I currently have to rehome six cats and I feel heartbroken. My husband has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and the cats pose a further danger to his health as his immune system is severely compromised. I feel horribly guilty but really have no choice. I have to find homes for them before he comes home from the hospital.
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Have you ever had to give up one of your kitties?
- Thread starter kittylover4ever
- Start Date
I'm so sorry to hear about your husband.
I had to find new homes for 5 cats and a bunny when I moved from Guam back to the states for two reasons. First, it cost $500 to ship each one back and I didn't have an extra $3000 laying around, and also I was "temporarily" going to be living with my mother and she was extremely allergic to cats. But, I did find them all good homes with co-workers and friends and still get updates on a few of them.
Last year we lost our house due to foreclosure and had to move from a 1500 sq ft home to a 800 sq ft home (MIL's old house...she built a new one a few years before that). At the time we had 4 dogs and 10 cats. Now all but 1 were indoor/outdoor so when we moved we made all but 5 cats strictly outdoor. The rest still came and went as they pleased but we just couldn't have 10 cats in that small house all the time. We moved in March and the summer sent pretty smooth and they didn't mind. We set up shelters for them outside (and they had the barn and storage areas they could go into) and they were feed well in the morning and the night...they just weren't allowed inside. It worked until winter came. Now, if it is really cold, they are allowed to come in during the evening and eat and warm up. But we still try to put them out before we go to bed. I feel terrible about it but honestly, for us, we just can't have that many cats in a house that we don't own. I don't know if you would consider that rehoming since they are still here and still get food, water and vet care. But it's what we had to do unfortunately.
When I first got married, I was pregnant and my mother told me that I couldn't take Peanut Butter (PB, my orange tiger baby) with me....she believed that a cat would "steal the baby's breath" and she was adamant that PB couldn't not live with us. I was heartbroken, but she had promised me that when the baby was older, she'd let me bring him home then.
I found out about a week later that she gave PB to a friend. And I threw the worse fit imagineable....to the point where they started to be concerned about the baby. She ended up having to bring the cat back to me and he lived with us for years before he went to the Bridge. And he never, ever bothered our DS. PB liked to sleep under his crib and he liked to lay next to me while I was feeding DS, but that was about it. As DS got older, he and Peanut Butter became good buddies, along with Fonzie, our Alaskan Malemute....the three of them were inseparable for many years. Oh, the trouble those three could get into at times!
Lily27, I'm so sorry about your husband and your situation with your furkids.
I found out about a week later that she gave PB to a friend. And I threw the worse fit imagineable....to the point where they started to be concerned about the baby. She ended up having to bring the cat back to me and he lived with us for years before he went to the Bridge. And he never, ever bothered our DS. PB liked to sleep under his crib and he liked to lay next to me while I was feeding DS, but that was about it. As DS got older, he and Peanut Butter became good buddies, along with Fonzie, our Alaskan Malemute....the three of them were inseparable for many years. Oh, the trouble those three could get into at times!
Lily27, I'm so sorry about your husband and your situation with your furkids.
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I recently rehomed Pearl. I can get her back if it does not work out, but she is is sooo happy with my daughter, I did not have the heart to take her when I was no longer staying there full time. She hangs out with the baby, snuggling her little feet, comes when Mary calls her, and no longer has litterbox issues. She is like a different cat. She even lays around in the LR where she can be seen. She greets me like an old friend, has shown no interest in leaving where she is, an only indoor cat. There is another cat that has chosen to live on the porch, but she goes in during bad weather, and they get along just fine. It is an all around amazing situation.
I had to give up my kitty today. She came here 4 months ago and has lived happily on my porch ever since. We had a nice summer and I had it fixed up nice for her. The problem is I already had a cat that I adopted 4 years ago. She was a tonkinese who was returned to the breeder after 2 years because the owner was moving in with his mother who was allergic to cats. She has lots of trauma issues and the other cat made her nervous. If it came inside she would act out by peeing on the bed. The other cat was such a sweet thing. I took good care of her and took her to the vet. She was healthy and beautiful. The perfect calico with green eyes and a lovely temperament. My godson loves cats. He is 12 and has two siblings and they all love cats. They have two males already and have recently moved to a big house. I wanted the cat to be able to come inside for the winter. I also wanted her to have the attention she deserved. I have been so conflicted about giving her up. I feel so sad thinking about her and her pretty face. She was so good when we got her there but I could see she was scared. I will take her back if she is unhappy but I'm hoping it will just be me who is unhappy. Did I do the right thing?
One of my kitties was rehomed to me because he was completely stressed out because he had a super aggressive brother (with whom he was originally adopted), and he is a shy, sociable boy. He has become very happy here, and his old human told me his brother chilled out as an only cat as well.
The closest I have come to giving up one of my kitties was to ask my parents to take my cat temporarily when I had to move out of my house on extremely short notice due to a situation beyond my control. I was absolutely devastated when he was killed in an accident in the 2 weeks I needed to find a new place while I was sleeping on a friend's couch close to my work. So I guess I did give him up, and the worst happened, although it had been my intention to have him babysat rather than rehomed.
I'm with OP on constantly being surprised at the reasons people give. The dumbest one I see is "the new cat doesn't get along with the old cat" with sometimes them saying they got the new cat "last week". Give it some time for crying out loud. Although, the most common reason I see is people saying they don't have enough time for the cat, and the cat is sad and lonely while they are at work. I think that is legitimate, but also often avoidable. There is a view that cats are aloof introverts, and while there are certainly some cats that just need to be only cats (my Gabriel's littermate for example, mentioned above), it seems like huge numbers of people get a single kitten not realizing it needs companionship and then becoming surprised when it's lonely. If more people would get two kittens - or adopt an older cat that's already known to not get along with other cats - it seems that would be avoided. In my area it seems that 90% of the ads looking to rehome cats give this reason. And 90% of THOSE are for singular cats. Only very rarely do I see pairs of cats trying to be rehomed because they're unhappy at being left home alone during a normal workday.
The closest I have come to giving up one of my kitties was to ask my parents to take my cat temporarily when I had to move out of my house on extremely short notice due to a situation beyond my control. I was absolutely devastated when he was killed in an accident in the 2 weeks I needed to find a new place while I was sleeping on a friend's couch close to my work. So I guess I did give him up, and the worst happened, although it had been my intention to have him babysat rather than rehomed.
I'm with OP on constantly being surprised at the reasons people give. The dumbest one I see is "the new cat doesn't get along with the old cat" with sometimes them saying they got the new cat "last week". Give it some time for crying out loud. Although, the most common reason I see is people saying they don't have enough time for the cat, and the cat is sad and lonely while they are at work. I think that is legitimate, but also often avoidable. There is a view that cats are aloof introverts, and while there are certainly some cats that just need to be only cats (my Gabriel's littermate for example, mentioned above), it seems like huge numbers of people get a single kitten not realizing it needs companionship and then becoming surprised when it's lonely. If more people would get two kittens - or adopt an older cat that's already known to not get along with other cats - it seems that would be avoided. In my area it seems that 90% of the ads looking to rehome cats give this reason. And 90% of THOSE are for singular cats. Only very rarely do I see pairs of cats trying to be rehomed because they're unhappy at being left home alone during a normal workday.
Best of luck to you and your husband. I hope you find the cats good homes and soon.
A friend had to rehome a cat she'd adopted. It was fine when she was with her partner and their child was a baby, but when she was struggling as a single mum, working all hours, with a toddler who wouldn't learn not to grab the cat it wasn't fair on the poor thing. She was an older cat and she just wanted some peace and quiet. Some friends of hers took the cat in and she's much happier now. It was a bad match and we think the shelter were just desperate to get her adopted.
A workmate of my mum's took in a lovely, mistreated cat, but one of her existing cats took extreme exception to him so he was living in a cage in her garden. They really wanted to keep him but it wasn't working out at all so my parents took him in and he is happy and spoilt.
It truly broke my heart to give up my Max, but the need to do what was best for him won over and I'm sure all these owners are only doing what they feel is best for their pet. I am very lucky that I have the option to still see Max and know that he is being well cared for by someone that I trust. I couldn't bear to have given him away to a stranger, not knowing what they might do to him or how they would treat him. I saw Max recently and was overjoyed to see how happy he was and how well he looked, despite him being a little grumpy with me over being kept in cos Nana said if she let him out I might not see him at all, she tells he is out most of the day but comes home for dinner and bedtime. It was lovely to see him and get a quick cuddle, but as soon as the door was opened he was off exploring. I even got the chance to take this picture.
NO! Which is the reason I have 17 cats. Some are social idiots and live in a bedroom. They do not do well out in the house, too stressful. One was peeing everywhere, I thought she would have to live in a cage for the rest of her life because I couldn't take her to a shelter, drugs did not work. Put her in bedroom, she is fine now, the large house and other cats were too much for her to handle. The other cat in the room is afraid of her own shadow, taken in at 3 month as a feral, she never tamed up. I can pet her but that is about it. The 3rd one comes out in the house when she wants to, sits on the deck, she has a neurologic problem. She cannot jump. I found her at my feral feeding site at deaths door. The remainder of my cats are free to roam the house and get along for the most part. All have medical issues which is why they are mine. The land of misfit kitties. We do the best we can to keep everyone comfortable and give each kitty special attention. So far, it is working for us, but I would never give any of them up, even if I sometimes want to!
I gave up my cat yesterday and went to see her today. She was OK! One of the family just came home from the hospital and he said she climbed on his bed and stayed there for a few hours. She was purring and wanted to stay in my godson's room even though he wasn't home. I was going to take her back but she seemed to be settled in already. I think it's going to work out but I wouldn't want to have to go through this again. I have lost everyone important in my life except my sister and my godchildren. I love the cats as much as them and feel genuine grief when they go. It is the worst feeling there is in my opinion.
Yes. I sold 2 of my cats. One I do not miss very much but I do keep in touch with her new owner, the other I am still very upset about. I am in touch with his new owner and miss him.
