to an already crowded shelter to live in a cage until (and if) someone adopts her (she's ~ two years old)? She licked my hand the day before yesterday and I can't help but think she was trying to show gratitude, that she thinks her and her family have a true home. How the heck can I send her away after that? Am I crazy for thinking she's got those kinds of feelings? Or crazy for considering adopting the entire family?

And if I did keep them, what kinds of problems should I expect with that many felines in one apartment? Abby dearly loves her kittens, will she change her mind at some point and try to drive them away? Will the males all start spraying when the kittens hit puberty? (They'll all be fixed, of course.)

I don't know. I hope I don't sound like I'm complaining, and that I'm not boring any of you. I thought giving them back would be difficult, but not like this!

The strongest argument for not keeping all of them? If you are fostering for the Humane Society now, I will assume that you will do so in the future. The more cats that live with you permanently, the less the chance that you will help future homeless cats. It these cats (or at least the kittens) are highly adoptable, keep some room open for future fosters! And if Oscar is really attached to one of the kittens, then keep that kitten but adopt out the rest.

Yup - it is TERRIBLY hard to adopt out your fosters. It's sometimes a choice between individual cat or cat nation.

Good luck with your decision!!

Oh it is a very hard decision to make, its so easy to fall in love with kitties

But I think Momofmany is right, if you are a regular foster, then if you keep all this fur-family you wont have the room to help in the future. As you know kittens are usuallly the 1st to get adopted, so maybe you should just keep the mom as a buddy for Oscar - you didnt mention how they get on, but I assume alls fine.

Well heres sending lots of positive decision making {{{{{vibes}}}}} to you and lots of to your foster fur-family

Good luck and keep us posted

I don't think you're crazy for wanting them all!

Originally Posted by Auntie Crazy

Abby dearly loves her kittens, will she change her mind at some point and try to drive them away? Will the males all start spraying when the kittens hit puberty? (They'll all be fixed, of course.)

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I think it depends on the momma cat, Missy's kittens are now 18 months old and she still calls them to her and just loves them like crazy (so does their dad)
None of my males have ever sprayed, the kittens were fixed at 12 weeks.

If you can afford to keep them all, I don't see why you shouldn't(then again, I failed at fostering-see my siggy). If you are concerned about space, then buy/make some cat trees. There are many people here who "built up" their apartments to make more room for our fine feline friends.

In some cases, mom likes the kids, in some cases, mom reacts negatively to the kids. Problems like that can be worked through. The males shouldn't spray, as you will want to get them fixed ASAP(if you have a vet that will s/n at 12 weeks, do so). It will be expensive to fix that many kitties at once, but well worth it when you consider the love you'll get!

As with any feline family, yours will have their spats. I mean, if you lived in an apartment with 5 others, wouldn't you get annoyed sometimes?

Thank you so much for your thoughts, everyone!

This is my first (and last!) foster litter. I responded to an online plea for help with an abandoned cat and her kittens, and ended up fostering the family. Because the kittens were already five or six weeks old and had never been handled, I've really had to work socializing them - and I lost my heart to their lovely little furfaces.

The kittens will be spayed/neutered at the end of this month, and the Humane Society and I are working out the final adoption details. As an aside - my daughter graduated this past May and moved out of the house; for a while there it was very lonely and I was working later and later hours. Now, I'm happy and excited about coming home again! I have a whole pack of lovely furkids anxiously awaiting my arrival!

It's so nice that you're able to do that! My sister and I are fostering a litter of 5, who are currently 5 weeks old...and we're looking down that gun of having to bring them in in a week. I WAS going to suggest that you keep the one that you're so close to, but being able to keep all of them is even better. I'm keeping one of mine, and wish I could keep them all.
Happy kitten purrs!
Jess