23 degrees!! What to do for kittens/puppies?

[charmsdad]

No, wouldn't ignore you. I would consider that rude of me to do something like that.

We have 5 dogs and 8 cats (not including Mamma and Elsie.) The "little" dog is 46 lbs and the big one 115. Years ago I built a gate across the entry to the living room. It has gaps wide enough for the cats to easily slip through (though one is now a bit chunky and doesn't fit as easily!) Most of the time the dogs and cats hang out together and even sleep together. At night the dogs go into the bedroom and so we have dogs and cats everywhere. At this point Mamma and Elsie get free roam most of the day, though they stay mostly in the bedroom or in my office and avoid the living room. When we're out we close them in the bedroom as a precaution against accidents with the dogs.

(One of our dogs actually killed two of Mamma's previous litter before I was able to rescue them. She may have killed one from this litter, but I never did find a body so I'm not sure. It was very upsetting. I burried the first one in a special graveyard, but had the second one cremated and built her a special box. She is kept on a special shelf with the boxes containing the ashes of other animals we've lost over the years. Mamma was a stray and is probably 5 or 6 years old, so I estimate she's been on her own for quite a while.)

At this point I have to lock up Mamma and Elsie at night to keep them safe from the dogs. It's gotten a little old, but I would never give up on them. One of our cats seems quite taken by Mamma and keeps trying to befriend her. At times they seem to get along great, then Mamma will suddenly chase her away. Who knows, they may end up staying here, though I'm not sure my wife is to keen on 10 cats (she is a big cat lover by the way, and the reason we already have 8 - and have had as many as 9.) After spending several months working to coax Mamma in I've quite fond of her and would prefer to keep at least her.

I may have sent these before, but here's the dogs:
http://www.dogsled.net/our_doggies.htm

and here's the cats (a bit incomplete):
http://www.dogsled.net/our_kitties.htm

George

 

[gothic_amethyst]

I'm glad. I would've considered it rude too. Oddly though I'd not've ignored you for ignoring me...does that make sense? I'm too nice!

Thats alot! Alot of cats is cheaper then alot of dogs cause they are bigger and eat more. You must have one great job!
I dont think I could trust any dog alone with a cat...they are so much larger and stronger...too easy to hurt a cat.

Sorry about the kittens. I've lost several too. Thankfully not that way. and I thought sickness was bad! Id be so mad at the dog...but I guess it's instinct or something.

Have you posted about them in the forums? People here can help you get them to get along. It all depends on money with them. Thats 2 more food and vet bills. It's all up to you 2 though. My fiancee thinks 5 cats is too many 2 have inside. I dont. It's just something we have to work out like you do with her.

I've seen them all before. Adorable. I wish I had a way to photograph mine to update my site.

 

[charmsdad]

I was going to offer to send you a keyboard. I'm a software developer and have several generic ones here just sitting in the closet. Fortunately your's came back.

We're "middle aged" professionals, have no children and not a lot in the way of other expenses, so our critters are our babies.

I've been involved with rescue, shelters, etc. for a lot of years. I even provided the instructions that the local shelter uses for introducing dogs and cats (and for introducing dogs to other dogs, and cats to other cats.) Mamma is just an extreme case, but I can understand why. I think when Elsie gets older and Mamma is a bit less protective it will help.

Shannon is a sweet dog, and it was just instinct. She's also killed a mole, a couple of squirrels, and a bird. On the other hand, she and Mai Ling (one of the cats) are the very best of friends and spend lots of time just hanging out together. Mai Ling even plays with her and tries to get Shannon to chase her at times. Shannon will chase her to the cat tower then just stop. Mai Ling stops on the bottom shelf (easily in reach) and just lays down with a smug look on her face. Mai Ling and Elsie seem to be becoming fast friends, and Mai Ling is trying hard to become Mamma's friend too - and it does seem to be working. (Two other cats have been working on being Mamma's friend also.)

I didn't post about them because I wanted to place them with friends if I could. It is starting to look like we'll end up with 10 cats though (honestly, I wouldn't be terribly upset and my wife, Tracy, is starting to warm up to them both.) Right now Elsie and Mai Ling are sitting here with me.

You should take some photos. Even with a disposable camera you can get a photo CD.

By the way, did you send this snow?

George

 

[gothic_amethyst]

Aww thanks for thinking of doing that. I'm extremely stubborn though. I'd have gotten it to work somehow.

It must be nice. I wish I had the money to do what I wanted. I cant even keep all these. Not only because of money, but because I'm getting married and sofar I've not found any housing that will allow more than 2. *sigh*

That sounds neat. I always wanted to be involved in a shelter, but I get too attatched to the animals. I'm good with taming cats, but they always tell me they euthanize rather then take the time to tame them. Grrr. I offered to do it free too!!

I figured it was instinct. My cats have killed mice and rabbits...even birds. That last one really pisses of my grandmother. As I tell her though it's just instinct.

If money and health arent issues I personally dont see how you can have too many cats. LOL. Actually you need to decide soon, cause going by my experiance, if you keep them long enough you will already be attached to them....and sometimes not untill it's too late.

I've never tried it with my camara. I've thought about asking, but mine is an old 110 camara!

You got snow too? I got about 5 inches here.

 

[charmsdad]

I hope you can find a way and a place to keep all your cats.
We own our house, so we don't have the renters' restrictions. We're a lot older than you so we've had time to mature our careers, you'll get there in time. Now our focus is more on building for retirement.

Being involved with shelters can be both rewarding and heart breaking. You get to see some of the worst abuse cases and some of the worst of people. On the other hand there are lots of rescues that are quite rewarding. I don't know about your shelter in particular, but often the restriction on socializing feral animals has mostly to do with space and other resources (food, vet care, vaccines, etc.) There may not be sufficient space to keep animals the time it takes to socialize them, and there is also the problem with investing all the resources into an animal that may never be adopted. Management of limited resources is a very tough job that shelters constantly have to keep on top of.

One issue is we never want to have so many animals that we can't give plenty of individual attention to each one every day. There are also litter boxes to clean and other things to do on a daily or regular basis. Plus the issue of animals not getting along if the space gets to crowded.

I think you can get the CD with 110 film, but it's worth checking. You can always get a disposable camera.

We got 2 to 3 inches of snow. It was funny because some of the nearby school systems closed for the day and others didn't. The school system here in Durham didn't close, but did get out just after noon (when it was an "official" day). What's funny is that the roads were bad in the morning (when they went in) but were well cleared when they got out.

George

 

[charmsdad]

Any word on placing the puppies yet?

George

 

[gothic_amethyst]

Originally posted by CharmsDad
Any word on placing the puppies yet?

George

Oh my! I'm glad you posted I forgot to reply to your last message! I'm sorry!

The flyers are up at the vet....just no calls yet. They are getting bigger though. Also starting to follow us to the cars and are getting in the drive way. I'm scared they'll get run over. I make them go back, but they wont stay.

 

[gothic_amethyst]

Well we gave away 2 of the 3 sofar. Both of the males. The Female is the only one left. Why dont they want her? She's alot more friendly and cute...is it because she's female and they dont wanna pay for a spay later on?

****I'm replying below to the last post by you since I didnt before...sorry I just havnt had time untill now.***

I hope so too. I dont want to give them up just because I'm getting married. Marriage and living together is gonna be a hard enough adjustment, but to do it without my cats too would just be too much. I know there just has to be a way...eventually.

I'd love to work at one pay or volunteer, except I just dont like seeing them sick. I've also seen a woman at this shelter be rough with the animals and I would end up having a talk with her and being told to leave. All I know mine isnt a no-kill shelter. I know it's up to them who they save or not, but it's just so depressing that they kill animals that can be tamed or doctored and given away. I live in the country, and out of every cat that's ever came here I've been able to tame them and find them homes. It's harder for me with the experiance I have with taming to see how people can just assume that wild cats are worthless. Actually the ones I've tamed were more loving than the ones I had that were born tame.

I've seen a box I can check on the package when I drop off the film at walmart, but I'm not sure how much it will cost. I've never done it because I figured it would cost more to do that then it did to by the film or to develop it. I'm not a big fan of disposable. Eventually I'll have the money to get the camara I want. It's definately time for an upgrade. I'm so far sticking with canon A70...it's 299$ at best-buy...so it'll be awhile.

You should see where I live. Some of these country roads are tiny. All the roads will be clear but patchy ice on the tiny roads will be enough to cancel it here.

 

[charmsdad]

It always amazes me that there seems to be a run on one sex or the other. It seems everyone wants a male, or everyone wants a female, and never a balance. It is possible that the people don't want the cost of the spay.

I hope you can find a place where you can keep the cats and all works out. I don't think I could ever give up any one of ours.

The problem with "no kill" shelters is that they have to luxury of being able to say "we're full", and some even are selective of the animals that they take in based on their opinion of how adoptable the animal might be. Rather than "no kill" a more accurate title is "limited admission". County shelters or other facilities have to take up all the slack, and carry the brunt of the excesses in companion animal population. When there are only 10 homes for every 100 animals that come in the door some hard decisions have to be made - and cost containment also has to be taken into consideration. These can be very difficult decisions, and (having been there) I can tell you the task of euthanizing the animals is extremely unpleasant.

It might be worth asking how much the CD costs.

We live in the suburbs now, but I've spent lots of time in rural areas with family so I've seen those small roads. Pretty scary with even a small amount of snow or ice, and they rarely clean those roads.

George

 

[gothic_amethyst]

Well Guess what! I finally found someone that wanted the female, so now they are all gone. The woman is really nice and she has several other animals. I'm glad that she took her because the older she gets the harder it would've been to find her a home. Thank you so much for all your help and I'm sorry that it was taking me so long to reply to your posts there at the end. I've been and still am extremely busy.

Happy Valentine's Day by the way!

 

[charmsdad]

That's great news.

By the way, I like your new photos. Any news on you and Lyle finding a place that will accept your cats?

George

 

[gothic_amethyst]

Originally posted by CharmsDad
That's great news.

By the way, I like your new photos. Any news on you and Lyle finding a place that will accept your cats?

George

It is! I'm happy because I was worried noone was gonna want her.

Thanks! Sofar no. We've still not got enough money saved up either. We keep looking though because atleast we will know possible places. Sofar I'm thinking find some older couple renting out in the country maybe they'll be more leniant then some goverment owned apartment complex.