Worried that I might be an animal hoarder

monaxlisa

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Ok, so I have six cats, five brothers, one is a kitty I found in the middle of the road with a vulture standing over him. They're all boys. And I have two dogs (one male one female). So I work in a vet clinic and today I had a groom; a lion cut on a cat that was matted so bad and so tight that her hair came off in one giant mat. Horrible! She was SO sweet though I just wanted to take her home with me. She was grey and looked just like my first cat only with longer hair. I had to have her put to sleep a few years ago. She was gray with orange eyes. So what do I do? I start thinking about adopting a cat, a grey senior or special needs, one that might have a hard time being placed. I found a cat at one of the humane societies that has a heart murmer, she's older and declawed and a long haired calico. That's all it says about her so she might not get along with cats or dogs and heck, with the adoption applications that rescues have I probably wouldnt fit the criteria anyways, they'd probably think I have too many animals already.
But I have a big house and I can afford to take care of them all! But anyhow, someone needs to talk some sense into me! What am I thinking thinking about another cat! I have six! I keep going back and forth between thinking I'll call and find out how long she's been there and anything else I can about her tomorrow and thinking I've lost my mind.
 

going nova

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You're asking the wrong group of people to "talk some sense" into you!
 

snake_lady

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I doubt anyone will tell you different.

If you can afford to, I'm sure that long-haired beauty would love to come home with you
 

carolina

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Originally Posted by Going Nova

You're asking the wrong group of people to "talk some sense" into you!

Put me with a big house and $$$........ I don't think the number would be six
.
Hey, you can afford it, you have the space, you work in a vet clinic, and you are a cat lover...... I don't think anyone will have some "sense" to put into you!!! You are not a hoarder! You silly girl! I'd saaaaaaayyy...... go get that ex-fluffy love bug!!
 

sarahp

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Do you own the house? Are you likely to get kicked out of it for any reason? Could you still afford to look after all of your current animals if this older girl develops health issues?

What if this new kitty doesn't get on with your current crew?
 
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monaxlisa

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Do you own the house? Are you likely to get kicked out of it for any reason?

I do own so that doesn't present any problems

Could you still afford to look after all of your current animals if this older girl develops health issues?

Since I work at a vet clinic I get everything at cost so I don't think that would be a problem.

What if this new kitty doesn't get on with your current crew?

I've been thinking about that too. She'd have to go back if it didn't work out but they did accept Munchkin and they all get along great with him, even though he's not one of the brothers.
 

natalie_ca

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Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

I doubt anyone will tell you different.

If you can afford to, I'm sure that long-haired beauty would love to come home with you
I agree!

My rental agency doesn't allow pets, but they turn a blind eye to the factt hat I have 2 cats. I've been wanting to get a third; a companion for Abby because she so loves to cuddle. But Chynna is 17 and set in her ways and didn't take to having Abby brought in 11 years ago. She still doesn't really like Abby and simply only tolerates her, so I have no reason to believe that she would be any different with another cat. Chynna is queen of the house and often terrorizes Abby for no other reason other than "because she can", and I feel she would do the same to another cat.

If I owned a house I would have the maximum limit of cats that I could.
 

autumnblueangel

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When I first adopted Snowii & Kaien, I already had 8 cats, and Snowii & Kaien were 9 months and 1 year when I adopted them from the Vets office, the Vet knew how many cats I had because obviously they were on her books & she was happy with the care they were getting, and then a few months later I fell in love with a 2 year old tabby that I named Jaszper whom I adopted from the same office.

I then went on to adopt Shayla & Jaxon as young cats, but even then, they knew how many I already had. So, as long as you are able to take care of them, I think they will be ok as long as you can give her a good home.

My brood has grown considerably since then, and I won't be taking any more myself until I start up my rescue, rehabilitation & rehoming system when I buy bigger land, but I know how it feels to want to rescue and give a good home to older kitties who need it and if you can do it and want her, then my opinion is take her.
 

hissy

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I have way more than six right now, so how about we trade?


Anyway, if you are a cat hoarder, your home would be full of cats. They would be in poor health with long claws and messy fur. You would be turning down homes for kittens right and left and collecting more. When older cats got sick, instead of vetting them, you let them die and then carefully stack their corpse behind your couch. Your home would smell worse than a sewer. Your skin would be pale and your hair would be oily. You would not allow anyone in the house and there would be pathways of junk piled up all over your floor leaving you only one trail throughout the house.

Your bathtub would be full of kitty litter and you would never scoop it out no matter what. Floors and ceilings would be rotted through and food would be moldy left out for the strays that come in through a hole cut into a window screen above the kitchen sink.

Sound like fantasy? It perfectly described my mother-in-law's house before she was carted off to a home.

I believe that you are not a hoarder, you are a softie. You want to save them all, but sister, you really can't. Bringing in a new cat upsets the resident cats and then you deal with behavior issues like spraying and fighting even when the cats are neutered.

Where there is one cat to be rescued, there are a dozen more, so you have to just sit down and list the pros and cons of adding another cat to your home. You have to be sure you have all the monies needed to care for the cat and that you won't get tired of having hairballs in your slippers, dirty litter pans when you are working overtime at work, and that you have enough time to pay enough attention to all the cats so they get the TLC they need.
You also have to remember that stress is the number one reason behind many cat illnesses, so your resident cats need to be accepting of the newcomer and a gradual introduction works so much better than just putting the cats together from the get go
 
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monaxlisa

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Well I didn't call today. I figure I'll (try to) give it a few weeks and if she's still there maybe I'll pursue it. I don't want my boys to be unhappy and we all know how cats are so even though they accepted Munchkin so well there's a good chance they wouldn't accept another.
 

autumnblueangel

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I've noticed that you have all male cats at the moment? and you are considering a female? Ya know, it might just be ok if your males are neutered, they might happily accept an older female cat. I've noticed, that the cats that don't readily accept other cats are female cats raised on their own for 1-2 years or intact adult males & you bring in another male.

The only cat I've ever had a problem with accepting newbies was my eldest Keylah and thats because she is a spoilt brat and females go a bit strange when they are neutered as they age, not really readily accepting newbies into the home.

Though if you want her, I would be careful with putting it off too long because you don't know yet whether she'll be euthanised after a set period of time if she isn't adopted and if you really want her, then you need to decide before they do anything like that to her.
 
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monaxlisa

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Originally Posted by Autumnblueangel

Though if you want her, I would be careful with putting it off too long because you don't know yet whether she'll be euthanised after a set period of time if she isn't adopted and if you really want her, then you need to decide before they do anything like that to her.
Ok so I'm going to totally blame you if I end up with her

I think I will call, to find out how long she's been there and if she can go to a place with other animals.

My boys are all neutered and she is a female, actually probably pretty close to their age (they're about 7.5 now except for Munckin) When I brought Munchkin home he was an unneutered male and they're all totally fine together. It's been so long that I cant remember any knock down drag out fights but I guess there could have been.
 
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monaxlisa

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Well I called! They said she's been there for five or six months and is really unhappy. She is out with other cats now so I just have to worry about mine being bullies. They said she's eating other food and her heart murmer seems to be doing fine. She's very shy and hisses at men and she gets looked over a lot. I think I'm going to plan on going down tomorrow to see her!
 

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Originally Posted by MonaxLisa

Well I called! They said she's been there for five or six months and is really unhappy. She is out with other cats now so I just have to worry about mine being bullies. They said she's eating other food and her heart murmer seems to be doing fine. She's very shy and hisses at men and she gets looked over a lot. I think I'm going to plan on going down tomorrow to see her!
I hope everything goes well, that she will be a good fit with the rest of your crew, and you have a new furbaby to show off to us all!
You are NOT a cat hoarder, you are a compasionate person with the means to take care of animals, a good thing, not bad!!
 
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monaxlisa

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Well I picked her up. It was a 2.5 hour drive and when I got there they told me she's not good with other cats and that she's been there for about 7 weeks (not five or six months) but I decided to take her and give it a try. I'm going through buyers remorse right now because she hissed at my boys (they were really good though) and got pretty fussy with me when I trimmed her back claws. She's in a bedroom alone right now so we'll see. She's all matted so I'm hoping she'll calm down and let me groom her. I'll give it a week and if she's not happy by sunday/monday she'll go back. She's pretty though, one yellow eye and one blue!
 

sakura

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Originally Posted by MonaxLisa

Well I picked her up. It was a 2.5 hour drive and when I got there they told me she's not good with other cats and that she's been there for about 7 weeks (not five or six months) but I decided to take her and give it a try. I'm going through buyers remorse right now because she hissed at my boys (they were really good though) and got pretty fussy with me when I trimmed her back claws. She's in a bedroom alone right now so we'll see. She's all matted so I'm hoping she'll calm down and let me groom her. I'll give it a week and if she's not happy by sunday/monday she'll go back. She's pretty though, one yellow eye and one blue!
I'm surprised they let you adopt her knowing that she isn't good with other cats. The shelter I volunteer for won't adopt animals into homes that are a bad match (for example, a dog known to be bad with young kids wouldn't be allowed to go to a home where they've listed that kids live on the intake questionnaire), because they want the best match for the animal. Then again, shelters don't exactly have the luxury of space...

Since you work in a vet's office, I'm sure you are probably aware of proper cat-to-cat introductions and how they should be very slow. The new kitty should have her own room for at least a few days and shouldn't even have to interact with the other cats. Hissing is normal! There is a Rescue-Remedy-type product (made by Spirit Essences) designed for introductions of cats and multi-cat households, you might look into it.

I'd really just try to give her her own space and keep her in the bedroom. Give it a few months though...a week is too short. When I introduced my first 2 cats, the younger one drove the older one nuts. After a year, there was a noticeable improvement. Our 3rd cat now terrorizes the 2nd, so the 3rd cat stays in his own bedroom all day when people aren't around to watch them.
 

autumnblueangel

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i'm sure if you give her time she'll settle down, i'm also sure your boys will show her, her place lol they are big boys, they can stand up for themselves and she is a big girl, she can find her own space... give her time, she's in a new enviroment.
 
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monaxlisa

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I will give her more time, initially I was just totally stressed out that she was a psycho after her chomping, hissing, swatting thing. But she's really sweet and right now she's laying against my leg on my computer stool with me just hanging out. The poor think was pulling at her matts last night when I was sitting with her so I know they're bothering her, if she'd just let me get them out!
 
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