- Joined
- Oct 5, 2012
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- 586
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(sorry for the length had to get it all out!)
Hi all, I am new to this site but have read here often and can tell there are lots of true cat lovers. I need some advice and perspective. I live in an apartment complex on an upper floor that backs up onto some woods. Last year I noticed behind a neighboring building young cats playing outside. I approached the neighbors and found out that they had started feeding an unspayed feral quite some time ago and these were her kittens (now about 5 months old, familiar with humans but not handleable or tame). And even worse, there was a batch of 4 week old kittens in the bushes. These neighbors had no intention of getting any of them fixed and seemed clueless about what to do claiming that the five month old ones were perfectly adoptable. One of them actually was - he'd tamed himself. I was torn about what to do because I had just suffered a devastating loss of my fifteen year old kitty to cancer and having a hard time in my life in general, but I saw what was happening and likely to happen. Our county animal shelter is so cashed strapped that they literally will not come out even if one wanted them to.
So against my better judgment I got involved. It was like pushing a boulder uphill as they people kept breaking appointments and throwing delays in my way at every point. It was like they wanted the new batch of kittens to grow up untamed like the first one even though they gave lip service to wanting otherwise. But eventually I got them to work with me in getting the mother trapped at the same time as the tiny kittens, and I took over getting the mother fixed. They took the kittens into their apartment and only worked with them to tame them for one week and turned them over to the pound. Fortunately it was enough and they got homes. The first generation of kittens wasn't so lucky though - all scattered to the wind and disappeared included the mother over a period of months. One cat was left who I call Oscar.
Now I get a call from my neighbor wanting me to do her a "big favor" because she's moving in one week and wants me to take over feeding Oscar. Like it's no big deal, just moving and leaving. She's moving somewhere that would be very inhospitable to an outdoor cat even if she were to try to bring him. But in her mind he never was her responsibility anyway.... I encouraged her to ask some of the neighbors that live closer to her to feed him instead, but I'll be surprised if anyone says yes. I can't see the cat starve in front of me, so I'll end up feeding it. I'm worried that she's lying and that she's actually feeding more than just this one cat - she's lied before to me to make things look better than they are. I'm not on the ground floor, I have no good spot to feed him (or them), and honestly I'm not in a good position to be in charge of feral cats and could end up getting evicted for this as it is explicitly forbidden in my lease. Still if I don't feed him he dies. If he goes to the shelter I would have to trap and take him there, and he dies. I can't live with that.
I am so frustrated and angry! This lady is so incredibly clueless - there's no getting through to her as I've already tried in the past. She believes she is a friend to the animals and doesn't understand that when you feed an animal there are consequences and you take on certain responsibilities. I have two indoor cats, one that is part feral and another with multiple expensive health problems (IBD and FLUTD). I'm also moving away from here in six months possibly out of state. My own health is poor and I'm under a lot of life stress which is ongoing, this is the last thing I need but unlike my neighbor my conscience won't let me walk away.
Advice and support appreciated, thank you!
Hi all, I am new to this site but have read here often and can tell there are lots of true cat lovers. I need some advice and perspective. I live in an apartment complex on an upper floor that backs up onto some woods. Last year I noticed behind a neighboring building young cats playing outside. I approached the neighbors and found out that they had started feeding an unspayed feral quite some time ago and these were her kittens (now about 5 months old, familiar with humans but not handleable or tame). And even worse, there was a batch of 4 week old kittens in the bushes. These neighbors had no intention of getting any of them fixed and seemed clueless about what to do claiming that the five month old ones were perfectly adoptable. One of them actually was - he'd tamed himself. I was torn about what to do because I had just suffered a devastating loss of my fifteen year old kitty to cancer and having a hard time in my life in general, but I saw what was happening and likely to happen. Our county animal shelter is so cashed strapped that they literally will not come out even if one wanted them to.
So against my better judgment I got involved. It was like pushing a boulder uphill as they people kept breaking appointments and throwing delays in my way at every point. It was like they wanted the new batch of kittens to grow up untamed like the first one even though they gave lip service to wanting otherwise. But eventually I got them to work with me in getting the mother trapped at the same time as the tiny kittens, and I took over getting the mother fixed. They took the kittens into their apartment and only worked with them to tame them for one week and turned them over to the pound. Fortunately it was enough and they got homes. The first generation of kittens wasn't so lucky though - all scattered to the wind and disappeared included the mother over a period of months. One cat was left who I call Oscar.
Now I get a call from my neighbor wanting me to do her a "big favor" because she's moving in one week and wants me to take over feeding Oscar. Like it's no big deal, just moving and leaving. She's moving somewhere that would be very inhospitable to an outdoor cat even if she were to try to bring him. But in her mind he never was her responsibility anyway.... I encouraged her to ask some of the neighbors that live closer to her to feed him instead, but I'll be surprised if anyone says yes. I can't see the cat starve in front of me, so I'll end up feeding it. I'm worried that she's lying and that she's actually feeding more than just this one cat - she's lied before to me to make things look better than they are. I'm not on the ground floor, I have no good spot to feed him (or them), and honestly I'm not in a good position to be in charge of feral cats and could end up getting evicted for this as it is explicitly forbidden in my lease. Still if I don't feed him he dies. If he goes to the shelter I would have to trap and take him there, and he dies. I can't live with that.
I am so frustrated and angry! This lady is so incredibly clueless - there's no getting through to her as I've already tried in the past. She believes she is a friend to the animals and doesn't understand that when you feed an animal there are consequences and you take on certain responsibilities. I have two indoor cats, one that is part feral and another with multiple expensive health problems (IBD and FLUTD). I'm also moving away from here in six months possibly out of state. My own health is poor and I'm under a lot of life stress which is ongoing, this is the last thing I need but unlike my neighbor my conscience won't let me walk away.
Advice and support appreciated, thank you!