friend wanting to get rid of housecats....

YET another topic i need help with - you guys are wonderful by the way!!!!

I was visiting a friend who has 7 cats. She just feels that its getting to be too much and wants to "get rid of" 5 of them. I told her that she really needs to deal with it - her cats could be put down if taken to a shelter that is already filled with unwanted cats.

Are there ANY options for her? She did take a few to a farm a few years ago.

I hate this situation - believe me - i told her over and over to neuter her cats and she did it TOO late and ended up with too many and now almost all of them are going to suffer....

I agree, if you dont have any better solution - ie finding them new homes, it is better to take a minimum of responsibility and put them down in a painless quick way, then abandon them.

Letting them be farm cats isnt good. It is ok solution for homeless, but it is usually bad solution for homecats.

Unless the farmer is caring for the cats in a really exemplary way. Only here it is satisfactory solution.

Yeah Im very upset about this believe me - even embarrassed to ask such a question here.

I will tell her your belief on this - HOPEFULLY she will feel really awful about it and keep them....

thanks

These cats are her responsibility. They're house cats, they will not do well on a farm. Putting down a perfectly healthy cat just because you don't want it anymore is a sad thought, too.

In my opinion, she needs to take responsibility for these cats. She allowed the cats to breed and therefore the kittens are hers to take care of. She either needs to keep them or find them new homes, through whatever means necessary.

Are they all spayed and neutered now?

She should either take responsibility and keep them - or take cute pics, put flyers together, and try to find new homes for some of them. But they really ought to be spayed and neutered first!

Laurie

I think there are a few females that need to be done - all the males are neutered so she wont have more litters - although i saw one of her females in heat and it doesnt look comfortable.

I wish i had done something - all i did was tell her over and over they needed to be neutered. At the time i knew and felt very strongly that this was the ONLY option. But I wasnt physically active as I should have been. I did take the ride to neuter some of her cats but I should have paid for hte others to be done. I dont remember - maybe I wasnt financially able to do so at the time - NOW with all the work Im doing with ferals and getting info from people like yourselves I would have scrapped what I could to help... way too late now and I feel guilty and just as responsible as her.

I think she should keep them too - her problem of doing nothing when she should have!!
I would take one - my bf would have a fit but I think so would my cat. He still doesnt like my dog being in the house (after 2.5 years).
But then again I THINK he gets lonely - he stands by the door when we all leave - like why cant he go...
I just dont want to start more problems with another cat- plus healthcare costs sooo much. Unless you guys know of a way to test out the situation.... my friend lives over an hour away so bringing a cat over wouldnt be easy on the cat - or me - they get LOUD in the car....