Must not take home more cats...

I went to see some relatives recently and I got to see the six kittens they had in the house. Very tiny little things - probably not more than a month old and just so darn cute. I held a beautiful cream-colored one for about 45 minutes and he was so calm and happy.

He gave me those adorable, heart-melting kitten love looks so many times. It was so hard to not take him home, but I still live at home myself and my mother would wring my neck if I brought home another animal. She hates the cats I have now and has told me that, "once these ones croak, we ain't gettin' no more!"

I think kittens are my Kryptonite. I just hope those babies can find some good homes - my one aunt is taking three of them. And I hope someone spays the mother cat since it's not even my family's pet - it's the neighbor's and they can't afford to care for them.

Unfortunately, you cannot give animals away around here because everybody has one. I always see ads in the paper for free kittens and puppies. Everyone I know - friends, relatives, etc. - all already have at least a few cats. I wouldn't want BF to take another one because odds are his stepfather would just dump it somewhere when it became sexually mature and began peeing everywhere or going into heat like he did with the last three female cats they had. My ex has two cats he takes good care of, but no room for more.

My aunt, last I knew, had at least 15 cats, so she's already stretched pretty thin. And if I had extra money to spare, I would help with vet costs. Honestly, and I hate to sound like a cheapskate here, my aunt and her husband are pretty well-off financially, so they could afford to have the mother spayed and, if her and her daughter keep any of the kittens, afford to get them altered too.

It's also very hard for me to see my family because I am forbidden from seeing them and while I don't want to go into too much detail, if my mother finds out I still speak to these relatives, she will make my life very miserable. So my contact is limited. But believe me, if I could take one, I definitely would. I just worry I would neglect my other three - as much as I love kittens, I have three fur-babies at home who need me and I fear they won't all get adequate attention if there was another kitty.