Going through some hard times, need some advice

For a while now we've been sort of the place to go for stray cats in our neighborhood. We live in a trailer park, so the density of housing also means a high density of strays. There's so many here that we've had to turn a lot of them away. We never wanted to have so many as we do, but it's hard when they're in such need. We can't afford to spay and neuter these animals and we do not have the social connections we need to get help. I've written every cat rescue group, every animal rescue group, and every vet in the area. I've been told no a few times, ignored most of the time, and got some great feedback from one group which unfortunately is totally in debt and can't help.

I have one pair in particular which has caused me a lot of heartache. The female and the male are both very good friends and clearly want to spend all their time together. We took the male in only because we were explicitly told by a "friend" that he would take him. He flaked out on us. We took the cat to his place 2 times, and both times he mumbled and wouldn't give us a straight answer about keeping him. We also had the female so then we were stuck with a male and a female. We don't have the money to even house them separately very easily. We finally got a big cage built, but too late. The female is pregnant again and we just don't know what to do.

This same female has showed up 2 times before and had babies. She has some sort of health problem though, and when her babies reach about 6 weeks, they start to die. From all the reading I have done, it really sounds like intestinal FIP. They get sick for about a week or two, and 3 out of 5 die, every time. If they survive that week or two, they do just fine. It's really heartbreaking to hold kittens as they die, and I don't want to go through that yet again(6 times so far). Getting anyone to take an adult cat is hard enough, but a pregnant one? Not likely!

Nobody can or will help us though. It's so frustrating. We intended to send them on their way again, but our park has really cracked down on strays and tries to trap them. Strays trapped here get killed, period. Our local "humane" society does not let colony cats live, and our local city is very unfriendly to pet owners in general. They even want to add a new law requiring license for any pet ownership and tax everyone on a per pet basis(no way I'm paying that!). Now I'm scared to let any of them go, but I also can't have them continue to reproduce. I lost my job due to employer lawbreaking a couple months ago, and money was already tight. I can't afford their health care needs, and we were never meaning to become a cat shelter. I feel really trapped right now. Worse yet, we're suffering our own health problems despite the fact that we're both fairly young.

We have a plan to raise money for cats and other animals by recycling various materials, but that plan will take a while to get started, especially since there's been difficulty getting local rescues to take initiative. These particular cats cannot wait for me to get the business going. I really don't know what to do. I even tried writing Ellen Degeneres for lack of a better option. Of course no reply....

I guess first and foremost, I'd like advice on what to do about her medical issues. Is there some sort of vaccine she can be given? She also has worm issues, but she always shows up pregnant, so I can't give her piperazine(which is garbage anyway). I also can't use the normal flea treatments on her. Are there any natural treatments that actually work? It seems like nobody we know wants to adopt a cat that has problems. I really don't want to adopt them out to homes that declaw, but at this point I'm not sure that's a worse situation than their current one. Am I being too stubborn on the declawing issue?

What do others do in situations like this? I need less cats to deal with right now, so I can actually spend time working on my bigger plan to raise money for them and earn money for us. We're overwhelmed to the point that it's really interfering with our productivity. Being sick on top of all that is just too much. All the things that have happened could not have been timed much worse. Sorry if I've carried on a bit here, but it's late and I'm very tired. Thanks in advance for any help.

I'm sorry, I know of your dilemma - I'm sure all of us, here, that care about the plight of ferals, and strays know of the pain you are feeling and experiencing.

It sounds like you are dealing with a "worse case senareo".

I guess you are unable to get the cats to a free clinic to have them altered?

I, too, took in a stray the had a feral best friend, I call her his wife - they managed to have two kittens before I learned how to trap and get them altered. I couldn't separate them - not any member of that family! So, I kept the kittens with their mommy and daddy - and have not regretted it for one moment.

We now have been able to bring them - all four - inside. We now have a total of 8 inside.

The idea and concern of the possibility of becoming ill and not being able to care for them could become overwhelming - but - the advice of "one day at a time" is the best advice I cling to, and remind/renew to you.

One no-kill shelter person told me that we're in a war, and it's a battle, one at a time - we do the best we can and need to give ourselves permission to accept that we are doing the best we can - at least we're in the battle!

I can't answer the health issues - other than it sounds like the #1 thing would be to get them altered first, and offer you some emphathy.

This is never easy to say, or to hear. But, if you don't have the resources available to help these cats, you need to stop feeding them and hope the next person in line does have the resources. It sounds like you have a contagion running the colony and nature will cull the group and only the strong will survive.

You either need to file non-profit status and start your own shelter and you would need help and monies to do this- or you need to stop. I know that sounds hard-hearted, but I have been in this game a very long time and when your county doesn't support feral cats- unless you change legislation you really are in a bad situation.

Here- it is the same thing- no shelters will take unowned cats and if they do they put them down immediately- even the kittens. It's just a problem that is out-of-control all over BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE ARE IRRESPONSIBLE AND WON'T SPAY AND NEUTER! And it is only getting worse. I spoke with a rep from a Georgia shelter last week and they are so over-run with cats, they are spaying and neutering- vaccinating one time and turning the cats loose in areas.

You can't plug a hole in the dam with just one finger and right now, you are that finger and the dam is overflowing. It's sad, but it is the truth.

And please don't think that I don't care, because I do. I currently live with over 20 strays here at home and have turned into a shelter because of the economy. No one is adopting. And my vet bill? It is in the stratosphere at the moment. But, I just keep making what payments I can and deal with the rest. My husband is retired, I work part time in town and then try and make monies by freelancing. That's my life at the moment.

I Googled for you and came up with these links-

http://cat.rescueme.org/Iowa

http://www.raccoonvalley.com/Randolph/Randolph.html

If you are right and the problem is FIP, there is no treatment and there is no (effective) vaccine.

There has been discussion of natural flea and internal parasite treatment in the Care & Grooming forum. Unfortunately, other than Advantage products, there's not really any medication available without a vet scrip that's actually reasonably safe and effective for cats, period.

Now.... sadly, hissy's advice is what is best for the cats. I know it doesn't sit right with our human emotions. Rescuing starts with the heart - but has to be run by the brain.

When you start digging into the problem, and reading up on how to manage feral cats and colonies, you'll find that people that are already working with cats and have been (like hissy, for something like 20 years) for a long time - the first and most important place to start is by stopping the breeding. If you can't take on this part of it, it's really best to stop feeding them. You promote more homeless cats by giving them enough nutrition to keep going, and keep breeding - compounding the problem. Unless they're being sterilized, it's really a no-win situation for everyone (as you're discovering the hard way).

My husband and I live in an RV in an RV/trailer park, and we know the problem of strays and ferals - especially as we're in a rural area, where people also dump animals.

We're in NW New Jersey, and couldn't find any shelters or rescues to help us trap the feral cats and deal with them. The only choice was to do it ourselves. The local vet did lend us a trap - and was willing to give us a discount and let us pay over time. Have you talked to the local vets? It's one of those things where if you don't find one on your first try, you just have to keep going.

I googled Low-cost neuter Black Hawk County, IA and came up with this:

http://www.adoptapet.com/adoption_rescue/76030.html This website says:

"TigeraCat Rescues is an all-volunteer, donation-funded, 501c3 non-profit animal welfare charity specializing in cats. TCR promotes population and disease control through viable, proven, No-Kill alternatives. TCR also provides assistance to the public through education, resource referral, volunteer assistance, TNR, and adoption services.

TCR is currently fund-raising to establish a No-Kill cat facility/shelter, Trap-Neuter-Return, and other services to the general public.

However, they're struggling (I think) as their website is basically about raising funds - yet they seem to cover a large area, so I'm not sure what to think. But here's the direct link to their website:

http://www.tigeracat.com/info/display?PageID=6280

If you haven't contacted them, sounds like it might be a very good idea.

This one is in Bremer County - but if you take a look at the page, they seem to be in rather desperate need of people able to help provide transport services (and may be able to pay for gas), so you might be able to work something out with them (for low-cost or free spay/neuter): http://www.waverlyhumane.org/info/display?PageID=6722

Searching Petfinder:

This is a foster network. If you haven't already contacted them, it's worth an e-mail to explain your situation, and let them know that all you're looking for is a low- or no-cost way to get the cats fixed: http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/IA54.html This is their e-mail (It's not on their Petfinder page, but if you click on "See our Pets" and then click on one of the animals listed, the e-mail is available via that link): [email protected]

SNAP of NE IA: http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/IA192.html

...which led to other leads:

Statewide program: http://www.spay-iowa.org/Find_a_Program.html

http://www.nootersclub.org/lowcostspayneuter.htm

And if you haven't found anything by the time you're here. it's worth contacting the national organization: SpayUSA: http://www.spayusa.org/search/default.asp

Wow so much feedback. Gonna take a few to go over it all and I'm just up from bed for a few minutes. I will get back to you tomorrow, I promise!

I definitely am not feeding any strays. Sorry if I gave that impression, but I am currently only feeding indoor cats. We were feeding strays, but then we hit hard times and we quit giving them anything other than our scraps that we throw out anyway. All the cats in question are cats we've taken in. I really need to get the currently bunch we have dealt with before we take on any more responsibilities. My plans are much bigger than this, but it's just a bad time right at the moment. Anyway, I guess I can't be too upset that people won't help with cats. I mean, people let other people suffer and die needlessly, it's not that surprising that cats get neglected and a few caring people get stuck with a disproportionate amount of the burden. The world can just be a bit disappointing is all...

Tigera Cats is a great group. I've talked with them quite a bit. One of their leaders is even allergic to cats and still has put herself in debt to save them. I just wish I could afford even their at-cost services right now. She was even trying to save up cans and bottles to raise a bit of money for our kittens that were dying, but then someone stole them. I was even a bit snappy with her after writing her for the third time in 2 years and hearing they were full and not taking more cats. I did apologize later and we're cool now. It's just that it's a bit like calling 911, only to find that the EMTs can't afford gas for their ambulance. I think it'd be tempting to yell at whomever answered, but really it's not their fault. She was really great about all of it though.

Anyway, thanks for the links. I will pour over this more in the morning.

THE biggest thing is to get the female(s) fixed. If they keep having kittens, everything is just going to get worse. Nothing is as important as spaying them (it wasn't clear from your post as to whether there's only the one female or more). If there is only the one female, it should be reasonably easy to find someone who will pay for the spay.

Call every vet in town (ask only about spaying her, nothing else); many vets have at least one client who will cover spays for low-income people. Ask every rescue agency and shelter, too. It's true that most shelters and rescues are overrun and can't take more cats in, but most of them can dig up $100 to spay a cat in order to prevent the birth of more cats needing more rescuing. It's more cost-effective that way. Once she's spayed, you'll have breathing room to figure out what to do next. If she's not spayed, she'll be pregnant just about constantly and you'll never be able to take care of things, on top of having to find homes for the surviving kittens. So that's the #1 priority!

I agree with Willowy. The links that have been provided will hopefully help you find a place to get your indoor female(s) spayed (if you can't find a local vet or local "angel" to help).

Well I've sent tons of emails out and been completely ignored by everyone except Tigera, and they have no money.

So we've just started doing whatever we can to raise money. We've put up an ad on Craigslist, and we've even been going out to apartment complexes and dumpster diving for appliances and cans/bottles. So far we've been finding a fair amount of stuff, but hopefully we can really keep growing this project. We're still nowhere near out of trouble though. We still can't afford to do anything for these cats.

Momba just gave birth to her latest litter two days ago. She had 4 babies. All her previous litters were 3 gray, 1 gray and white, and 1 black and white, but this litter is 3 black and white and one gray. They're very cute and I hope they make it, but I suspect some of them will be dead in a couple months. I'm not going to get my hopes up too much with this litter.

Do you have a phone? The State program and SpayUSA you have to call. And calling often works better than e-mails.

I don't have a phone, but that's probably a good idea. I have Asperger's Syndrome though and am not a big fan of talking to people on the phone. It's hard enough to figure people out in person.