How far would you go to help cats in need?

I mean really, how far?

Now that it's kitten season I seem to be searching the area classifieds every day looking for urgent cases of cats & kittens in need. Nothing seems to bring out the worst in people other than the cats they don't want having kittens they don't want.
And I am still traumatized from learning an in-law had her husband shoot all their kittens simply because they didn't want them (I reported them, nothing happened.)

We already have a foster cat and her four babies upstairs and the closest shelter is 2 hours away so their expenses are coming out of our pockets, including the momma's spay when the kittens are weaned.

But yesterday I saw an ad where two momma cats (who happen to be mother and daughter) and their 8 babies between them need a home, or their owner will euthanize all of them. The ad just about made me cry. I can't bear that kind of heartlessness.

The problem is, I already got involved in this situation by sending the owner an e-mail, and, without realizing, the people actually live quite far away and it requires a ferry to get there. They seem to want to get rid of the cats asap, but the babies are only two weeks old. I don't know if they are willing to keep them longer. And I wouldn't be able to pick them up from June 5th - the 17th. This situation looks like it will be really difficult, I'm not sure how we will manage it. I'm also worried about the stress of the travel on the mother cats and their babies. Although our current foster came from over an hour away, that journey didn't involve boats. I really want to help them though. I know I can't save them all, but 10 lives is a lot to lose, and they don't deserve to die just because they are alive.

Although the shelter that is 2 hours away seems to be willing to help us find them foster homes, my husband is still reluctantly drawn into all of this. He doesn't like the idea of 17 cats being in our home. He also doesn't like the idea of the journey it will take to get there.

What would you do? And what do you think I should do? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks for your kind words and advice, you guys.

I realize a lot of what I am able to do depends on the owner and the shelter.

I am still trying to establish with the owner how long they are willing to keep the cats. I guess it's positive that the person seems reluctant to have them killed. I reckon such a person could never understand why someone would drive almost 2 hours and take a 30 minute boat ride for cats they never met. I still really want to help them, though.

Our current foster was kicked out when her babies were 11 days old. And that was only because I was hesitant to transport babies until they were at least a week old and we needed to do it on a weekend. I do not like having to transport such young babies.

Ideally, this owner will be willing to keep them until they're weaned and find at least a few homes for them, and then give us the 'leftovers' to take to the shelter. But I'm never very optimistic about these kinds of people. It's still wait-and-see at the moment. And I'm less optimistic about it because summer vacations are coming up.

The shelter seems willing to help us with this case. But we still might need to provide a safe home for them until appropriate foster homes can be arranged. Although I can manage the 10 additions temporarily, I realize it would be really difficult to maintain them all until they were of age if that situation occurred, at least when it comes to vaccinations / spays. Plus, having to have an additional 8 kittens to re-home to my strict standards would be pretty close to impossible without the assistance of the shelter.

My husband realizes it's the right thing to do, he loves cats, but still doesn't want to have 17 cats in the house, though might concede to it on a temporary basis. He would prefer it if we could take them straight to the shelter (it's no-kill, but has limited capacity) or the home of some person who works there. He is at least willing to make the trip. So that's a start. He's just not used to this kind of stuff. He's also kind of feeling like he wants to take access to online classifieds away from me so I don't find any more cats in need of help, and is feeling like this might be a very long summer.

I guess fortunately, kitten season is pretty short here because we're in the Arctic. I'm still bewildered at the fact that when I moved here last autumn, we spent close to a month just trying to find cats of any sort and ended up having to drive 2 hours to get them! Now there are more cats than I know what to do with.

Well, we're going to pick them all up saturday. The extremely long drive, the boat. So I guess this answers my own question!
I'd better dig out my motion sickness medicine. It's going to be a hell of a trip, but it's for a good cause.

The person who owns them didn't want to wait any longer. They only ever gave them one to two more weeks to begin with.

Of course, I'm a little stressed about the prospect of transporting two mother cats with such young babies, I have this terrifying paranoid fear that I'll open the crate to dead babies because the mothers will freak out and all sorts of terrible things will happen.

Oddly, the owner added me as a friend on a social networking site. To see who I was. It struck me as odd. I permitted this until we get the cats. I am no friend of irresponsible pet owners.

After seeing what kind of person we are dealing with here, my husband is on board now. Even if we have to have 17 cats in our house temporarily. This person thinks 'no cat is worth the cost of sterilization' (but it's ok to kill them all.)

My husband will talk to the people at the shelter tonight. Hopefully someone there can take even just one of the mothers and her babies. I know that it's hard during this time of year since there are just so many cases of this, and so many kittens. But the people there really do care. And that goes a long way.

My husband also tries to be the voice of reason. But sometimes he's too reasonable, I think having a wife who is even starting to question her own sanity is good for him.

So, at least the cats will be out of harm's way. And hopefully I'll get good news from the shelter tonight.

Thanks again for your kind words and positive vibes!

I will really never understand people like this guy. I really hope he never gets another cat again. Sadly, they almost always do.

Unfortunately the shelter we were dealing with misled us, they seemed really willing to help according to the first person I contacted but then denied us any help in our call to them tonight - because they have no space or fosters since vacations are coming up. It's just the wrong time of year. And the shelter system here is so underfunded and inadequate.
We contacted another shelter, they are at least going to try to figure something out. But the response varies from one person to the next. So I'm not counting on it. Failing that, I will ask the vet, or appeal locally, or I'll end up with 12 foster kittens and 3 foster adults, and our two permanent ones. That is a lot. But I have the time, and as long as everyone is fed, given attention and using their litterbox...

We can get feliway here, but last time I checked the vet was out of the spray. We have the diffuser though. I'll check again if they have the spray. Good suggestion.

This person isn't willing to spend anything on his cats though. The adult cats don't even have basic necessities like transport cages. I doubt he would give us anything other than a 'thanks for getting rid of them for me'. It would be appreciated, but I try not to expect anything of such people.

I'm sure my husband wishes we lived in an apartment! I wouldn't be able to foster if I already had cats in an apartment. We are just two people with two cats in a 3 bedroom house though, so I have space that can be occupied. As long as everyone is able to do what they're able, no matter what that is, it helps.

Now with all the shelter troubles, I am starting to regret my getting involved in this case when thinking about the monumental task ahead. But they would all die otherwise.
Also. My husband has 'banned' me from online classifieds so it doesn't happen again. He says I'm not allowed to look at them without his supervision!

Shelters are almost always a problem everywhere. In the US, the good ones are few and far between. My mom lived next to a good one - and then she moved to Oklahoma, which is why she has 12 cats and 4 dogs permanently.

Here in Norway, I think the shelters are one of the worst things about this country. For a country as rich as this, it's inexcusable how little funding shelters receive compared to the social need for their services. And because of it, animals are just killed or abandoned en masse by their owners because they generally won't even take owner surrenders.

There is something that strikes me as.. not right... about the shelter we are currently trying to get help from anyhow. I remember last autumn they were the first place we turned to when we wanted to adopt cats, and they blew us off at each attempt.. just, not returning calls, ever. Even the night before we were supposed to pick up two. Even when we then wanted one of the older ones they'd had for years. We're starting to think they don't actually even have the cats they say they do.

I will definitely contact our vet to see what they can do. They seemed a little shocked when we were even taking the first momma cat and babies in, but they will definitely get a lot of business from us. Hopefully they can help. They keep the oddest business hours of any vet I know of, though. I'm also hoping they would be willing to do pediatric spays and neuters. I'm not sure if that has caught on here yet. It would be such a relief to know that none of the kittens would ever find themselves in the same situation as their mothers. Maybe they can give us a bulk discount on sterilizations.

We are also going to appeal locally for any willing foster homes, since we're willing to provide the supplies & vet treatment, it might be possible. I would just like the extra space and extra hands. It would be easier on the momma cats than making the trek to where the shelters are anyway.

This is going to be expensive, cats are pretty much our biggest expense!
I really like helping momma cats with young kittens though, growing up I never even saw kittens under 8 weeks because our cats were all fixed. It's just so heartwarming to watch them grow and develop every day, and satisfies my maternal instincts so I don't do something crazy like having a baby of my own, which would be much more expensive.

Norway is very divided between people who really love animals, and far too many people with a really barbaric, antiquated mentality who think cats are for killing or dumping if they become an inconvenience. I think the biggest problem is that most people don't realize the situation fully and let it go on. And no one seems content to do things so that they're fully adequate and actually .. meet the needs of society. During kitten / vacation season, I think even if 50 more fully-funded shelters popped up all over the country, there would still be a problem. Norway is a very rich country, but it doesn't have its priorities in order.

Tomorrow is the day. Can you believe the person who owns them actually just gave me a link to google maps when I asked for directions, with no .. address? I am really not looking forward to dealing with him. But, thank you all for your well wishes and positive vibes, I will need them!
I'll speak with the people at the vet on Monday, they are only open Monday - Thursday. Maybe they know someone who can help, or wants 15 cats.

He didn't live in the countryside, and did in fact have an address, he was just being... who he is with that. He did offer a glimmer of.. something.. in that he sent us with cat food and cat litter. The person who got rid of the cat we're currently fostering gave us absolutely nothing.

Anyway, very good news about the story. Late last night we got word from the shelter that two foster homes were found. I was surprised that the shelter was willing to help us, they seemed uninterested and dismissive at first. I misjudged them, maybe they just didn't want to get our hopes up or something. We offered to cover the cost of all of these cats in their care though, so I'm sure that helped. So we picked up the cats this morning and drove them to someone who worked at the shelter, everyone made it safely and will get to live their lives happily. I do feel a little bad because the two adult cats really loved each other, but they'll be taken care of and their babies will get to grow up, and in time everyone will find a home
We are out a small fortune on this project, but I feel it was worth it, even though my mother frantically accused me of being a crazy cat hoarder that would ruin my marriage, destroy my life, etc.

So, that's a job done. Thank you everyone for your support, encouragement and advice, it helped a lot!

I'm really surprised at how well it worked out too. And at the last minute. We were just lucky, or my desperate prayers worked! It is such a huge relief, but I am still very glad we wen't through all of that. I was just so glad we could give those little babies and their moms a future. And put them in the hands of people who care about their futures.
My husband is so pleased about it that he now thinks we should permanently be in the shelter's foster network once our current fosters are gone. Also so he doesn't have to worry about the impending doom of suddenly having a ton of foster cats to tend to on our own.
Thanks again everyone.