Worried that I might be an animal hoarder

[gloriajh]

Originally Posted by Sakura

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I'd really just try to give her her own space and keep her in the bedroom. Give it a few months though...a week is too short. When I introduced my first 2 cats, the younger one drove the older one nuts. After a year, there was a noticeable improvement. Our 3rd cat now terrorizes the 2nd, so the 3rd cat stays in his own bedroom all day when people aren't around to watch them.

I agree = a few months is a better picture of how she will be - she scared too, and it will take some time for her to trust you. I care for ferals, and the mommy feral is just now not bolting when I go outside - and it's been about a year. Her kittens have seen me all their lives - so they aren't as untrusting of me - finally!

Good for you, and, good for her - after she settles in - she'll be worth the time it takes for her to feel like she's finally got someone to love her.

BTW - the male cats, that we have, seem to be a lot easier going - my female (Phoebe-inside cat) is a little stinker and still has a tough time cuddling. She's a calico and I've heard that they have a little different disposition - she's made a believer out of me.

Hope this all works out for you and her!

 

[lotso'cats]

I can't say anything I've got 7 indoor cats and 2 outdoor cats

 

[farleyv]

are healthy and well cared for, then you are not a hoarder. I just happened to catch a radio program about cat hoarding. There are many mental health issues that hoarders share. I am familiar with one in my neighborhood. The other poster was spot on regarding the definition of a hoarder. It fits this person to a T. I have 11. But 7 of them are senior and I will not be taking any more in. They are all fixed, vaccinated and fat and sassy. You would not know there are cats here by any smell. The improvements in litter through the years has eliminated odor as long as boxes are clean, which mine are. So take comfort in the fact you are a softie as the poster says. I look at it this way. Some people have 4 large dogs. No one would accuse them of being a hoarder. Yet 4 large dogs IMO equal 6 cats as far as care goes. Dogs IMO have a natural smell that is amplified when wet. Cats do not smell. Their litter does, but not them. Control the litter smell and you have an odor free home. Hope this makes you feel a bit better. I have times like you also, but I look at my animals and my home and compare it to the one in our neighborhood. I am Ok. So are you.

 

[iheartstrays]

I don't think you're a hoarder; I think you care an awful lot about animals. Reading your post reminded me of myself, so let me tell you what I did that made me feel better about all the homeless, unadoptable kitties.

I started volunteering at a no kill shelter. If you're consistent, the cats get to know you as the "Cuddler and Bringer of the Treats". They'll befriend you, rely on you and treat you exactly the way your own cats do. They snuggle and cuddle, hiss and meow and you'll get to know all of their little quirks. It's so rewarding to spend time with "unadoptables". We have one at the shelter, a beautiful long haired tabby, who is absolutely opposed to being petted, but is so intrigued at by people. So, for months, I sat in the floor, playing with the other cats, paying her attention as she demanded it. She started letting me touch her, but would let me know when enough was enough by biting me. Then the bites got softer, and softer still.

Now she comes right to me, rubs my legs, rubs my hands and, if I sit still long enough, she cuddles right up to my side and lays down.

I'm getting teary-eyed just telling that story. She's been there so long no one remembers her story; Lord knows where she came from. We get a lot of people dumping animals out there and maybe that was the case, or maybe she was abused. Whatever happened, she has regained her ability to trust people, even if it is only me. Eventually, she'll get better and better and who knows, maybe someone will take her home a couple of years from now.

I hope you'll consider volunteering. I really think it would do you a lot of good.