Just an update

I know it's been a while since I last posted. I just wanted to say the cats are doing well, but unfortunately we are finding it necessary to move from our current location. Our landlord (who was a psychiatrist, and understood my husband had mental issues that would be helped by having an animal) never made us put down a deposit, probably because he knew he could not legally do that. However, he just sold the property, and the new owners are wanting to do extensive renovations. We just found out about it a couple of days ago, and we need to be out by May 8th. We have not been able to find a pet friendly apartment.

Carly, one of the kittens we rescued last summer, has indeed been helping as a support animal. My husband has Borderline Personality Disorder and Asperger's Syndome as well as severe Tourette's disorder (it mimics seizures sometimes) and panic attacks. She has been able to sense whenever a switch in mood was coming on, or whenever he is about to twitch out so severely that he would end up on the floor. She comes and places herself on his lap and refuses to budge until the mood has passed or he is no longer in danger of falling to the ground.

She is always very concerned whenever my husband leaves the house and voices her disquiet about it. It doesn't happen if I go somewhere with him (we've taped) so she is very concerned about him gone alone.

Well, we decided we would see if we can get into my husband's psychiatrist (it's a new one) and that would normally take about a month to get an appointment. Well, he was able to get one for TOMORROW. This new psychiatrist deals with all of the disorders (except the Tourette's) and is going to work out a treatment plan that will include Carly as a support animal.

This means that we should at least be able to keep Carly and possibly Simon, her littermate, as they are a bonded pair, because landlords cannot discriminate against support animals if they are part of a mental health patient's treatment program. They are limited to one support animal but often you can keep another animal the support animal is bonded to. Simon helps my husband as well, though to a lesser degree.

Unfortunately we will have to rehome Binky and Cookie. Cookie was far too high energy and vocal for us anyway. He would do better as an only cat well loved by people who like that kind of cat. Binky is low energy, Cookie kinda annoys her (what teenage son doesn't?) Binky's idea of exercise is "Today I roll right, tomorrow I roll left."

So now to find people who can care for them as well or better than we would ourselves...

I hope the appointment with your DH's new dr. went well, and that he approved Carly and Simon as support animals.

That's great that Carly is able to sense his moods and what not and help him out.  Very cool! 

Good luck in your move, AND in finding good homes for Binky and Cookie. 

I am so glad to see your update as I always think of you, your husband and the kitties. I will be sending mega vibes that this will work out for Carly and Simon to stay. :cross: So very sorry to hear that you will have to rehome Cookie and Binky and hope that you can find them a loving, suitable home that I know you want for them. You have gone so above and beyond to rescue these kitties all the while caring for your husband. Bless you, dear! Let us know how things work themselves out. :cross:

that you manage to keep Carly and Simon and find great homes for Cookie and Binky! It's pretty amazing how animals can sense things. My father suffered from epilepsy following a major stroke, and one of the dogs started warning about upcoming attacks all on her own. She would go to him, put her paw on his knee and whine till she got somebody's attention. She was never wrong, either.

Well good news and bad news.

First, we have found a place to live.

The bad news is that we can only keep one cat. the place has a no pet policy and she wants to make sure that nobody will know we have a cat. The apartment complex has their "community cat" who lives outside (though it's allowed inside someone's apartment if the weather is terrible.) Basically everyone feeds it and pets it, and it has a nice cushy chair to sleep on though it appears to like sleeping on the window air conditioning/heating units a lot better.

We are trying to decide between Binky and Carly. The owner of the complex said female cats only, as she's had terrible experiences with males. There are pros and cons to both cats. Remember, the cat is an emotional support animal. So we're trying to figure out which cat will work best.

Binky pros:

She is quiet and unassuming.

She is sociable enough to enjoy being petted and held.

You won't know she's there unless she needs something.

Binky cons:

You have to offer attention, she does not seek it out on her own. 

She is longhaired and does shed profusely.

She is not a very active cat. (neutral)

She is not a cuddler.

She doesn't like to play, she just sits around. (Former feral.)

If Binky could be an only cat I think she would open up some more.

Carly pros:

She is a little more well rounded than Binky. She will play.

She seeks out attention.

She is shorthaired but has a very plush coat.

She enjoys cuddling.

Carly cons:

The moment my husband leaves her sight she starts screeching at the top of her lungs. It doesn't even matter if I'm in the room or not. She's fine if we both leave the house but if he leaves or shuts any door in the house she becomes very concerned.

She has a tendency to pee outside of her box even if we've just cleaned it, if she is otherwise upset about something.

Here is a problem. We have three cats to rehome. There is one cat rescue within an hour of us, and they are full. The no kill shelter that just opened up really is pretty much dogs only. They'll take cats only if their owner died or something drastic like that. You're not supposed to put animals on Craigslist for free but only the free animals are being taken. We do not want to take them to the shelter. They would be given 24 hours before they are put down.

Our neighbor a few doors down has a big backyard and already has a colony of about 8 cats, ranging from completely feral to able to be petted and picked up. The problem is he also lives right on the most major street in town. Cats from his colony have been hit, kittens have been snatched up by owls, and his mentality is "They'll come and go, if they want to go I'm not going to stop them" and "All cats will die eventually, at least being hit is relatively painless." He provides food, water, a little bit of shelter from the rain and cold and some attention. There's a coffee shop a few doors down and his cats often follow him down to it where they get loved on by college students. Binky was born right next to his house, and is related to more than half of his cats. She was a feral for the first year of her life. She could adjust to it again. It's not what we want for her though.

I mention our neighbor because he has offered to take our cats if we can't find anything else in time. What I wonder is two things:

1) Is this existence better for them than just being put down? He won't be trying to rehome them, they'll end up going semi wild. At least they are fixed. Cookie, Simon, and Carly are too young to remember what life was out there, and Binky would really balk at being put outside again.

2) The place we are moving is only a few blocks away (and across the major road) from where we are currently living, and as we don't drive, our scent would probably carry to over there, especially as I have to pass that house on my way to work. Is it possible they would try to come find us?

If you had to make a choice between the shelter (which will mean the end of their lives) and a semi-feral existence, which would you choose?

I would find a person to foster my pets until I could locate an apartment that allowed them all. I would never give up my pets. I understand you have to move now, but I would move and continue looking for a place to move my whole family.

I agree with Kitsey.  I would keep looking for a place that would accept my whole family.  Think of them as children.  

If you do put them on Craigslist, I would ask a small amount so the people with ill intentions are dissuaded from taking them.  If you do rehome them, be sure the person taking them will give them a loving home.

There must be a landlord somewhere who is accepting of pets.  Yours have been inside kitties and would not adapt well to outside living.

I forgot to say if I had to choose, I would keep Carly as she is more in-tune with your husband and is obviously very bonded to him.  Binky would have an easier time bonding to someone else.

My preference remains to keep looking for a place that accepts all of you.

Unfortunately, such a place does not exist in this town, even  the "pet friendly" places say a maximum of 2 and want $250 deposit PER CAT. And as I JUST got a job last month we cannot move out of this town. I don't drive, and I have to have something within walking distance. Cats are regarded as vermin here, no joke. People don't want them, if they wander into your yard it's perfectly legal to shoot them.

We have asked for something for them on Craigslist, but everyone else is putting them up for free. People aren't going to pay for an animal here, it's not how things are done. They don't spay and neuter animals, you just give away the puppies and kittens to other people. Then once they're breeding age the cycle begins again or people dump them.

It's sick and I hate it. But putting up a fee for them means nobody will take them. Nobody.

Okay so we have since gotten permission to take Binky with us as well. Now we just have to find homes for the boys.

From what I was told in NJ but from someone who lived in few states service animals can not be charged rent/deposit.  May not be true but worth looking into for next time.

Unfortunately, all that his therapist was allowed to do is recommend that he be able to keep a cat. We managed to get them to allow us to keep two, females only, however. We are paying a pet deposit of $150, but they're going to allow us to pay it in 3 installments.

Later on he may actually get paperwork saying the animal is actually a part of his treatment plan, but this was a new therapist and he needs to see my husband more first. 

I wish we had been given more time, we found out the day before Easter and were told we had to have everything out of the house by May 8th. If I hadn't just gotten a job a month earlier I would have looked outside of our community, but as it's the first job I've had in almost five whole years it would not look good to quit so quickly. I don't drive, so I had to move somewhere within walking distance.

The boys were destructive too, and need much better homes than an apartment environment. Cookie is very active and vocal, Simon is active and will charm his way into your face and food.

We don't know what to do with them, there have been no calls and no leads for places to take them, the no kill shelter in town only deals with dogs, the cat rescue an hour away is full (and has blocked me from their facebook page for posting about them too frequently.) The local shelter will give them 24 hours...

Many early neutered males look like females are they going to sex them?...just saying that is sorta odd.  Males are the issue when NOT fixed.  Hopefully they do not realize females can and do spray too.
 

Easter to May seems like it violates some policy.  Unless you were already being evicted.  I would look just to know the offical stand from the state(and just cause they give a move out date does not mean that is the day sheriff will come take you out.  They would need to go to court and it takes time(We had house sold and were really having hard time finding housing even though we looked at many houses.  In the end we were 2-3 weeks beyond the final be out date.  I would be worried down road they may make you move/get cats out.  Make sure all is in writing that cats are allowed.  NO oral "it's ok".  Make sure there is no "must declaw" then they say no its ok we are making exception.  Anything and everything MUST be in contract.

For sure you cannot send them to that shelter. You mentioned you live in a college town have you tried putting up flyers with their pics on campus for students who live in an off campus apartment. I know you said a lot of students abandon their cats but I got my beloved Frank while at University and he was my constant study buddy( may want to put that in the ad). You may also want to look into if there are any student groups involved with animals- they may be willing to help. You could even post a flyer about their plight at the coffee shop.

If the worst happens I would ask your neighbor to allow them to live inside. Explain that they were raised inside and would not be able to survive being outside only cats.

Oh just had another thought have you tried explaining the situation to your vet? Vets often foster cats or even have them as pets for the practice. If they are outgoing and friendly they may be good employees for your vet! Do whatever you can to plead your case to all the local vets they may be willing to help. I am sure if you tell more people about your story and all you have done to help these cats someone will be willing to help.

catsallaround said:

Many early neutered males look like females are they going to sex them?...just saying that is sorta odd.  Males are the issue when NOT fixed.  Hopefully they do not realize females can and do spray too.
 

Easter to May seems like it violates some policy.  Unless you were already being evicted.  I would look just to know the offical stand from the state(and just cause they give a move out date does not mean that is the day sheriff will come take you out.  They would need to go to court and it takes time(We had house sold and were really having hard time finding housing even though we looked at many houses.  In the end we were 2-3 weeks beyond the final be out date.  I would be worried down road they may make you move/get cats out.  Make sure all is in writing that cats are allowed.  NO oral "it's ok".  Make sure there is no "must declaw" then they say no its ok we are making exception.  Anything and everything MUST be in contract.

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It doesn't violate any policy here, all they have to give is thirty days notice. Everything about the new place is in writing, the manager has seen male fixed cats spray too.

Franksmom said:

For sure you cannot send them to that shelter. You mentioned you live in a college town have you tried putting up flyers with their pics on campus for students who live in an off campus apartment. I know you said a lot of students abandon their cats but I got my beloved Frank while at University and he was my constant study buddy( may want to put that in the ad). You may also want to look into if there are any student groups involved with animals- they may be willing to help. You could even post a flyer about their plight at the coffee shop.

If the worst happens I would ask your neighbor to allow them to live inside. Explain that they were raised inside and would not be able to survive being outside only cats.

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The neighbor has a no indoor pet policy. Except for his dog. When it's cold/rainy, the cats go into his shed.

Franksmom said:

Oh just had another thought have you tried explaining the situation to your vet? Vets often foster cats or even have them as pets for the practice. If they are outgoing and friendly they may be good employees for your vet! Do whatever you can to plead your case to all the local vets they may be willing to help. I am sure if you tell more people about your story and all you have done to help these cats someone will be willing to help.

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Yes I've tried, the vet doesn't have room, none of his techs have room as they're fostering cats already. Also we've never had visitors and our cats are only used to us.

What about putting up posters on campus and in the coffee shop or getting in touch with some student clubs on campus?

Even though they have only been raised with you I would still try to get the vet to take the cats as their practice pet. You say they are friendly so really try to sell that and please do not give up!
 

I would pursue the campus more because there maybe local parents/relatives of students who would consider a cat once they saw its face on a color flyer 

I just got a response back from a rescue in Tennessee. They're going to come sometime next week. We're going to pay gas money, it's a 3 and a half hour drive.

That is wonderful news!! So glad they will be safe!!