Bad news for my pets (and me)

[cyberdog]

Soon I'm probably going to move to a place closer to work. Unfortunately I have four cats but they will only allow me two cats (with a somewhat higher deposit), so I may have to get rid of two of them

 

I promised my father I would keep the father cat, so left are the mother cat and the two child cats. I don't have a 'favorite' so I can't use that to decide. I'm probably going to keep one of the child cats. I know of an organization that promises to find homes for cats and not to put them to sleep that I'll go through, but I want to make sure that once the cat has a home they will stay there. The mother cat and the other child cat are very calm and don't mind being held and petted so they could probably find a good home. OTOH the other child cat doesn't usually like to be held or petted at all and it a little spoiled, probably harder to find it a good home so that will be the one I end up keeping, along with the father cat.

 

Still I absolutely hate the idea of getting rid of any of them

[arwen]

That's not an easy thing to do...

 

I'd ask around in my circle of friends first, then you could consider placing an ad on the internet, so you can meet the people who will take the cats yourself. As a last option you could bring them to a shelter, they take good care of the cats there of course, but it's not ideal for the cats themselves.

 

Would it be possible to be involved in the process of finding a new renter for your current home? Maybe he/she would love to adopt two of your cats, then at least the ones that you don't take will be able to stay in the same home.

[cyberdog]

It's possible. I'm still looking around for other places also. There is also that I just can't have four cats. It's too much of a litter/smell problem and what not and I should have never taken on so many to begin with and should just have given them up after they stopped nursing off the mother.

 

I'm definitely going to check with people I know first and then place an ad before I go through a shelter, even if the shelter does promise to find them a home and not put them down.

[arwen]

I suggest you neuter all of the cats before you decide what to do with them- there are shelters full of cats, and if they can't be placed... the little ones may need to be older than they are now, but inquire after it with your vet.

[cyberdog]

They have all been neutered/spaded. The is a local 'shelter' that does not put the animals down at all, but instead make sure to give them a home. Then the home is the question. I have one cat (one of the children) that doesn't really like to be petted/handled much and is really spoiled in certain ways, so even if they gave it a home I worry that the new home wouldn't put up with her as much as I do and would just give it back or take it to another shelter (one that might actually put it down) or put it in the streets. It's also a scrawny cat compared to the others. The other two would be easy to find homes for, but I'd still look among friends first and then place an ad next, and a shelter would be the last option. I'm trying to avoid that at all costs though if I can find a place to take all four as I really don't want to get rid of any of them.