When did this become MY responsibility?

taryn

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Bobby wanted to walk through the woods so we got near a house that had been foreclosed, and I hear meowing. I tell Bobby to stay back and walk over and see a cat at the door to the house next door(which as been empty for god knows how long.) I call it and crouch down and it walks right over and wants attention and lots of it. It let me pick it up but didn't want me to carry it for long, I got scratched by a back claw accidentally(the cat didn't mean to I could tell.) Well we start walking off and it follows, but it starts starting to attack our feet(seriously claws and teeth, it meant business) and hissing. Bobby starts getting scared so I told him I'd walk in front since he was afraid since the cat was going for his feet too. It's following us then stops and hisses claws out and tries to bite me through my birks. I'm now worried the cat is sick and it has accidentally scratched me so now I have a sick cat that might have got me sick. So I crouch down and try to pet it and it immediately becomes super sweet cat again, loving on me and purring. It's afraid of feet so most likely someone has been kicking it. We start walking back to Paul's and a dog starts barking. Mitzi has her handyman building her a new shed and I forgot he brings his dog and tethers it up front. Cat stops obviously so I go home(to Paul's) with Bobby and grab the carrier, tell Bobby to stay there and play and then walk right up back the road to see if I can get the cat. It let me scruff it and hissed a little when I pushed it's back end in and once in the carrier, it didn't care. I go to Mickey's to see if she knows where it came form and she had seen it when she was down there and it went for her feet too.

It hates other cats, it's been hissing at mine from it's carrier since I got it back. I put a full bowl of food in the carrier and told it it prolly hadn't had some of this in a while. The cat scarfed it down and has ate almost the entire bowl, this is around a 2 cup bowl. I gave it water.

I don't know what to do with it. I know where it belongs due to where it was and the fact that it hates other cats(like her other one the Siamese.)

The worst part it is calico and FEMALE. I just got the last of my girls Half-tail done I don't want or need anymore **** female cats. When in the hell did it become my freaking responsibility to take care of every cat people no longer want. Mickey(our other neighbor) feeds them too, Blue has been staying with her mostly.

I know it's hers because she only takes female cats and then doesn't take care of them so they left this one behind.

I get one done and another appears, I give up.

I'll release it after I show it to Mitzi and it can go do whatever it is it wants to do. If it stays mean to my cats they'll chase it off like they did the Siamese. I'm also keeping it in the carrier so that they try to acclimate to each other(well get her acclimated in hopes she calms down.) This isn't fair to me and it sure as heck isn't fair to the CAT most of all.

Taryn
 

strange_wings

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You might want to take out the B-word before the mods do.


I've had cats do that before. I honestly don't know why they feel like they have to go after your feet and legs like that as it is meant to keep you there giving them attention.
I've had a stray do it, and a handful of my cats. Sherman and MewMew will do it and to the point that they'd scratch you in the process.
They're both healthy affectionate cats.

Do you have a rescue that can work with you?
 

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No it isnt fair, but thank you for helping her. Very sad how so many animals are just tossed aside, just because.

You can go on petfinder.org, on the left search for cats with your zip code. A list will come up of local shelter and rescue groups. Start contacting the rescue groups explaining your situation. They may help you find a foster home for her, but you will have to contact as many as you can.
 

missymotus

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Originally Posted by Taryn

It hates other cats, it's been hissing at mine from it's carrier since I got it back.
That does not mean she hates other cats, ever read the intro threads in the behaviour section? Some cats take months and months to adjust, especially since you've picked her up and taken her to a new house with strange cats to her.

Since she's friendly and not feral couldn't she be adopted out instead of re-released? A shelter or rescue group may be able to help.
 

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Taryn,

Thanks for being nice to her however, please don't take this the wrong way, but your cats are Leukemia positive, and IMO bringing cats that might be healthy to close contact with them is doing them no good; on the contrary... You don't know if this cat is up to date on his vaccines, so please let it go before it has contact with your inside or outside cats... If you do keep her please make sure to vaccinate her accordingly.

Please take her to a shelter or at the worst case scenario release her where she was. I know this is not the optimum situation but if she gets leukemia and remains an outside cat she will be one more spreading the disease. I remember you saying you have Leukemia positive outside cats... just please when you release her, release her away from them...
 

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Well, it seems to me that you ACCEPTED responsibility when you went to get a carrier and took her in. Yeah, it stinks. But many of us have trouble "turning away" and irresponsible people who dump pets kinda count on that. Someone told me once that it is "the curse of being good" when you essentially get dumped on.

That said, I agree with other posters to get on the phone and the Internet and see if a rescue can take her in. That will be a challenge this time of year as it is kitten season. As a female, she may ALREADY be pregnant and not even showing.

And BLESS YOU for doing the right thing by this cat!!
 
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taryn

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Sorry about the language, that woman just makes me so mad and that is what everyone in the neighborhood calls her so I wasn't thinking, I was just typing. I was in a blind rage when I posted that.

She's from the neighborhood, and leukemia is everywhere around here(and if she has mated with anyone around here she has had contact with a male with leukemia or if she has had contact with any other cat in the neighborhood, and I'm sure she has, she has already been exposed, I know the woman's last cat had leukemia as well) and she won't let the other cats near her. Mama did chase her off once since she wasn't going to be nice. I think she calmed down since Mama did let her eat earlier today(or at least I didn't hear any disagreements.) She is in a carrier and Mitzi and I will be contacting everyone and their dog to find someone to take her. She doesn't understand leaving Mitzi's dogs alone. If Dylan gets her he will kill her and if she scratches one of Mitzi's dogs then there are going to be big problems. Mitzi is mad at me over it. She was mad at me and I have apologized over and over, I didn't expect the cat to keep getting in Mitzi's yard and not leaving when the dogs come out(or running to safety then standing there taunting them.) I had to go get her tonight from Mitzi's she was on the top of Mitzi's wood pile when Mitzi left with the dogs to give then a bath and a haircut(she's a professional groomer so she does them in her shop on her off hours) and then when she came back. That was when I put her in the carrier and she'll have to stay there until we find her a home. Mitzi knows a woman who works for a rescue(she does grooming for them when they get dogs that need to be groomed but weren't. Mitzi did a 5 hour shave down of a Great Pyrenees from a puppy mill seizure last year) and she'll see if she can recommend a rescue that might take her(Jennette has more cats at the rescue than she knows what to do with, they are beyond capacity with cats. Sadly just about everyone is at or above capacity. I couldn't find a spot in a rescue for Mama in Dec when she had her prolapse and I wanted to help her, thankfully the one rescue referred me to the low cost vet clinic that fixed her prolapse.) If all else fails I'll take her to a humane society in MO that will take any cat no matter what, they even attempt to adopt out FeLV and FIV cats. Mitzi contacted the dude with the lost orange cat to see if he wanted her but he said he didn't want another female, he said he would contact a friend who lost her cat and see if she wants her.

This cat is just desperate, she needs a person to love her. Even if she wasn't causing issues with Mitzi I'd be trying to find her a home because this is a cat who needs a human and a home inside someone's house curled up in their lap. I'm not bringing her inside for any reason, I'm at my inside limit at 2. This cat was at some point a pet or at least had people, she is too friendly and is scared because her people suddenly disappeared without her. I decided to take on the responsibility but the cat also followed me home until Buddy started barking at her and at that point I couldn't just leave her behind. She won't leave this area and I can't go release her back where she came from she'll starve to death or become coyote chow or somehow else end up dead. No one lives in either house and I have a feeling both are going to be empty for years(heck one of them has already been empty for years.) I also think she'd just follow me back anyways unless I drove her and dropped her off where she came from. Either way that just makes me feel like I am abandoning her all over again. I didn't plan or want another freaking cat I already take care of too many but I don't think any of you could have just walked away from the sound of the pleading meows that made me investigate further and could have just left her there to die or just said "oh well" when the dog made her stop and not gone back to get her. I also did because she was female and this neighborhood doesn't need anymore cats period, there are already too many cats around here. If we don't get the population under control by getting all the females spayed and all the males neutered we are never going to be able to get rid of the leukemia(and that is the least pressing issue, the bigger one is that we don't need anymore cats here, healthy or not period) in the neighborhood, and I'm sure she has been through a heat and mated and if she was infected she will give birth to infected kittens and the cycle will continue. I know it sounds wrong but I'd rather risk exposing her briefly to leukemia(I knew she needed a home if she stuck around she isn't an outside cat and letting her continue to be so would just be cruel) than to leave her to starve to death or be killed in any other way, like I said pretty much if she has had contact with any other cat(not just mine, when I say everyone is infected I'm not kidding, I'm hoping as an adult she might have some natural immunity because woman let her animals die instead of taking them to a vet so I promise this cat has never been in a vet's office in her life) in this neighborhood she has been exposed and mine have no interest in touching her and vice-versa.

I'm just glad this woman in gone, I'm sick of dealing with her 'trash', it's so unfair to the animals, and that is exactly how she treats these animal like they are trash she can just throw away. Mitzi had to rescue 2 of her dogs, it took them over 6 months to get either dog healthy enough to even be put up for adoption, her Siamese(she looked like she was on death's door before even getting pregnant with her first litter of the year) died after having her 3rd litter this summer, and now I find another cat at her place abandoned and literally starving to death scared out of it's mind frantic to find a person. She wasn't meowing she was pleading for help.

This kitty has to have a home, she isn't an outside cat she needs a human to love her and take care of her beyond what I can provide. She isn't feral or even an outside cat, unlike all of the outside cats, none of them would make it as an inside cat(they are all deathly afraid of coming inside), except for possibly Blue. She is the most friendly cat I have ever seen. I know our humane society has been converted to no kill and if they have an opening I'll take her there. A friendly cat like her would be adopted in a heartbeat. Ok, I'm crying over this cat. I know I can't save everyone but this cat was almost dropped in my lap, there has to have been a reason(call it fate or everything happens for a reason, whatever) Bobby and I walked down there. This cat would have starved to death if I hadn't found it, it wasn't leaving it's home unless it knew another human was going to be there. It literally followed me, I couldn't have left it behind if I wanted to.

This cat was already in the neighborhood that is filled with leukemia so it's not like I grabbed a cat from a different neighborhood and dumped it here. The cat decided to stay here, she was free to leave but she hasn't wanted to.

Sorry I just needed to vent, I knew ya'll would understand where I was coming from. I was heartbroken finding this cat, that stupid woman, even gone I still have to save her animals because she wouldn't take care of them. I couldn't save her Siamese but I can save this one.

Taryn
 
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taryn

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I got pictures of this sweet girl. I put her on Craigslist with a $5 rehoming fee just to make sure she goes to a good loving home since 'free' animals don't always go to people who are going to be nice to them and actually give them a loving home rather than just abuse them. I've heard too many bad stories about what can happen to a 'free' animal.

She is just so loving, I wish I could keep her but I'm at my limit and I'm afraid she is going to end up getting killed by a dog since she has a tendency to 'freeze' instead of running. They already cornered her once, luckily Mitzi got to them before they got her. The humane society said they'd take her if I gave them $30 but I'm not paying $30 for a cat that isn't mine essentially to sign her death warrant, everyone wants a little kitten and if she isn't already an adult she is an older kitten and I can't bear the thought of her being euthanized instead of finding a happy loving home. Mitzi is contacting various organizations to see if she can find her a home with a rescue or no-kill shelter, I'll find out of she found anything tonight. We are working our hardest Why are people so mean? Even 'dumping' her at a shelter would be kinder than just leaving her to starve to death.

Here are 2 pictures of the little girl(sorry for the bars of the kennel but I couldn't get her to stay in one place to snap a picture.) Also, the kennel is clean, I just washed it out.





Taryn
 

pami

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Did you contact any of the rescue group from what I posted above?
Not shelters, but rescue groups who have resources for fostering cats inside homes. And finding good home for them.

$5.00 is not enough. Anyone that would do something bad to her would pay $5.00, you need to charge $20.00-$30.00, to help and try to eliminate the bad guys. Although sometimes, they will pay that, too : (
 

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Originally Posted by Pami

$5.00 is not enough. Anyone that would do something bad to her would pay $5.00, you need to charge $20.00-$30.00, to help and try to eliminate the bad guys. Although sometimes, they will pay that, too : (
Yes, but they prefer them for free, and please tell anyone interested in adopting her that she may have been exposed to leukemia
 
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taryn

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I know $5 isn't enough but anymore and I feel like I am just making money off of her and she needs a good home. She can't live her life in a dog kennel and I can't let her out, she is going to get herself killed messing with the neighborhood dogs, she has already been cornered by Mitzi's dogs once, luckily she got to them before they grabbed her or it would have been all over. Mitzi is contacting everyone she knows of to find rescues that might have space for another cat. I have contacted every rescue I can think of on the MO side of the river and none of them have space.

I'm also going to tell them I will be calling to check on the cat(and trust me I will) to make sure she is working out in their home(that will hopefully weed out more weirdos.) There are plenty of free animals on craigslist(11 cats posted today, all for free, that's not counting dogs or what was posted yesterday or even before that) so hopefully someone will decide to give this little calico a good home and the bad guys won't be willing to pay for a cat when there are so many that are free. If there weren't as many free ones I'd be asking more. I'm hoping a rescue or no-kill will take her, I'll find out from Mitzi tonight.

I just want to do the right thing and at this point I don't even know what the right thing is anymore. I can't keep her but I can't return her to where she come from to starve to death, not to mention she'll just follow me home again.

(and yes I will tell them to have the cat tested for leukemia before letting anything of a feline origin near her.) She hasn't had any contact with my cats except for the less than 12 hours she was out and even then everyone kept their distance.

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ebrillblaiddes

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Originally Posted by Taryn

I know $5 isn't enough but anymore and I feel like I am just making money off of her
Set the price high, use it to reimburse yourself for food and any vet bills that turn up while you find her a home, and if there's anything else, donate it or the equivalent in feedbags to the shelter...and tell adopters that's what you're doing with the money; no one who loves cats will mind paying a higher price for a cat if it goes to that.
 
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taryn

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No, I don't think she would have left them. She is a young cat and in fairly good condition, if she had kittens she would have been in a lot worse shape than she is. Also, she isn't lactating or any sign of nipples and I know she would have gone home to take care of her kittens instead of staying here(her 'home' is not far away, it's less than a 5 min walk away.)

Remember we walked back, so she knows her way back. She knows there is food here. Even when let out of the cage all she wants is for me to love on her and she purrs so much.

I'm glad we did though, Mitzi asked some of the cleaners who came to try and clean the house and the guy told her he shoots cats so she might have ended up dead if the guy had a gun.

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killerapple

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Originally Posted by ebrillblaiddes

Set the price high, use it to reimburse yourself for food and any vet bills that turn up while you find her a home, and if there's anything else, donate it or the equivalent in feedbags to the shelter...and tell adopters that's what you're doing with the money; no one who loves cats will mind paying a higher price for a cat if it goes to that.
I agree with this. You could also set a higher fee and then have the fee include a bag of food or something.


What a cute kitty. She looks a bit like my Patches. that she gets adopted soon!!! You're doing a great thing!
 
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taryn

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I upped it to $15 and said that the entire fee would go to a rescue organization here. They can use the $15 more than I do. I put out so much on feed for my outside kitties and my own I couldn't afford to throw in a free bag of food. I would prefer to just give the entire fee to the rescue.

No one has called if I haven't had any people by Mon I'm going to have to take her to a shelter in MO that takes FeLV pos cats and tried to adopt them out so if she does have it then she at least has a chance.

I don't want to do it but I can't keep her cooped up in a kennel all the time.
Her and Mama don't like each other at all so I can't have her out if Mama is here(Mama hissed at her, she hissed and struck at Mama and then it was over and I put her back in the kennel.) I did let her out when I cleaned the litter box in her cage(she was someone's pet, she is using the box) since no one else was around and she stayed here.

I don't want her out down if she can't find a home but I also can't just leave her stuck in the cage forever. I just don't know what to do at this point.

Taryn
 

icklemiss21

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I would take her to the shelter, if you have one where she will be adopted, they can screen adopters and tend to get notice on the names of the people adopting who shouldn't
 

pami

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Originally Posted by icklemiss21

I would take her to the shelter, if you have one where she will be adopted, they can screen adopters and tend to get notice on the names of the people adopting who shouldn't
I agree, I would go ahead and do that. So they can screen and she will be out of the cage and your kitties wont be stressed anymore.
 
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taryn

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My cats aren't stressed. I think Mama just didn't want her near HER food, she growled and hissed at Blue, who just looked at her like she was stupid, meowed at her and started eating.

Everyone else tolerates her in the cage. In fact her and Goldie Jr touched noses through the cage.

If she isn't adopted at the shelter she will be put to sleep. I emailed someone who was looking for a calico on Craigslist but they want a kitten and she is either an adult or an older kitten.

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Taryn, how are things going with finding her a home/shelter?

I'm sorry, but I'm really left wondering why you would bring a stray cat into a household where you have cats infected by FeLV? I know you say it's because "all" the cats around you are infected, but there is just no way to know that's true - it is also unlikely. I don't understand why you “assume†every stray in your immediate area has FeLV? The likelihood of all cats in one area being FeLV positive is quite low, and the only real way of finding out is to have the stray tested. As you may not be aware, FeLV is known as the “disease of the friendly cat," and it is not usually found in feral colonies or in wild stray cats as much as it is in multi-cat households and overcrowded shelters. Only about a third of the cats exposed to FeLV actually will get the disease. Others will become carriers, or the virus will just lay dormant until the cat gets older or until the cat experiences trauma or intense stress, then the virus can strike.

But it's just not right to assume every cat you see in your backyard has this disease, but saying that, I also donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t see the wisdom of bringing a stray into a home where the disease already exists. It's really unclear as to whether you're keeping her isolated in the crate - which as you point out is just not really an option. And have you had Nuts neutered yet? That's just another potential problem.


Have you conducted an e-mail campaign based on Petfinder listings in your area or anything to find a foster network or shelter for her? I know from the thread on Nuts that there are low-cost sterilization clinics in the area - have you taken her in yet? Have you contacted any local shelters or vets to see if there's a large dog crate/pen you could borrow until you find a solution for her?

The bottom line, in answer to your original question - it really isnâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t your responsibility to save the strays if you canâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t do so safely. It IS your responsibility to care for your own cats, and keep their stress levels down so they donâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]t become actively ill, focusing on taking care of your own.

But hopefully this is all moot, and you just haven't updated the thread....
 
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