My wife has to many cats.(advice)

[stevenm]

Hello my name is steven and my wife started out rescuing stray cats a few years ago and I had 3 males fixed but other Tom strays snunk on our property and got 3 females pregnant and you probably know the rest of the story kittens .

We can`t seem to give good kittens away to good homes noone within 10 miles of our community wants them and it has gotten so far out of hand we cant afford to take them all to the vet for shots and all.

My wife gets so attached to certain ones that she refuses to give them away and we are not financially able to have them all fixed and yes I know the threat of inner-breeding and am afraid it has done and happened.

My next door neighbor is one mean lady that hates animals period and I know in the past she has killed a dog of ours by feeding it antifreeze and probably a few nosy cats to.

We probably have now 45 cats and several with kittens and im worried of what to do any advice would be deeply appreciated thanks.

Stevenm.

[andreaS15]

Some areas have non profit societies who will help with payments on spays/neuters for people in financial need. We have a couple here (BC Canada) who do great things.
You could also talk to your Family Vet about this situation, maybe they could give you a discount if you get all the animals done at a certain time, and maybe figure out some kind of payment plan for you.
Trully, you MUST get this animals spayed and neutered, it's just not fare to these cats and definetly not for you, and heck even your neighbors (no matter how grouchy & mean they are, I hate cats crapping in my garden, mind you i would never hurt them, but it is a bit of a piss off).

This is how animals get killed, they are just way to many of them, and not enough homes. You must take responcebility for this siutation at hand, and do all you can to stop adding to the population problem that we allready have. I personally would not worry about the Vaccinations untill all the cats are fixed, that is the big problem.

[firetresses]

wow...that's a lot of cats...and a REALLY nasty neighbor... i don't know how anyone could feed antifreeze to an animal ... period...

you should definitely contact some no-kill shelters in the area... or a cat rescue... or something not so close, im sure that if you're close to a bigger city, they would probably drive to your house for that many cats...

good luck to you...:)

[BrandyJo]

Wow, 45 + cats?? that's an awful lot. I live on a farm way out in the country and I sort of understand your situation. Including kittens, I probably have 20 cats on our property. It's gotten to the point where I know I need to get rid of some and am working on finding homes for the kittens. My farm has about 80 acres, so it's not like they're all crammed in a house or anything. But, I just feel bad because it's hard to take care of so many cats from a financial prospective. I love all of them. but, you've gotta stop and think about what's best for the cat, rather than what's best for me.

Explain to your wife that you can't afford to keep so many. I know that she must have a huge heart to take in so many animals and kudos to her for that. But, you need to find out what's best for the kitties.
One cat of mine had trouble having kittens. One got caught in the birth canal and they all died and actually started decomposing inside of her. Luckily, I got her to the vet in time, and she got fixed and the vet saved her life. Unfortunately, this vet bill cost about $230. So, my point is, there are a lot of unexpected costs you might have to deal with.

Try placing ads in papers, or possibly even online. Best of luck to you. :angel6:

[Hella]

Bless your wife for having such a big heart, and you for putting up with it. :)
However, as everyone else has already said, thats just way too many cats, and theyre not going to stop breeding. My best suggestion would be to call the local animal shelter or perhaps a rescue group. Tell them you need them to come and get some of those cats, and if your wife gets upset about it then so be it. They should also be able to help you spay/neuter the ones she absolutely can not get rid of.
Sit down with her and explain to her that you appreciate what she is trying to do, but this should not be a reason for your financial troubles, or feelings of angst towards eachother. Helping animals is a great, wonderful thing, but that doesnt mean we have to sacrifice our own well being to do it, because then we end up just like they are, helpless.
Talk to your wife about a round, even number. Maybe 10 cats. The ones that are staying, MUST be fixed. And do your best to find a non kill shelter or rescue group, so that her worries will be lessened. If she doesnt agree, and wont do it, then unfortunately, youre just going to have to make that call. There is no need for you to have your life in such an uproar over this, and eventually the number of cats will grow and grow, and you soon wont be able to even feed them, let alone yourselves. Ive taken in tons of strays myself, and i know how hard it is to get rid of just even one. But knowing that they wont be killed, and will be getting the things that they need, help immensely. Most of my animals now are rescues and or strays i found that I have held on to. But there are many more that i had to let go of, not only for my well being, but for theirs.
A great place to contact is Spay USA. they can help you with the cost of fixing your animals, if the shelters will not. Easy number to remember. 1-800-SPAY-USA.
You DEFINITELY need to contact animal control and have them have a little chat with that neighbor of yours. The courts dont take kindly to animal killers at all. And what she did is pretty much murder.
Anyway, getting the numbers down, and then fixing the ones you keep, is a definite way to go. It ensures no new cats from the ones you already have. And as an incentive, tell her that she'll have room to bring in the next sick or homeless kitty, and get it all better for a new home.
If she still has problems with this, and there is no way out of it, then tell her she must go through the proper channels, become a liscensed Rescuer, and to start to get funding. Whether its the 5 gallon water jug at the end of the grocery check out or whatever. You should not have to bear this finiancially 100%.
I wish you the best of luck with this. I can imagine it is really hard, but its probably very hard for your wife too. The more you try to understand eachother, the better the outcome will be. Good luck!

[Roz]

I would at least try to get all of one gender altered. Such as spaying all females. Yes, preferably, you'd have all males and femaled fixed, but if you can't afford that...perhaps you could afford to fix only females? That would stop the inbreeding and overbreeding.

[stevenm]

I thank each and everone of you for the advice.Nevertheless the cats and kittens are still here.I am seeking the help to get this problem under control.Bless you all.

Sincerely Steven.

[HeatherP]

The amount of cats you have I think qualifies as a rescue center LOL Bless both of you. I agree you should talk to vets in your area about help and where you could get it. You could also try you county office and other rescue cat groups (yahoo is brillent for that) and shelters in the area. Placing ads in papers in a good fifty mile radius could be a good idea too. People will do road trips if they trully want one of the babies. You could also make a website for them and place photo's of the cats you are trying to rehome, internet rule #1 of shopping, reciever pays for transport.
I can understand your wife loving all of them and having a special spot in her heart for a few, but she'll also have a happy heart knowing that she helped save a kitty that has become a very much loved part of someone's heart and home.

You have a pretty serious problem and I wish you the best of luck in working it out.

[Whoops]

There are some places where you can run ads online. This way you can hit a lot more towns of ppl wanting pets. I am not sure which state you were in so I can't tell you where to look just type in placing ads online in your search column and some of them are free.
Also call around to some no kill shelters and explain the situation. Explain to your wife since you are not finacially able to take care of all of them that you could get in some trouble. She has a heart and I do not criticize her, heck I am almost jealous. So many cats.
Good luck and let us know what happens.