- Joined
- Mar 4, 2018
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Ever since I was about 6-7 years old (I'm turning 20 this month) I've had cats. It started with one male cat named that my stepfather got from his old neighbor since my mother wanted a cat to help with the minor mice problem we had. Because he wasn't as small as she wanted, my mother wanted another smaller cat. The neighbor had informed my stepfather that this other cat was also male. We assumed this until the cats started to mate and the smaller cat eventually became pregnant. From there, we had kittens. We gave a few away. But then the two cats had more, and eventually those kittens grew up and had kittens with each other, and it got out of hand. My parents never took them to get spayed or neutered nor had the money to take them to the ASPCA shelter. So they kind of just sat back, got attached to the cats, and let the situation grow. Many of our cats have died from Parvo and as I child I would cry because it was often the cats I grew close to. With the inbreeding, some kittens wouldn't make it past a few days of birth. The older generations at this point have been given away or passed away. Currently we only have 8 adult cats (5 female, 3 male) and 6 kittens (3 female, 3 male). Out of our adult cats three are more 7 years old, and the rest are still young (3-4 years). Out of our kittens, 4 were born in September (going be be 6 months old) and 2 were born in December (going to be 3 months old). Now that I'm older I've been searching for no-kill shelters in our area, but I haven't had much luck. I'm afraid that with the nature of the inbreeding, shelters will only put them to sleep. They seem to be healthy, but I'm always worried that could change any moment so I want to live better.
My situation is so bad that I live in a 1br apt with my parents and the cats alike. Whenever we feed them, they cry very loudly, and are always hungry which I don't blame them for. We never really have much money and we cannot afford them. We never could afford that many. My parents usually get them a box or bag of food a day and I know that's not enough. They all share one giant litter box which has caused the ill-behaved boys especially to mark the floors and different areas of the house. I'm so sick of living like them and watching them be unhappy despite being very happy and lovable animals. I recently got a carrier and am planning to take two of my kittens to get vaccinated and spayed this week by the ASPCA mobile clinic. But I'm afraid to because I know they cannot be around the other cats when they get back and I have no idea how to keep them separated unless I keep them in my room and get a litterbox for the room as well which will probably draw bugs or toxic smells in.
Is there a way to fix this quickly? I don't want to give away 3 specific adult cats (two beloved girls, and a beloved boy) nor any of the kittens though (for now). But if I can find homes or safe havens for the 5 adults help will be much appreciated. I live in NYC if that helps at all. If I can minimize this issue I will ultimately be able to get the few left spayed/neutered.
My situation is so bad that I live in a 1br apt with my parents and the cats alike. Whenever we feed them, they cry very loudly, and are always hungry which I don't blame them for. We never really have much money and we cannot afford them. We never could afford that many. My parents usually get them a box or bag of food a day and I know that's not enough. They all share one giant litter box which has caused the ill-behaved boys especially to mark the floors and different areas of the house. I'm so sick of living like them and watching them be unhappy despite being very happy and lovable animals. I recently got a carrier and am planning to take two of my kittens to get vaccinated and spayed this week by the ASPCA mobile clinic. But I'm afraid to because I know they cannot be around the other cats when they get back and I have no idea how to keep them separated unless I keep them in my room and get a litterbox for the room as well which will probably draw bugs or toxic smells in.
Is there a way to fix this quickly? I don't want to give away 3 specific adult cats (two beloved girls, and a beloved boy) nor any of the kittens though (for now). But if I can find homes or safe havens for the 5 adults help will be much appreciated. I live in NYC if that helps at all. If I can minimize this issue I will ultimately be able to get the few left spayed/neutered.