Could this be #10 ???

[catcrazylady]

Ok, guys PLEASE tell me NO NO NO!!! I really don't feel like I can handle another one!http://petoftheday.com/talk/images/our_smilies/eek.gif I know some of you out there are laughing at me stressing about the number 10 BUT I really just don't feel like I can do it!! My heart says "what is one more?" my head says "You can barely handle what you have now!" Who should I listen to???
Here is the story and I will do my best to keep it brief.
When I moved here and met my neighbor from across the street I found out that she is also an animal lover. She had five dogs and around 10 to 12 cats. Whenever she came across a lost or stray cat she would bring it home. She didn't want that many in her house so she put them outside. She has a garage that she keeps about three feet deep in straw. She keeps food and water outside. She does take them to the vet and gets them spayed and nuetered. If she sees that one is sick she will take them also. She originally brought in the old, very young, or sickly ones in during the winter. She is the one that found Leroy in a parking lot and brought him home so he could adopt us. I do thank her for that!! Pretty soon people started dropping off cats here because they knew they would be fed. Between the two of us we have been feeding somewhere around twenty cats! That is how the feral mamma cat came along and we got all her babies.
On to the current situation! My neighbors daughter married a soldier, got pregnant, and he was sent to Iraq. She came home to stay with her mother, went into early labor and delivered a baby that weighed only 1.9 lbs! Believe it or not the baby has done very well and came home after three months. BUT due to the babies low immunity all cats have been thrown out! She still feeds them and offers her garage but I have noticed that their level of care is really decreasing! I don't even know how many there are now. She has one pure bred registered persian that has lived the life of luxury that is now a street cat! One declawed cat has been killed by a car and I really don't know what else has happened. We have been blessed with decent weather so far this winter but that is about to change. I of course will put a box on my porch with a feather pillow and blankets for any that need warmth. I always put out food for anything that wanders along.
Here is the situation...One special little kitty seems to want to stay here. She is as cute as can be. Very friendly and has really taken to my husband. Although he will blame me he really likes her and is starting the talk about letting her in. I too would like to open my door to ALL but I don't feel like I can meet their needs!
I get up at 4:30 am, leave by 6:00am, and don't get home until around 5:15pm. I don't feel like I have time to meet the emotional needs of the cats I have now! I am sleep deprived as it is with grooming, feeding and just trying to spend time with each one as much as I can. My husband is helpful but the kitties just won't let him do a lot of these things. He doesn't spend enough one on one time with them so they are very feral leary of him! Except of course for the daddy's rotten boy Sammy.
Anyway, this little girl is working us. I'm sure she hasn't been to the vet yet for spaying and I have two boys that have to go soon. I hope within the next few weeks. I don't even know if she is already pregnant. God forbid!
Where do you draw the line folks? I know I could somehow manage financially as well as emotionally, but I don't know if the cats can! She is a little spitfire and won't be easy to intergrate. Do I want to go through this again when I really don't have time? Do I just wait and hope that my neighbors daughter will soon be moving away and hope that she starts taking better care of the cats again? Am I putting the cart before the horse because this little girl has never been inside and she may not even want to come in. HELP!!! I just don't know what to do!!! Maybe I will just stay a porch mama to her and pray that she doesn't get hit by a car and that she has been to the vet!
I'm so sorry! I said this would be short but boy I needed to let that out! Any advice from my cat loving PT friends is needed.
Here are some pics of the little lady loving my husband.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid97/pffe02a5b196116f57efd12cd7f6e2a8f/fa11349c.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid97/p8ee957110fb433c99bf41a16f00bf7df/fa11348d.jpg
Here she is loving the concrete and wanting neck scratches
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid97/p1a7d7cebf19a5aea9af230421f93bb45/fa113461.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid97/p3e0683352c87645d71289c8ffbaf7c91/fa11346c.jpg

She looks big in the pics but she is a very small kitty.
HUGE *SIGH*

[shais_mom]

First off, I understand your neighbor wanting to protect her grandchild but just pitching all the cats outside and then slacking off on their care, make my blood boil.I am glad that the baby is doing fine, sounds like the poor little tyke had a really rough start, but she can't be that big of an animal lover if she did that.
I don't know what to tell you Yes or No. I can't understand how you do it with your 9!!! I struggle with 1 dog and 1 cat and would love to add 1 more of each!!! So I can't help you there. Could you foster this lovely cat until you find her a home?

Good Luck!

[Miss Meow]

I don't mean this in a rude way, but why did your neighbour throw all the cats outside? Could she have partitioned part of the house so the cats had some indoors space, and her daughter and baby had a separate area? I don't really understand what's happened there, especially if you have some cold weather coming. The poor cats must be wondering what on earth happened.

Back to you, you'll feel bad if you do take in kitty as you're already at the end of your tether, but you'll also feel bad if you leave her to her own devices. So I think you should do what your gut feel is saying. Step back from the situation a little and see what your heart is telling you.

I would take her to the vet's for a checkup before anything so you can see if she's carrying any disease or if she's pregnant. That may influence your decision as well.

Good luck :)

[bisi.cat]

Oh dear...{{{{{HUGS}}}}

I am afraid I can't offer much help, but as all the others already said, let your gut feeling decide!
You decide the limit...none of us can decide for you, as it's you who has to live with the cats...but whatever you'll do, be sure the Pet Talkers will support you!!!

As for your neighbor, I have witnessed something similar with my sister's neighbor, who was always a huge animal lover until the day their 1st grandchild arrived and their center of attention was limited only to that baby...I cannot understand it in a gazillion years...but it happens every day...:(

[Craftlady]

She looks like Skinny but not as much white on her chest. Sweet little girl. Sad the neighbor has disowned her gang.

[jenluckenbach]

http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/KY30.html
http://www.hollys.org/
http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/KY112.html
http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/IN166.html
http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/KY25.html
http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/KY106.html


It's a place to start.

Fostering or re-homing is also an option. You will feel better if you help than if you simply ignore.

Best of luck. :)

[catcrazylady]

Ok, I think I had a moment of panic last night. I'm feeling better this morning and thinking a little more clearly. Last night I felt like the old woman who lived in a shoe, had so many children that she didn't know what to do, and then found out she was PREGNANT!!http://petoftheday.com/talk/images/our_smilies/biggrin.gif
I can not do anything until I get my two boys fixed. That is for sure! I will try to talk to my neighbor and find out if this little one has been fixed. Then I will have to see how introductions go. This little lady is spicy! I held the door open about two inches last night so she could sniff Pete and Leroy. She came running across the porch and meowed really loud and stuck that paw through the door and smacked Pete right on top of the head!! Pete wasn't bothered in the least. I went back outside and had a long talk with her about that type of behavior. Peanut Butter walked up on the porch and she went after him! Hissing and spitting like a tiger! Now they are outside together all the time. She only acts like this when you show her affection. She suddenly didn't want anyone else around. The one thing I am sure of is that she can handle herself and she ignores my speeches just like the rest of them do!!!http://petoftheday.com/talk/images/our_smilies/rolleyes.gif
I'm going to play this thing day by day and it will work out the way it is supposed to.
Thanks to all for your kind words and understanding the panic attack!! If I just had a bigger house I would bring them all in!!
Jen thanks for all the info you attached. You were right when you basically said that I won't be able to handle doing nothing.
I'm going to try to do some more research for help in our area. We have a VERY mean feral tom that has started showing up. He is the scary type because he is not afraid of humans. He will keep his distance but does not run. He showed up briefly during the summer and my goofy mother went to pet him against my warnings and she got her hand sliced open! He was gone for a long time and I thought he had been killed but he is now back with a vengence! Nasty boy needs to be trapped, fixed, and loved by someone!
Does it ever end????!!!

[bisi.cat]

Originally posted by catcrazylady

Does it ever end????!!!

Honestly?! No, it never ends...if you've once started to open your eyes and heart to all those critters out there, then in their cat-like attitude they've pinned you with their tiny claws and meows and find the way right into the heart...

...and they tell all the other cats, who need help...word spreads quickly among the cats, doesn't it?!;) :D