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If she does come back, I'll see what I can do, but all of the females we've had except for one (that one, from our litter last year, got hit by a car) we've kept because it's nearly impossible to even give away a female cat. So, I'll be honest, if she does come back I'm not sure what will happen. It's through the help of people on this board that my 2009 and 2010 litters turned out mostly alright. So, we'll see what happens.
I wouldn't want to be a cat around this area, especially a female one.
But things might still work out, if she even comes back.
I am concerned about her, wandering what happened to her.
EDIT: I just checked and she's back. I really don't know what happens now. I'll keep her for a couple of weeks and see if anybody wants her, but I can't make any promises after that. I don't think my parents want to pay to spay another stray cat. I don't know if she'll get a home or not, but I can't keep her.
Why do cats always find me? I really don't think I can keep helping them. With all of the strays around here, it feels like spaying one is just trying to bail water out of a sinking ship.
I'd appreciate your prayers and any advice, because I don't really know if I can keep this one. I CANNOT have any more cats. Six is enough.
I have a lump in my throat over this, but I really don't know what will happen to her. The shelters we have probably don't have room and I don't want her to go the pound either, but I can't ask my parents to shell out $100 to get a cat spayed again.
Why do they always comes here? Do I look like the ASPCA?
Last edited by STLCardsBlues1989; 08-16-2011 at 03:38 PM..
What a beautiful kitten, I'm a believer in things are meant to be. However provided the kitten is lost and you are able to catch him, it may be best for the kitten to handed in to a local no kill rescue centre.
I have been trying to befriend a local ginger tom. He has met my lot as he has been hanging around for about two years. He wouldn't let me get remotely close to him. At the weekend he let me stroke him (he may be a she).
I'll call some of the local shelters by tomorrow or Thursday if the kitten is still here (it's got food out there). We don't have a no-kill shelter that I know of. There are shelters around here, but during the summer they usually have to turn animals away because there is no room. The only other option is the pound, and they put animals down in a week. Hopefully it won't come to that. I'll try to find a home for her, but finding a home for a female cat around here is like trying to give away chicken pox. Nobody wants it.
We'll just have to pray about it and wait and see what happens. I'm not too optimistic, though. Life around here is not good to stray cats.
Last edited by STLCardsBlues1989; 08-16-2011 at 04:01 PM..
Why do cats always find me? I really don't think I can keep helping them. With all of the strays around here, it feels like spaying one is just trying to bail water out of a sinking ship.
I'm not so sure it's them finding you, it's that you care what happens to them and you are more aware of them than other people. Spay and neuter, I believe, is the best thing to do to control the population. Or if that's not possible, turn into the shelter.
Good luck, and I hope you find someone for her. Keep us posted. I can only hope she already has a home and is just lost...I can hope, right?
Here's another thought - Mom may be moving the entire litter to a new location and she's just the first arrival.....also, little ones like that will generally "travel in pairs" either playing follow the leader or just snooping around. There may be others nearby - if so you will hear them meowing soon!!! If it was dumped -it was probably someone who realized it is a female (all calico's are for some reason. Very rare for a male calico to be born but if so they are usually sterile.) Nobody seems to want female kitties because of their breeding abilities. I found my own little calico girl (which someone no doubt dumped) at the cemetery sitting on my mother's headstone. It's been 13 years now and I still think Mama sent her to me!!!! Good luck with the baby.
Not to sound cold, but I very much hope she is the only one, because I have six cats now (seven including the kitten) and I have to draw the line somewhere. I don't plan to live with my parents forever, so I can't be saddled down with cats. I love cats, don't get me wrong, but I just can't have seven or more. We all have a limit, and I have reached mine. I want to save them all, but I realize I have to do what I can.
The kitten will get close to me, but I can't pet her yet. Whenever I leave she starts crying. It's amazing how such a big noise can come from such a small cat.
EDIT: 7:50. I got her to sniff my hand, but that's as close as we've gotten.
Last edited by STLCardsBlues1989; 08-16-2011 at 07:50 PM..
So strange to me, this prejudice against female cats, that nobody would want one. So sad. I just don't understand why that would be....
Perhaps unfortunately, a kitten really isn't a good candidate for a sort of improvised trap/neuter/release scenario. It won't ever really have learned to live outside as a feral.
I don't know if you're near Poplar Bluff but this is a new org trying to get off the ground in that area: http://www.awasemo.org/ They might at least be able to point you in the right direction; they don't actually run their own shelter yet but appear to be aiming to build one. And this place looks interesting if you're anywhere near Cape Girardeau (near Jackson, really) http://www.safeharboranimalsanctuary.org/ Can't vouch for that facility at all, but the programs they have in place suggest they are doing the right things. (You'd want to check it out personally if possible.)
I'm not really familiar with the area so that's about as much help as I can probably be from afar. Missouri is big and I know it's quite possible for you to be in SE Missouri and not near those places. So please forgive me if that info is of no use to you.
Do what you can, that's all you can do. You can't save them all, I know.
I know why it is. Most people don't see the need to fix male cats (our inside male is fixed. Our outside male is not neutered. We will do it if we get around to it, but we have enough trouble with strays). You have to spay females unless you want kittens running around. Your average spaying ranges from $100-$150, depending on if she is in heat or pregnant (then it costs more). This area is pretty poor and most people don't bother with strays. In fact, shooting a stray is not uncommon. I don't agree with it, but if we even had a pound to take them to (we don't) the pound would do the same thing in a week. Low incomes and being overrun by animals causes desperate circumstances around here, especially when the shelters we have are full and the government and ASPCA seem to be no help at all. I don't think I could ever shoot a dog or a cat myself, but I know people who have. It's difficult for them to do it as well, but some see it as being better than letting the animal breed all the time, and most these same people do not think the cost of the spaying is worth it.
I should neuter my outside male, but he's difficult to handle and it would just make a dent in the other males hanging around this town. I know I'm also part of the problem, but I'll neuter him when I get the funds. I can't very well ask my parents to do more than they have and I don't really have the funds right now being a college student.
I plan to call some places around here tomorrow. I know of those organizations and I think I called Safe Harbor (and a couple of other places) last year when I had the litter and the year before that with the feral mother and her litter (two different mothers). They try to help, but they are usually full. I do plan to call them, though. Summer is a bad time to be calling shelters because they are always full.
Last resort would be the neighboring city's pound. I would have to have a relative who lives there lie and say she found it there, because they won't take animals from outside of that city or from any other counties. But that would be the last resort. I'm not sure I can afford to spay/keep another cat and giving them away is difficult. I could never have the guts to put it down myself. But the pound is the last resort. Hopefully it won't come to that.
I managed with the last litters, with 5 males and 4 females between the two litters. I gave away three males altogether, one female and one male were killed by cars, and I still have the other three females and the other male. The females are all spayed. My inside tom (who is neutered) is a stray from 2007. The feral mother ran away, but the more recent mother lives on our porch. At some point I'm going to reach my limit. If this kitten were male he may be easier to rehome, but females are very difficult to even give away. They're more expensive to take care of.
Last edited by STLCardsBlues1989; 08-16-2011 at 08:04 PM..
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