Inbred Kittens, what can happen? Interesting Story

tabbygirl88 · Mar 3, 2008

Today I met a man who has a terrible case of agoraphobia and has been confined to his home for many, many years. Well I met him through a crack in his door and left him my number after he rudely asked me to leave. I talked to the woman who has been caring for him, she is his friend. Well anyways he has lord knows how many cats in his tiny little house. From what this woman knows he has 6 male cats, 3 female cats, and 3 kittens left over from last summer (2 females and a male, I think). All unaltered, he had 15 kittens last summer

. I have no idea where they are now. He thinks that the 3 females he has are pregnant. Also, the 3 kittens he has left over from last summer literally look like they are 16 weeks old, they are very tiny. I was able to see them because they were sitting on his porch. He is too afraid to leave his house at all so I have offered to help get these cats altered. If not all, AT LEAST all the females. And I would like to talk him into giving up a few. Something needs to be done, now.

From what I can tell, all these cats are inbred. What kind of issues should I expect them to have? It is obvious that the pregnant females need spayed asap, and it seems like the 3 kittens are very sickly because of their size. Do inbred cats live very long? I don't want to promise him I will find his cats a good home and then find out they are unhealthy and need to be PTS.

I don't know if this man is going to take my help but if he doesn't I will have to call animal control because he needs help before this gets totally out of hand.

hissy · Mar 3, 2008

Call your local health care services and let them handle it. They will go in assess the situation call the proper authorities and you won't have feral cats who could have some major health issues to deal with.

goldenkitty45 · Mar 3, 2008

No inbred cats don't live long, they have more health problems (espeically heart). And if they are having kittens at 6 months old, it stunts the growth and certainly doesn't produce healthy kittens.

Unfortunately, animal control needs to take these cats away from the man and hopefully he will not get more - maybe they can check on him. IMO the guy needs psychological help too.

tabbygirl88 · Mar 3, 2008

Animal control already went over there once (I called them to see). No one in my town of 4,000 care about animals. Everyone lets their dogs and cats run free, there is no one to help him. He also got low cost spay and neuter certificates, a year ago but is too afraid to take them to the vet. The vet is not willing to transport the cats for him. There are also no rescues in the area and the animal shelter is 40-45 minutes away. There is no such thing as "proper authorities" or any health care services here, trust me.

I want to get these cats fixed. I also want to know what kind of neurological problems they could have. Thanks

tabbygirl88 · Mar 3, 2008

Originally Posted by GoldenKitty45

No inbred cats don't live long, they have more health problems (espeically heart). And if they are having kittens at 6 months old, it stunts the growth and certainly doesn't produce healthy kittens.

Unfortunately, animal control needs to take these cats away from the man and hopefully he will not get more - maybe they can check on him. IMO the guy needs psychological help too.

Thank you for the advice. I just want to know what I can expect when I go in there.

Unfortunately, animal control doesn't care. There is one animal control officer for the whole county and she is 40 minutes away.

tia's mom · Mar 3, 2008

Wow this is sad. Bless you for trying to help. Can't really give any advice see as animal control is non-existant. Too bad

hissy · Mar 3, 2008

You could be looking at a number of health issues and also behaviorial problems depending on how long the limited gene pool has been pooling. You might have tumors, defective ear flaps, fertility problems, weakened immune systems. Hard to say because each gene pool is so different. Breeders (some of them) do inbreeding but they do it under controlled situations and this situation isn't controlled. No one knows what they will find in an inbred colony, sometimes nothing, other times it is pure horror. Good luck and how sad no one gives a darn.

callista · Mar 3, 2008

Hey, agoraphobia doesn't mean he can't take care of himself. It just comes from having panic attacks and then associating them with being out of your house. He's got help; he really just needs help with his cats now.

The offering to take them to be spayed/neutered is a nice offer; he can't do it himself. He should keep some of the cats--however many can comfortably live in whatever space he's got--because cats are great stress relief and they probably benefit him.

The agoraphobia is a complication; but all you really have here is somebody who doesn't know how important it is to neuter cats. Educate him--he's agoraphobic, not stupid!

BTW, as with cats, "rude" can be the same as "afraid"....

unplandcatlady · Mar 15, 2010

TabbyGirl88;2202403 said:
Today I met a man who has a terrible case of agoraphobia and has been confined to his home for many, many years. Well I met him through a crack in his door and left him my number after he rudely asked me to leave. I talked to the woman who has been caring for him, she is his friend. Well anyways he has lord knows how many cats in his tiny little house. From what this woman knows he has 6 male cats, 3 female cats, and 3 kittens left over from last summer (2 females and a male, I think).... QUOTE]

Tabby-I sure wish I had someone like you near me! I can't believe any animal lover would turn down such help, for the sake of their pets. In ways I feel sorry for him, because his intentions are likely not to hurt the cats. I used to be a vet-tech and then did animal rescue. About a year ago, we took in a starving older kitten to find the owner. It was skinny, but looked healthy. We had 4 dogs already and didn't intend to get more pets. She had a small umbilical scar on her abdomen that I assumed was a spaying scar. We advertised her on the local lost and found pet page.

It was almost Halloween, so we had no intention of allowing her to run loose. I was in a car accident 6 mos prior which left me out of work and in very serious financial struggles. Despite that, we provided all the necessities for the older kitten while hoping the owner would claim her. She is a beautiful Turkish Angora with one blue eye and one amber green eye. Nobody claimed her after almost 3 mos when she escaped and came back pregnant. A few mos later-4 kittens. The owner came forward and didn't care a bit. They actually intentionally let her go, cuz she annoyed them. So we had 5 to care for.

After calling and researching in our area, we found that nobody cares much here either. We tried to find a free or maybe $10 spay/neuter service and haven't been successful. I even pleaded for help with all the local shelters. There are NO free/cheap spay/neuter clinics, except a mobile one that provides the service for welfare recipients ONLY. My husband is working and we are not eligible for any form of assistance, so we just can't get them fixed, despite my extreme desire to. At the same time as my accident, his work cut everybody way back to a point where he has 60% of his old income. If I can't go back to work soon, we may not even have a home for us. Yet his income is keeping all of us fed.

We can't take them to a shelter either, because they are cared for better here. Luckilly I know very well how to take care of any ailments and vaccinate my own pets. We feed them what the need to eat and TRY HARD to keep them all indoors and learned how to better do that now after the pregnancies. They are very well cared for. Unfortunately, there were NO potential adopters. NOBODY wanted them and they are nearly 8 mos old. Meanwhile momma cat snuck out again when bringing in the groceries and now we have 4 more. And despite always watching the 2 males and 3 females around each other or keeping them seperated- our 8 mo old girl also snuck out the door and got pregnant-not to her brother. He doesn't go outside. We won't even bring in groceries anymore without putting the cats up.

We have ALWAYS been responsible pet owners until now and it was due to the irresponsibility of others that we are in this position. We are the type of pet owners who stand by our pets through good and bad, thick and thin, but this is out of control. I am thoroughly ashamed of myself, but other than the pound we have no options. We can't live with the pound putting them to death, so we are lost. Our shelters here are having serious cat problems.

We are planning to have a Garage Sale and try to SELL the kittens from the new litter. Free kittens here far too often get falsely adopted by the wives/ girlfriends/ sisters of dog fighters. If we successfully sell them ALL of the money will go to getting the others fixed, which at this point is $27 (m) and $42 (f) each. Plus they want shot records for each and I did my own shots. This is going to be costly.

Ironically our cat got pregnant to another unrelated Turkish Angora from around the corner, despite it being a rare breed. We caught her and it only took 15min after she took off. We were fully aware of her whereabouts except 15min and caught her in the act at the 15min point. The 4 new kittens: two of the kittens are white with the rare odd eyes like momma and 2 have blue eyes and are white. All med length angora fur and 2 have just a tiny amount of black on their heads. They are beautiful! But we will still be insistant on them going to homeowners who are responsible. However, they are unregistered and we aren't sure where the male cat lives to go and talk to it's owners.

IF anybody is aware of free spay/neuter or somebody wanting to adopt in the Phx AZ area, PLEASE tell me!

skewch · Mar 15, 2010

I live in a small town also, of about 6000. I never thought I'd live in a small town, but I am and I love it. Neighbours are actually friendly and they talk to you....so unlike the large city we used to live in....it's only 5 minutes south of here, handy but it's not small.

I have always had this thing in me that thank goodness I don't see stray cats around. I only see two cats that go outside and I haven't seen any others. I know where the cats live so if they do think my house is better, I know they'd go back home.

I have always worried about momma cats trying to have babies under our concrete stairs. It's not all filled in with dirt. Two summers now have passed since we moved, and this summer will not be the one where I find babies underneath.

Your situation is one that sounds so heartbreaking. The agoraphobic man isn't like a hoarder, and I'm sure he'd allow you to take the cats for alterations. I know it's costly, here it's 100 for a male, don't know for females, haven't had a female done in a while. Your low cost spays/neuters I would welcome in a heartbeat.

Good luck with the situation. It's difficult at best, but I'm sure you will find some answers.

dusty's mom · Mar 15, 2010

http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=203204
The above thread shows how to find low cost spay/neuter clinics in your area.

icklemiss21 · Mar 16, 2010

Originally Posted by UnplandCatLady

IF anybody is aware of free spay/neuter or somebody wanting to adopt in the Phx AZ area, PLEASE tell me!

http://www.adlaz.org/spay/index.html
(866) 952-SPAY

Van Aken Pet Hospital
Phoenix, AZ
602-278-6632

City of Phoenix S/N Program
602-506-3471
Low income people may qualify for free or very low cost spay/neuter services for their pets.

North Phoenix S and N Clinic
1610 E Bell Rd Suite 108 Phoenix AZ 85022
602-787-4240

S/N Clinic
Phoenix AZ
602-863-0116
602-846-3979

Spay and Neuter Assistance Program
(S.N.A.P. Clinic)
1812 West Bell Road
Phoenix, AZ
602-942-7283
Low cost s/n for every one. Also low cost vaccination clinics held twice a month.

HALO Animal Rescue
Phoenix AZ
602-971-9222
web: www.halorescue.org

icklemiss21 · Mar 16, 2010

As to the OP, inbreeding can result in cats being fine or having major issues, ferals inbreed all the time, sometimes they are ok and others not - but its harder to tell because of their short lifespan.

They certinly have an increased risk of heart and respiratory problems, and many times a weakened immune system. When breeders do it, they often work hard to find mates who have top quality features and health to decrease the risks.

The decreased size definitely does seem to be a trait in inbred kittens, and I read somewhere that more polydactyls and actual dwarf cats (shorter legs etc too, not just small in size) are born when inbred.

However, the number of animals means that he should be classed as a collector/hoarder - cats from households with that number of animals are often unsocialised, especilly since people don't know where they are now and he himself seems to be unable to have rehomed them himself given that he can't go out and did not let you in. You may end up dealing with issues of socialisation - its rare the shelter pulls cats from a situation like that and they don't have health issues, behavioural/socialisation issues and are kept in less than idea situations

honey4ever · Dec 1, 2012

I have alot of inbred cats and they are perfectly healthy says my vet. Leave this poor man alone and mind your own business.

otto · Dec 1, 2012

honey4ever said:
I have alot of inbred cats and they are perfectly healthy says my vet. Leave this poor man alone and mind your own business.

Hello and Welcome to TCS. While this thread is over 4 years old, the point is still relevant, the person mentioned in the original post had intact males and females indiscriminately breeding. This could be considered possibly a neglect issue. Animal welfare should be EVERYONE'S business and the original poster should be commended for her/his concern.

Hopefully your healthy "inbred" cats are all spayed and neutered, and the parents they came from are, also. If they are not, I hope you are now in the process of seeing to that.

eb24 · Dec 2, 2012

honey4ever said:
I have alot of inbred cats and they are perfectly healthy says my vet. Leave this poor man alone and mind your own business.

I agree with Otto that, while this is an old thread the issue is still relevant. I know you are new to TCS but one of the goals of the forums is to try and help people solve a problem in a positive way. You are fortunate that all your cats are healthy but medically speaking inbreeding does lead to a host of medical issues, some superficial and others not so obvious (such as heart problems, ect). With this original post there was a bigger issue of hoarding and animal cruelty. Which, as Otto correctly points out, are societal concerns.

I also hope that your cats are fixed so that later generations don't develop any of the terrible birth defects that can come with shared genetics. If you have questions on this topic feel free to start a new thread so that you can get a variety of feedback from more users.

Welcome to TCS- I look forward to seeing more positive, productive posts from you in the future!

johnsgirl82 · Mar 8, 2013

I would love to see an update from the person who started this thread if at all possible

MoochNNoodles · Mar 8, 2013

It looks like the OP hasn't been on since 2008; but you could try sending them a Private Message. They might still receive e-mail notifications if they get a new message here.

hauntedkat · May 24, 2016

Yes, animal control needs to help but tell him you are going to ask for Animal Controls help first and maybe he will volunteer his corporation to you. The disease he has is very real and until you live with it or love someone that does, you have no idea how hard it is. Also, he doesn't need psychological help, as one person said, because if your friend works for him than he's already trying. If AC comes in and takes the cats, he will find a way to take more in. Get some information on inbreeding cats as well as the massive overpopulation of them and give them to him. Than go back the next day and try to talk. If he refuses explain you will have no choice but to call AC for the animals safety. Good luck!!

Norachan · May 24, 2016

hauntedkat said:
Yes, animal control needs to help but tell him you are going to ask for Animal Controls help first and maybe he will volunteer his corporation to you. The disease he has is very real and until you live with it or love someone that does, you have no idea how hard it is. Also, he doesn't need psychological help, as one person said, because if your friend works for him than he's already trying. If AC comes in and takes the cats, he will find a way to take more in. Get some information on inbreeding cats as well as the massive overpopulation of them and give them to him. Than go back the next day and try to talk. If he refuses explain you will have no choice but to call AC for the animals safety. Good luck!!

This is a very old thread hauntedkat. It was started in 2008 so I guess the issue has been resolved by now.

Inbred Kittens, what can happen? Interesting Story

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