It is so maddening to have people call about cats in distress and know that I can’t do anything about these wonderful cats in need. My numbers are climbing again, my hours are dwindling at work and there is so much need out there to just rescue 24/7. If this cat sanctuary plan comes together, I will be set up to take in over 100 cats where they will be safe, loved and cared for- but right now, that dream is a bit far away.
There was a call last night about a cat going to be thrown out of his home of three years because the owners are losing their home to foreclosure. I wish I could take him, especially after finding out he is desperate need of food, a vet and a neuter. But I have learned what I can care for without totally crunching us. Our latest rescue, Manchester is slowly warming up to the group, but he is a far cry from being able to join them yet. All my rooms are full and still my phone rings off the hook. I feel like the enemy saying No, but right now, it just isn’t feasible to take in any more cats.
From what I have gleaned from your blog, you live in a mostly rural area near a small town — like me. You have been there a good number of years though and so you seem to know a lot more people there than I do in my area. And, at times, you have been able to enlist some help with the care of the cats, although disappointingly the help was not up to your understandably high standards and was only a temporary stop-gap.
I’ve sometimes wished that we had some help, especially when my husband was physically unable to take care of the cats we have. I have thought about how to recruit help locally, especially since I cannot pay much since we are on a fixed income. The only resource I can think of would be the local high school. However, my son (who lives many states away) laughed when I mentioned this to him, saying that kids today will not work unless the wages are very high and teases me that I am “still leaving in the ‘Leave It to Beaver’ age.” You might think about this solution or run an ad in your local newspaper asking for help… perhaps a local scout group or 4-H club could help you (especially if they could earn a community-service badge or award for doing the work).
Do you think this would be possible at all? Just trying to help…
It’s not that I need the physical help. I just don’t have room to take anymore cats right now. Adding one cat to a multicat home has to be done correctly or you find yourself with a houseful of upset kitties, spraying issues, cat fights etc…Plus if you stress your resident kitties out by expecting them to accept more cats, they can become ill fairly quickly. I just need more cat friendly spaces which I hope will be in the cards in the future.
Okay, I understand now. We have a newcomer female that just showed up out of the blue and all our “regulars” not only shun her, but they also attack her as soon as she’s in sight. We just had her spayed, so we’ve kept her in and away from the rest while she recovers, and we hope to find her a home, but if we can’t, she’ll just have to find a way to get along with all the others. It’s hard for me to watch them around her — even my nicest cats are hostile to her.
Any tips as to how to make the process easier? She’s really still a kitten (probably about 6 months old), and they’re all a couple of years older than she is.
It just takes time, they are reacting to her smell more then they are to her. You can neutralize that “threat” with pure vanilla extract (not the imitation kind) you need to apply it to two places on each cat several times a day to make them all smell “the same.” On the tip of their tail where their tail meets their back- and under their chin. This has to be done several times a day for several days to be effective.