Trapped stray kitties aren't strays

[catrose]

Last edited Sun Apr 27, 2014, 08:55 AM - Edit history (1)

On one of the coldest nights of the year, I saw a fluffy white cat with spots near my house in the country. I posted on Craigslist, hoping to find an owner, but got no response. I saw this cat several more times. She seemed to live under a trailer with her kittens, according to the trailer owner, who didn't want them there. I started setting out a trap each night. But instead of a litter of kittens, I caught 1 kitten, the teenage mom cat, her 2 brothers, and a feral tom who took off shortly after his obligatory trip to the vet. He won't be making more kittens or making other cats sick, but the 3 teenagers (about 7-8 months) are obviously pets. Someone raised them and loved them and threw them out for the winter. I can't treat them like ferals. They obviously want to be pets again more than anything in the world, and they love living indoors. They are so cuddly: Cyril jumps in my lap when I sit down with them, and Sterling winds around my legs and begs for pets. That works fine, but I need a third hand when Mallory comes nuzzling around. I alternate hands between her and Sterling (until she swats him across the face, as she's won't to do.) The baby girl Lana is almost 3 months and has never been handled, but she's coming around. Her short little life must have been one long terror.

I've taken them to the vet for shots, neutering, and microchips. The girls will be spayed in a few weeks, when Lana is big enough. They are the sweetest cats, the best pets you can imagine, but there's no room for them in my house. I'm at crazy-cat-lady level with 5 cats of my own (3 ill) and a collection of foster cats.

I'm asking a rehoming fee, to partially cover their medical bills (and hopefully to deter evil doers), and I'm offering a discount if you take more than one. They've stuck together through so much! The black and white short-haired boys or the long-haired white and gray girl and her baby would be good pairs.

If you're in Texas or an adjacent state, I can get them to you. PM me and I'll direct you to the sponsoring rescue's application page.

Can you think of anything else I can do to get them out of my house into their own homes? I've contacted rescues (all full), posted a courtesy webpage on one of the rescue sites, taken them to Adoption Day, posted on Facebook and all my mailing lists, posted flyers, dragooned my friends into posting on their lists and bulletin boards, and posted on Craigslist with a link to a rescue site's application page.

I have an appointment on Wednesday with the Humane Society to talk about surrendering them, but that's breaking my heart. I've never surrendered an animal to be kept in a cage (or worse). Other rescue folks say that it's a good option, but I'm hating myself for it already.

Sterling
[url=https://flic.kr/p/mQA5kS][img][/img][/url]
Cyril
[url=https://flic.kr/p/mQyiwB][img][/img][/url]
Mallory
[url=https://flic.kr/p/mQA5mU][img][/img][/url]
Lana
[url=https://flic.kr/p/mQA5Bo][img][/img][/url]

UPDATE: I did take them to the Humane Society. The people there were very nice and already had a method to return them to me if they aren't adopted. Sterling's already found his home. I brought Lana back home because she was too feral, but she's getting more friendly every day. Thanks for all the support here!

[CurtEastPoint]

1. Cat lady (?) here, too.

You are outstanding and I wish you such success. Do not feel guilty if after all you have to surrender them. You show them love and they appreciate it.

[catrose]

2. Thanks much, CurtEastPoint

Resources are limited, but I've never truly faced that before.

[Curmudgeoness]

3. Those poor babies!

I hate people! Well, some people-----not you and people like you. You are doing everything right. I cannot think of anything more you can do. I wish I had more answers that would help get these kitties a home. They are lovely. I especially like Sterling's face.

If they are as loving and friendly as you say, I would bet that the Humane Society would be able to get them homes. I know that is a hard thing to do to give them up. The only other option is to keep fostering them and hope that another rescue group can find them house, but it sounds like that is not possible.

[catrose]

4. They're not getting the attention they want and that Lana needs

and they're living in my husband's wood workshop, not the best place. And, no, they don't want to mingle with my other cats, thank you very much. The other cats they met in the wild were not so friendly. So I'm happy to pay their vet bills, provide food, anything, if someone will take them in. I read that tuxedos don't tend to get adopted as fast from shelter environments, but other rescuers told me that the Humane Society will call me back if it looks like the cats arent going to be adopted. I'm clinging to that. They just deserve so much better, better than the few minutes I spend with them each day, and better than cages. And I feel so inadequate about socializing Lana, even though she is better than she was a week ago. She'll let me pet her (and she loves the KFC original recipe chicken I bring), but she's stiff with terror the whole time. Okay, gonna cry again.

Thanks for your kind words.

[shenmue]

5. {{{catrose}}}

{{{kittehs}}}

[catrose]

6. oh, thank you

everybody, good vibes to the kitties!

[love_katz]

7. Hugs to you, kudos for helping them...

and wishing the kitties golden luck in finding new homes.

[catrose]

9. Thanks much, love_katz

love your name!

[Voice for Peace]

8. this looks so much like one of the stray kittens who comes here to eat

We did a big spay-neuter-release roundup here recently.
Neutered about 4 toms, spayed female kitten and pregnant
female (babies aborted), and male kitten who looks like
this one


I think the kittens have always been strays, and the
pregnant female was their mom.. they would always
come together.

Too many kitties!!! I wish I could shelter and feed them all.

[catrose]

10. Always more kitties!

I'm always pushing at the limits of what I can handle--this time went over it.

[catrose]

11. Maybe the kittens could be socialized

People keep telling me that Lana's not too old,and she's nearly 3 months old. Of course, then they would need homes too. Thanks for looking after them.

[CountAllVotes]

12. Best of luck finding homes for all of them

I too had found a cat, a white cat and it was the day after my other white cat had to be put down due to feline epilepsy (or was it a brain tumor -- never knew).

The cat I found was 10 mos. old and weighed only 2 lbs.

Some idiot owned her and had been keeping her under his house with little food/water. He could have cared less.

Things did not look so hot for her being she was so thin and sick.

However, she was nursed back to health and was scared to death of people in general and hid her entire life.

She (known in the end as "Old Kitty&quot lived to be almost 18 years old and I loved her very much.

People that do things like this to cats sicken me.

Again, I wish you the very best of luck placing them as they are all beauties IMO.

Thanks for doing the best you can do. That is all anyone can do and you are doing it!

[catrose]

15. Oh, thanks for rescuing Old Kitty and giving her a wonderful life

You're the kind of person I hope sees these beauties, particularly poor little scared Lana, who's always rigid with fear.

Thanks for the kind words.

[CountAllVotes]

18. The right person for Lana will come along

I just know it will happen for her. I've had many cats in my day and many of them were not very friendly towards others. In a way, this was good.

In the case of Old Kitty, everyone always wanted to touch her and hold her as she was so very beautiful having one green eye and one blue eye and all white.

She'd run for the hills!

It was good as she taught my other cats to run for the hills when anyone tried to grab them. It was good because no one could bring harm to them. Old Kitty was a loving cat with my husband and me and the surviving cat is a rescue from a no-kill shelter.

She was a bit too friendly when I first got her but Old Kitty taught her to be cautious. She growls when the someone comes to the door but is otherwise a lovely cat and yes, she is my "baby".

I recently adopted two male kittens from the same local no-kill shelter after the deaths of Old Kitty and Flame (he was from a no-kill shelter as well; a different one that I would hesitate to recommend to anyone). They are well socialized and very friendly but they are learning to be cautious from the other cat that learned to be this way from the late Old Kitty. So, you see, Old Kitty lives on in her own special way. I think Lana is like Old Kitty was in this sense -- scared as hell but looking for love.

So, it can be a good thing I think. Some people out there have less that good intentions with cats sadly. I learned this lesson the hard way so I'm glad to have cautious cats (smart cats is what they are!).

I hope they all find loving homes for soon and I'll put in a special little prayer for Lana to find the right person/place.

Best of luck to you my friend and don't you dare cry too much! You are doing the right thing, remember that!

[ginnyinWI]

13. As a volunteer at a no-kill shelter,

I would have recommended you bring the well-socialized ones to your local no-kill shelter, where people go to look for cats such as yours. Animals get all the medical screenings and treatments, and prospective adopters are screened. You could make a donation to help cover the costs. What you are doing is nice, but it's like you are running your own shelter, and there may be something you are overlooking. Better to leave it in more experienced hands.

If there is no shelter like this, of course I'd want you to do just what you are doing. Maybe you and like-minded people would like to start a no-kill shelter in your area. They often begin as a network of homes fostering cats/dogs until adopters can be found. Then if enough support is raised they move into a dedicated building.

[catrose]

14. Thanks

I have an appointment at the Humane Society this morning, and it's tearing me up to take them there. But your words are giving me the courage to go through with it. Another rescuer who makes a career out of trapping cats says that she takes all her kittens there. She says they'll call you if for some reason the cat can't be or isn't adopted, and that makes me feel better. I just wanted the kitties to go to another home, not a cage.

I do work with another rescue group, and they've given these guys space on their website and at their Adoption Days, but we don't have a building; each foster decides how many cats s/he can handle--and I'm way over my (and my family's) boundary with the sudden addition of 4 more.

Our local shelter is now no-kill, and they have another group that works with them to take the kinds of not-immediately-adoptable pets, but they're both already overcrowded, just at the start of kitten season. I feel better about AHS, for no real discernible reason, other than my memories of the shelter when it wasn't no-kill, and I was rescuing more cats than I could handle just so they wouldn't be killed.

Thanks for all the kind words and advice. As I said, they're all bolstering me to do what's best for these wonderful guys, who had real bad luck with their first "owner."

[ginnyinWI]

16. Great!

I was going to add, but didn't because it might not be fair to some people, but in my experience (three years as a volunteer), the people who adopt from shelters are the nicest, most responsible and caring people! They treat a pet as a family member, not just a disposable thing. If they were like that, they'd just pick up a kitten somewhere and maybe not want to spend any money at the vet.

As far as financially, a shelter pet is a real bargain, because for $25 per adult cat and $75 per kitten, you get them already spayed/neutered, screened for serious diseases, treated routinely with worm medicine, basic immunizations, and micro-chipped. And if there is any question that they aren't litter box trained, they will be fostered out for a few weeks to make sure. That's the way we do it, and probably this is standard in most places. You know how expensive trips to the vet are for these kinds of treatments.

[glinda]

17. Well here is my two feral story. Yup....still living here on a separate floor.

I have near given up finding them a home. the shelters I know of say they do not kill but have on occasion. I don't suffer liars well so they stay here.....still hoping for a good indoor permanent home for them. Fat chance though..........https://www.facebook.com/minnesotahomelesskittiesjatmashiva