Need help - don't want to euthanize

With recent life changes, my husband and I are having to make some painful decisions.

ONe of these decisions is that we must find new homes for our two outside girls. Neither are getting the vet care they need, and Minette is becoming awfully thin. We're going to be moving to an area I don't feel comfortable having outside cats at all (too many wild animals) and we just plain can't afford to keep feeding five cats and a dog.

I've contacted a local rescue organization, but there's not much they can do if the cats can't be guaranteed to stay inside. (Neither cat likes being inside much anymore, because of the three boys in there.)

I can get them current on their shots, and both girls were spayed as kittens. Wobbles is about 3, Minette closer to 5. I'll attach pictures of both.

Minette is a tuxedo kitty, and as sweet as she can be. She's a talker, and loves to be loved. She's not crazy about being picked up, though, and likes to squirm if you do.

Wobbles is my problem child. She's a grey calico, and has the classic calico temperament. She's just plain not friendly. Ideally, she'd go to a place where she can be guaranteed food, but not be expected to be a particularly friendly cat. She's just not. I don't want to euthanize her, but if we can't find a home, there's no other option for her. She's half feral, and has gotten steadily wilder over the years. She IS a proven mouser, to an extreme. She hasn't been kind to the local rodent and bird population this year. ;)

Can anyone help, or offer advice? I'm at wit's end, and it breaks my heart to think I may have to euthanize these girls. I just can't care for them anymore.

Here's a picture of Wobbles, as well. The other one was Minette, of course.

I don't know if they have room or if it would be possible for you to transport them that far but Best Friends has a great area for feral cats to live the rest of their lives. http://www.bestfriends.org

First option I can think of is when your home is sold find out if the new owners would be interested in keeping the cats on the property. If the property is rented you may not ever meet the new tenants so is there possibly that a neighbor living close to you might be interested in keeping up their feeding?

Second thought is to search through all the area rescues for one that either a) adopts out barn cats or b) knows of other feral colonies where the cats can be moved and guarrenteed a place where people feed them.


Are you near a farm community where you can advertise them free to a good "barn home". I know free is NOT a good way to rehome your animals, but if it is that or euthanasia......

I hope you can find someone to care for them.

If you can ship Wobbles to NH, I might know a barn in need of a cat there ... but surely there are farms closer by, to whom you could inquire about the need for a barn cat, as she is a proven mouser ...

Is there no change Minette at least would adjust to be indoor-only? It's not unheard of, my sister-in-law did that with her two when they moved to a new house. It took a few weeks of being very careful when nearing a door, but they both are now completely happy indoor-only kitties, one had been a feral boy, and the other was an indoor-outdoor girl.