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- Jan 10, 2016
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A little background on my cat situation before I start:
I live in a one-bedroom apartment. I have 5 cats. A female (Shuggie), probably about 5 years old, and her litter of 4 males (Conan, Francesco, Buddy Boy and Jellybean), who will be 3 years old around this coming Easter. The female was abandoned by her former owners, who moved out and left her behind to fend for herself. I don't know how long she was living outside before she wandered (pregnant, unbeknownst to me) into my apartment and my life. She is an indoor/outdoor cat. The males are all indoor cats.
I'm having an issue with a stray. He is an adorable black cat (I call him Jack), probably about a year old, who has been following me around the apartment complex off and on since he was a kitten. Now he is basically living on my back porch. I put food out for him there, and a soft cat bed that he sleeps in. I give him as much affection as my limited schedule allows. He loves getting attention, being petted, belly rubs, and playing with catnip toys. He's just a great little guy, and I've become very attached to him.
If I didn't already have 5 cats, he would definitely be my cat, but it's not meant to be. My cats are like a little mafia and will never accept a new member into the house. I bring him inside occasionally (he is always dying to come in), but it usually doesn't go very well. My cats get very agitated with his presence. It doesn't get to actual fighting, but there is usually a lot of howling, moaning, groaning, hissing, and general hostility. Even when it's relatively peaceful, I can tell my cats are stressed out whenever he's in the apartment. The males have lived very sheltered lives indoors and are not used to other animals, and their mama is very territorial and resents the invasion of a stranger onto her turf. Even with all this, Jack still likes to come inside.
I can't say that it is my cats only that are responsible for all of the bad vibes. A couple of times I've seen Jack get "that look" in his eyes, and proceed to run up on one of the other cats, although he falls short of actually doing anything to them, that's enough to completely freak my cats out.
The most heartbreaking thing, though, is the fact that my cat Jellybean is also a black cat (although to me he looks nothing like Jack; he's twice Jack's size for one thing), and even after I put Jack back outside following a ruckus, the other cats often proceed to turn on Jellybean, as if they are confusing him with Jack, and poor innocent Jellybean has to hide under the bed until they calm down.
There are also issues with him hanging outside. My mama cat, Shuggie, likes to spend time outside with me, and we often go for walks around the grounds of the apartment complex. Nowadays, our walks are ruined by Jack, who comes running up to me whenever I set foot outside. This sends Shuggie into hiding, usually under a car, until Jack leaves.
I've tried to find Jack a home via Facebook, to no avail. The only no-kill shelter in my city is the Humane Society, and they make it extremely difficult to turn in an animal. They open the doors at 10AM, but people begin lining up at 5 or 6 in the morning. So, in order to turn him in, I would have to wait in line with him in a carrier for 4 or 5 hours, and I could still be turned away. Add to that the fact that I've been told by a lot of people that black cats tend to languish in shelters. Even if I didn't have to get up at the break of dawn on a Saturday and wait in line for 5 hours to get him in a shelter, I would still feel terrible thinking that he could be stuck in there in a tiny cage for months.
And, even though I realize that cats don't experience the exact same type of emotions that humans do (not saying that they don't experience emotions at all, just that they're different), the thought that he might feel betrayed by the human who's been taking care of him really bothers me. And I hate the thought of not at least being able to check up on him, even if it's only looking at photos of him online (what can I say, I'm very attached to the little stinker.)
I'm not sure what to do at this point. The ideal situation for me would be to find him a loving home without him having to go through a shelter first, but that's proving difficult...especially since, from what I've observed, I really can't recommend that he live with other cats, so that rules out most potential homes ("cat people" always have cats already; that's why they're "cat people"...)
Have you guys ever experienced anything similar? What did you do? What would you do if you were me?
I live in a one-bedroom apartment. I have 5 cats. A female (Shuggie), probably about 5 years old, and her litter of 4 males (Conan, Francesco, Buddy Boy and Jellybean), who will be 3 years old around this coming Easter. The female was abandoned by her former owners, who moved out and left her behind to fend for herself. I don't know how long she was living outside before she wandered (pregnant, unbeknownst to me) into my apartment and my life. She is an indoor/outdoor cat. The males are all indoor cats.
I'm having an issue with a stray. He is an adorable black cat (I call him Jack), probably about a year old, who has been following me around the apartment complex off and on since he was a kitten. Now he is basically living on my back porch. I put food out for him there, and a soft cat bed that he sleeps in. I give him as much affection as my limited schedule allows. He loves getting attention, being petted, belly rubs, and playing with catnip toys. He's just a great little guy, and I've become very attached to him.
If I didn't already have 5 cats, he would definitely be my cat, but it's not meant to be. My cats are like a little mafia and will never accept a new member into the house. I bring him inside occasionally (he is always dying to come in), but it usually doesn't go very well. My cats get very agitated with his presence. It doesn't get to actual fighting, but there is usually a lot of howling, moaning, groaning, hissing, and general hostility. Even when it's relatively peaceful, I can tell my cats are stressed out whenever he's in the apartment. The males have lived very sheltered lives indoors and are not used to other animals, and their mama is very territorial and resents the invasion of a stranger onto her turf. Even with all this, Jack still likes to come inside.
I can't say that it is my cats only that are responsible for all of the bad vibes. A couple of times I've seen Jack get "that look" in his eyes, and proceed to run up on one of the other cats, although he falls short of actually doing anything to them, that's enough to completely freak my cats out.
The most heartbreaking thing, though, is the fact that my cat Jellybean is also a black cat (although to me he looks nothing like Jack; he's twice Jack's size for one thing), and even after I put Jack back outside following a ruckus, the other cats often proceed to turn on Jellybean, as if they are confusing him with Jack, and poor innocent Jellybean has to hide under the bed until they calm down.
There are also issues with him hanging outside. My mama cat, Shuggie, likes to spend time outside with me, and we often go for walks around the grounds of the apartment complex. Nowadays, our walks are ruined by Jack, who comes running up to me whenever I set foot outside. This sends Shuggie into hiding, usually under a car, until Jack leaves.
I've tried to find Jack a home via Facebook, to no avail. The only no-kill shelter in my city is the Humane Society, and they make it extremely difficult to turn in an animal. They open the doors at 10AM, but people begin lining up at 5 or 6 in the morning. So, in order to turn him in, I would have to wait in line with him in a carrier for 4 or 5 hours, and I could still be turned away. Add to that the fact that I've been told by a lot of people that black cats tend to languish in shelters. Even if I didn't have to get up at the break of dawn on a Saturday and wait in line for 5 hours to get him in a shelter, I would still feel terrible thinking that he could be stuck in there in a tiny cage for months.
And, even though I realize that cats don't experience the exact same type of emotions that humans do (not saying that they don't experience emotions at all, just that they're different), the thought that he might feel betrayed by the human who's been taking care of him really bothers me. And I hate the thought of not at least being able to check up on him, even if it's only looking at photos of him online (what can I say, I'm very attached to the little stinker.)
I'm not sure what to do at this point. The ideal situation for me would be to find him a loving home without him having to go through a shelter first, but that's proving difficult...especially since, from what I've observed, I really can't recommend that he live with other cats, so that rules out most potential homes ("cat people" always have cats already; that's why they're "cat people"...)
Have you guys ever experienced anything similar? What did you do? What would you do if you were me?