Cats keep adopting us, now there are 11. Help?

I don't know if this is the place to post this, but I will try.  Long story made short:  We live in the country.  Jerks drop cats off.  They come to us and we are suckers.  Last summer we were down to four indoor-outdoor cats when a female showed up.  Pregnant, of course.  She had six kittens on Aug 20th, in our house (and thank goodness for this site)!  She (and kittens) have been indoors ever since.  We kept them separated until a few weeks ago, and we still separate everyone at night. Mama and kittens are in the guest room, and only out (house only, until they are all fixed) weekend days or for an hour or so on a weeknight.

The original four are NOT happy.  They are now fighting with each other, when they all had been getting along.  One of the original four (a former stray), hisses at everyone, kittens included.  Until recently he was the 'uncle', that all the other cats loved.  Mama cat (Hidey), attacks everyone when she is out, but is very sweet with humans and her kittens.  The other three seem to ignore the kittens and run and hide from mama.  Hidey will attack the original four even when they are ignoring her or have their back turned.

I don't know what to do!  I don't have the money to get everyone fixed, but I have people to borrow it from.  We have two kittens promised, but have to wait until at least mid-December (short version: the adoptive dad is having heart surgery).  My children and husband want to keep everyone else.  Ugh.

I'm not sure what to ask, other than - please tell me either this will get better or that my family is insane and we should find homes for all the cats.  

Here are a couple pictures:

Kittens and mama Sept 24


Kitten pile Nov 6 (still nursing, too)


Dray-dray last winter (the one who now fights with everyone)

You are not insane - just kind hearted. But all of us have our limits and it sounds like you have reached yours. Is there a way you can just keep everyone separated until the kittens go to their new homes and you figure out if any of the others will be rehomed?

Kittens are high energy and meeting several news ones may just be more than your residents can adapt to. I would try to find homes for everyone you can, including mom and go back to the status quo - the original group.

If not, take your time in introducing everyone. It takes a lot of time for cats to adapt.

Thank you for being the kind hearted person you are.

It will get better, I promise.  I had a similar situation with a mother attacking or trying to attack everything in sight.  That protective instinct is so strong in mother cats, especially ones that have had several litters.

Since you live in the country do you have any out buildings like a chicken coup or shed you could modify for cat housing?  Are you or anyone in your household handy?  Maybe a garage?

The way I handled the cat explosion was to keep mother and babies in our guest room.  Two times a day I would put the resident cats in their own rooms and I would let mother and kittens come out to play in the main part of my house for about an hour.  During that time my husband built an enclosure on the back of our garage.  When the kittens were old enough we moved mother and kittens to the enclosure and began letting them out in the yard (supervised) twice a day.  I think the kittens were about 13 weeks when I started training them to the yard.  By the time they were 20 weeks old we opened the cat door and began letting them have some freedom.

My husband spent a few days getting the enclosure ready for winter by covering the wire walls with two layers of heavy duty plastic.  We are using an infrared heater to keep the shelter at a balmy 60 degrees.  The cats love it.  The floor is outdoor carpeting because it was one of the cheapest floors we could do at the time, so he even installed a central vacuum.  There are all sorts of things you can do outside to keep them comfortable and safe.  We even installed a big sand box for toileting.

You are not insane. You are trying to help cats that have been abandoned by heartless humans. That is very commendable!

It does sound like you're getting overwhelmed though. Do you have a local Humane Society or rescue that could work with you on finding good homes for them?

Bless you for your kind and loving heart. I pray that God will send you a solution to your problem real soon. Just continue caring for your kittens and cats and finding them a new home. It will all work out soon.

Thank you all.  and thanks to moderators for moving this to the right forum.  It sure is interesting.  We are keeping mama and kittens in the guest room for now, but letting them out here and there.  The other four tend to either hide in the basement or go outside when mama and kittens are out.  Will getting her fixed help with her aggression?

Spaying may or may not help with aggression --- it really depnds on the cause of the aggression. I've found that the majority of cats can manage to at least tolerate other cats, even if they'll never be friends. Read the articles about introductions, they're very helpful.

You do need to have the females spayed soon. Female kittens can go into heat as early as 4 months, and while males are rarely fertile at that age there's always a chance, and the last thing you need is more kittens! Especially inbred kittens . So borrow money, ask the local vets and animal groups about any low-cost provisions in your area, do whatever you have to do to get the ladies done ASAP. The boys can wait until 7 or 8 months if you can't do everyone at once; they almost never spray before that age.

In our area, we have a program called BARC that provides spay/neuter for $35. Do you have any programs like that where you are?

The cheapest we can get a neuter here is $60.00 for their low cost program.  It includes shots.  My aggressive female calmed down a little after spaying.  She always had it in for a couple of my cats, though, even after.  She was much nicer to the others outside.

Just the other day one of my other females attacked the female 8 month old kitten.  My husband was able to scoop the kitten up before any damage was done but the kitten bit him hard on the pinky.  Ouch!  What a cheap shot to attack a kitten!

What shots do these cats need?  Will the mama need different shots than the kittens?  I'm trying to price everything out.

A lot of what vaccines are given depends on if they're going to be indoor or outdoor cats and how much money you can spend.  If you are just doing the minimum I think its just rabies and then another combo that covers three diseases.  I forget what its called...for distemper, parvo, and something else?  Ideally, if cats are outdoors you would want to protect them from many more disease possibilities.  But, sadly, our wallets can't always cover every protection we'd like to see them have.

Next question... will mama cat be less aggressive after being fixed?  She's terrorized our original 4.

Yellowhouse said:

 
Next question... will mama cat be less aggressive after being fixed?  She's terrorized our original 4.

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In my experience female cats become much more placid after they've been spayed. I care for a colony of 20+ TNR'd and rescued cats. The girls still rule the colony, but they don't fight amongst each other the way they used to.

Your Mama cat still has quite young kittens to care for, so that is why she's being so aggressive. She'll calm down after she's spayed and after the kittens are weaned.

Depending on where you live but your story sounded just like mine but in a short time mine grew to over fifty!! Yes fifty ! I tried to fix the ones I could but in no way could afford to fix them all until I learned about a feral cat program ! Free free free! Spay or neutered!! Yes and they will also give you traps to catch the ones you can't ! Contact your local animal shelter or humane society ! Or call your local vet ! I'm down to @15 healthy outdoor cats ! Good luck and God bless you for having a heart!

Thanks!  I think I have 'sucker' tattooed somewhere that only neighborhood cats can see.  Kittens are pretty much weaned, as far as I can tell.  Two of the kittens are going to a good home.  The rest seem to be staying with us.  I'm going to make the appointments before thanksgiving.  The local TNR would only do mama, with an ear tip.  And no shots.  So...  going to beg and borrow.  Wish us luck.

Yellowhouse said:

Thanks!  I think I have 'sucker' tattooed somewhere that only neighborhood cats can see.  Kittens are pretty much weaned, as far as I can tell.  Two of the kittens are going to a good home.  The rest seem to be staying with us.  I'm going to make the appointments before thanksgiving.  The local TNR would only do mama, with an ear tip.  And no shots.  So...  going to beg and borrow.  Wish us luck.

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Lol! My husband keeps trying to find the road signs only visible to neighborhood cats!

Update - mama and kittens all got fixed on Dec 23.  The two kittens eventually made it to their new home (Feb).  Hidey, however, is now cranky with everyone, from her kittens (growl, hiss, flip a paw) to Esther, one of the original four.  Esther and Hidey physically fight until the fur flies.  It's very loud.  And scares the kids.  I was hoping she/they would calm down, but not so much.  Our other former stray is now getting along with everyone (he's orange and fat - and as long as there is food, he doesn't much care about anything else).  The kittens are interested in the original four, but the Hidey/Esther combination is a bad one.  Oddly, I can pretty much pick up Hidey in the middle of a fight and she doesn't scratch me.  She's great with humans, just doesn't seem to like cats.  Even her kittens.  Strange.

Good job getting them all fixed.



Heidi sounds a lot like one of my cats, Susy. Some cats just aren't that sociable with others. Try to make sure you have enough beds, food bowls and litter boxes for everyone. Less places to fall out with each other if everyone has enough territory to call their own.

Have you tried using a Feliway diffuser?

We have a cat who has her own room.  Teresa is a tortoiseshell who simply hates the other cats.  She's fine with us and will allow her brother visits.  But he's usually begging to come out after ten minutes or so.

We gave her her room when she was only found pounds.  Our alpha cat, Halsey, fell in love with her but she thought he had cooties and screamed every time he looked at her.  We were afraid he'd hurt her, so she got her own room.  I regret that now.  If I'd know better, I would have integrated her a long time ago.  

You sound like you've done an excellent job so far.