Glad to hear the boys are neutered. Did you find any low cost spay/neuter programs? It would be good to get the females done as well. Males will retain their sperm for several weeks after neutering so it is still possible for pregnancies to happen. Unfortunately, it's still kitten season, and many if not all non-kill shelters are full. I don't know what to suggest.
People would argue that since the 18 were allowed to be born due to the lack of timely spaying/neutering and/or keeping males and females separate, your family is in fact responsible for all of them.
. Everybody and their cousin has a reason their cat had kittens, or why they can't keep their cat, etc., so we're all pretty much overrun.
Agree with all but the vet part. I hadn't owned a pet before my current two residents and had no vet. I had a plan for a vet but the shelter actually pointed me to another and I'm glad they did. Not all people new to owning are irresponsible- I'd fostered for years and was almost 30, with a steady job. Just ask those people more questions if necessary.No-kill shelters are almost always full. . .for obvious reasons :/. And, yes, it's your family's fault that the kittens were born, so that make you guys even MORE responsible for their lives. Sadly, there are very few options for unwanted cats in this world. Everybody and their cousin has a reason their cat had kittens, or why they can't keep their cat, etc., so we're all pretty much overrun.
You can try putting ads up for the more adoptable cats (kittens, young cats, well-behaved and healthy), but be sure to screen the potential adopters VERY carefully. Call their vets (they better have a vet!), make sure they're allowed to have pets in their house if it's a rental, etc. You'll probably get a lot of weird responses if you put ads on craigslist or other online classifieds, it might be safer to stick to petfinder and the board at the vet's office.
If you can find a low-cost place, try to have the females spayed too. If one gets out accidentally, the cycle will start all over again, and it would be irresponsible to re-home intact cats---you don't know if the new owners will be able to keep her from getting pregnant, thus adding even more to the cat overpopulation problem.
What we were reacting to was specifically your statement that "We committed to the ones we purchased and adopted. Not the 18 others that were born." You said 'we' which includes you, and you defended your family's actions and essentially said you're not responsible for/committed to the 18 others- only the ones you purchased and adopted. It is a little disingenuous of you to say we can't react as we did to that statement, in which you include yourself and say the 18 others are not 'committed to' even though your family is responsible for their existence, because you are 14.
At 14 then you know enough that it was wrong of your mother not to be answerable and obligated to get the original adopted cats altered.
Your family (using "we" includes you) IS responsible for being very irresponsible with the original adopted cats. You will not get anything else other then these words or "lectures", if you will.
