Feeling Like The Crazy Cat Lady...

     So I think I just need to talk. I am starting to feel like the crazy cat lady....and a little trapped by the situation. I live in town, in a moderate sized Victorian house. I had dreams of interiors designed like in the magazines, and was on my way to those goals.

     I love cats. I grew up with a gaggle of unmanaged barn cats. Sad creatures mostly, and all outdoors. After leaving my mother's house, I spent a long time not having any pets, because of my apartment situation. So when I bought my own home I definitely wanted a cat to share it with. A friend of mine was loosing her home, and had an old lady (calico, long haired, manx) that she never got along with, and wanted to get rid of. I took to her right away, and she came to live with me. That is the only cat that I adopted. The rest have adopted me.

     The neighborhood I live in is mostly multi-family housing...duplexed old mansions. Then add to that all the mortgage foreclosed and tax foreclosed properties. People seem to simply get tired of their pets and shut the door, never to think of them again. That is how MissMouse (aka Poopy Pants) came to live with me. She was the first....

     It was the dead of winter 4 years ago. The temps were below zero. For a couple nights, I thought I heard something in the garage...had seen a raccoon around, a BIG one that must live fat on garbage. I just figured it was a coon or squirrel. Then I heard something climbing the screen door and making unidentified noises....Broom in hand.....boots and gloves on....I cracked the door... INSTANTLY the desperate meowing started!!!! It was AWEFUL. I have seen some adamant kitties out on the farm, that try to force their way in when it's cold....this was end of her wits desperation. She was presumably long haired...what was left of it. Remember this is January and below zero with cold hazard warning for pets. She hadn't any undercoat at all. Her guard hair was falling out in clumps. She was bone thin to the point of seeing the fine bones in her cheeks, the cupped indentation of flanks and hips and of course sagging skin between her ribs. The hair that hadn't fallen out was matted with burrs and filthy. I melted. I told myself I would get her fattened up and work something out with the humane society. I didn't want to become the crazy cat lady. Well, Princess Poopy Pants is now lord ruler on high, and the supreme mistress of the household. After she learned to play fetch she sealed her position.

     Then, later the following summer, after she was spayed and had time to adopt the house as her territory. She was out laying on the sidewalk as I worked in the front postage stamp of a yard that I have. This hoochie little girl...not more than 20 walks past my house....MissMouse dramatically flops down in front of her feet and rolls over on her back, in classic cat "Hello". The girl says "oh my God, that's MY cat..."...to which I reply something like ("***" in my head) "Excuse me??!!??" out loud. Apparently her name was BabyGirl and her boyfriend got tired of her being in heat, so he tossed her. For a moment she looked like she might scoop her up and take her...which would've lasted about two seconds before I knocked her down and took my cat back......

Like I said, MissMouse was the first...

Then came JAC, the classic calico that decided to start training her nearly weaned kittens in our yard. She had 4 kittens, and I started having flash-backs to gaggles of unmanaged litters of kittens on the farm. There aren't any programs for tame stray cats at our Humane Society, so what to do? We weren't feeding them. They weren't ours. They were just living (and eventually breeding) in our yard. $500.00, innumerable hours coaxing, tranquilizers and 1 live trap later....all 4 kittens and the mom were fixed. I refuse to feed outdoors. From my balcony, I can see a couple households that already feed feral/semi-feral populations. The mom lives happily under a porch two houses over, that is her world. Three of her children come in to eat, and are part time residents. One (my favorite) was super-friendly and just disappeared one day.

Then came un-named male kitten. Again it was winter and frigid. The little bugger turned up on the steps bony. He must have been a late season litter. He was barely weaned. It was right before Christmas, so we fed him and started the robo-calling to the Humane Society. He was taken in right away.

Last year, early spring, my hubby starts photo texting me with this bone thin waif of a grey tiger. Our household income is 1/8 of what it was when we dealt with the first mother and kittens. I told him he could feed her table scraps and nothing else. That lasted until she arrived with three female kittens...little buggers that had just learned to walk. One rainy day, we wrangled them and they started living in the garage. Again, I didn't want a gaggle of breeding females in my yard. My intent was to get them to the Humane Society when there was room....but spring time means ZERO chance even for kittens. Momma escaped once....she never got pudgy, never had the slightest baby-bump...then SURPRISE...two babies. After Momma's second escape (post 2nd litter) I immediately went to the Humane Society and scheduled her to be spayed. I would not buy groceries for two weeks and spend the $50.00 to not have her come home pregnant! I complained desperately about wanting help to get everyone fixed....finally they hooked me up with a super program in my county....ALL 5 baby girls are fixed!!!

Which brings me to my tipping point.....Now there is another. This time male....for once a male!!! He has decided that he lives here, and he can't understand why he doesn't live in the house. He loves EVERYONE....despite their disdain for him. I have given up my library, and it is being converted to a full time playhouse for the cats. I can't let him in....I don't want another cat, and he won't go away. Then my beloved hubby tells me every day, mournfully, he REALLY wants in....He sits in the window looking in, where the girls sit looking out. He love bumps them through the window. If I were making what I used to make, I would have an outdoor enclosure built, the guest house connected to the playroom via private cat tunnel, and regular vet visits for everyone. As it is, I can barely afford flea treatment and food.

I know the stream of cats will never end around here....as long as idiots just throw them out when they get bored. I just wish I could afford to buy the house next door, I would start my own Hood Cats Sanctuary....sigh..

Humbug.

You have helped so many cats in need - thank you from all the cats!    I too worry about my crazy cat lady potential as it is so painful to me to see cats in need.   I would be in trouble managing my resources in your situation where it sounds like you are surrounded by cats in need and irresponsible people.    Are there any rescue groups in your area that could help you?   Can you expand the idea to your entire state?   When I first got overwhelmed with a feral cat situation a few years ago, I didn't think big enough - I called what I could find in my city and gave up when they all told me no.   Now I know there are people with barns, small little rescue groups out in the country-side, more options than the humane society or even the main TNR group ever were willing to point me to.   Check this http://nmhpnetwork.bestfriends.org/Partners.aspx for some possibilities.

Well if you do become a crazy cat lady, just roll with it. So long as you don't take on so much that you can't care for them properly. It's your time, your home, your resources ... nobody else's business. Nobody thinks twice about someone who has a stable of horses, and that's much more work, land, and resources.

It's not, really, that crazy if you ask me. I've got a heck of a lot more respect for crazy cat ladies than for the careless people causing the problem. I think if anyone's caught abandoning a cat, there should be criminal charges for animal cruelty, with stiffer sentences in the case of unfixed cats. There can't be any lasting solution until that's done. Enforcement would be difficult and very few people would get caught, but, it would send a message that this isn't acceptable.

It always starts with one and then builds and builds!   I had an indoor/outdoor cat growing up, but he was fairly aloof.  Once he passed we didn't get another cat and I was really a dog person.  DH was somewhat allergic so the idea of cats never entered my mind.  DS always wanted a cat.  He loved them so much.  When he was in 6th grade, he and I went to the Humane Society to volunteer with the cats.  We would do socialization.  You can see where this is headed....  He fell in love with a 10 week old kitten.  DH went to the Humane Society with us to see this little kitten and see how his allergies did.  He was in a room full of cats and pet the small kitten and then put his hands to his face.  It was by some miracle that he never reacted.  He must have grown out of the allergy.  So the little kitten, Jake came home to live with us and our dog, Misty.  Life was just splendid.  The next summer we took a vacation to Hilton Head.  They have colonies of feral cats in several locations.  We went to visit a colony and to give some treats.  It was amazing.  The shelters and feeding stations.  I was in awe.  Then on our way home we stopped to pick up our dog from my parents.  I found a stray cat hiding in their garage.  She was a mess.  I wanted so badly to bring her home.  She was longer haired and when DH went out to see her, his eyes swelled up.  My parents ended up finding a home for her so it ended well!  I had a friend who always managed to find kittens or strays and work on finding them homes.  All the way home from my parents, I wondered why not me.  Why do I never find animals to rescue?  Well, I guess I asked for it.  Just a few days later a small cat/kitten came through the yard.  That was just the beginning.  Now I have 3 outdoor feral/strays.  I have trapped and neutered all 3.  One lives permanently on my deck.  The other two come and go. 

So I once was a one pet owner and it was a dog.  Now I have the dog and 4 cats.  Of course I also feed the birds, squirrels and 2 ducks that come every year.  So I am one crazy animal lover!

Thank you for taking care of these cats.  Is there any place you can receive some donations for food to help out with the cost?  Maybe the humane society would have some help.  My area also offers vouchers for spay and neuter for ferals/strays. 

There is a man up the street who refuse to spay his cat. I have offered to take her, recuperate her, anything. No, he says, that's cruel. So every litter gets socialized ( he loves the kittens) . But at 12 weeks, if he hasn't found homes for them, out they go. I am not sure he feeds them but 14 of them have turned up in my yard and been trapped and fixed. I found homes for eight of them. The rest went to a no-kill shelter and found homes. When I took #13 to the no-kill shelter, I cried all the way home. I vowed that the next cat I helped would have to knock on my back door and announce he needed help. One week later, Schofield arrived and frightened us all with his screams. He was at the back door, announcing he needed help. We have six rescues inside and can't do more. So he got an enclosure.

It isn't going to stop. I have called the SPCA but they can't do much - they are overwhelmed with cruelty cases and this isn't at the top of their list. Fortunately, some of the kittens have gone the opposite way and have been incorporated into a colony with responsible caregivers.

So, welcome to the land of crazy cat ladies (and men, as my husband points out).

I have a t-shirt that says "You say crazy cat lady like it's a bad thing.". Go with that and know you are doing good work.

Thanks for helping the cats!

Thank you for letting me vent everyone. I sent off the voucher money for the new male, and I did the first round of wormer for tape. Next comes round worm. The clinic will do rabies on the voucher along with the neuter. I'm still not letting him in. But he seems perfectly persistent in staying on my side porch. So he has half a brain to not wander into the street. Mike still moons over him and wants me to let him in. But he is healthy looking and not getting in fights, and it's spring time. He will be okay. I do feel bad tonight...it's raining buckets! He has pillows, my sweater (donated by Mike) and a modified plastic tote. Sad that he doesn't have a home where he can get the social time that he seems to REALLY NEED. Some cats are aloof and fine with little to no attention. This guy is a socialite, he craves company.

Thank you and bless you for helping so many cats in need. My MIL is like you. Cats just seem to find her, somehow knowing they will get help. My Aria was probably an abandoned stray. Not a feral, no way. She loves attention. I can't imagine what would have happened to her if she hadn't found my MIL. So thank you for all your sacrifice.