Grrr. I'm getting quite frustrated about my neighbors and their animal situation. Now everyone knows that I have too many pets. I have five indoor cats and a small dog. Our neighbors have, to my estimation, 6 dogs and a cat that pops out kittens like nobody's business.
Since we moved in, I've been taking care of the cat. I don't really mind caring for one outdoor cat; she keeps other strays away and probably keeps our snake & mouse population under control. When we moved in, I assumed she was just a neighborhood stray, because she was skin & bones & dry fur. After feeding her & petting her for a few months, she turned into a beautiful, friendly girl. HOWEVER - they neighbors claim she is their cat. They don't feed her, they don't take care of her, and they certainly haven't gotten her spayed.
I put a sign out today for "Free Kittens." We've had Matilda's latest litter living on our front porch for almost 4 months, and the neighbors have done nothing about it. So the neighbor girl comes over with a friend to look at the kittens, then says, "Oh my gosh, those are my cat's kittens. My mom wanted to keep the orange one." *grrr* I was very nice to the girl; it's not her fault, after all. I asked her to please have her mom let me know if there were any others she wanted to keep.
Inside I was fuming. You claim this cat - that you don't even feed, for heaven's sake - and her kittens. If it wasn't for me doling out the kitten food, these poor kittens and their mother would've been severely malnourished during the drought this year. And now they want to keep one of the kittens, one of the female kittens? I can just predict what will happen next spring...Matilda with show up with her first litter around April 1st, and this little orange kitten will show up with her first litter on April 2nd. We'll have two momma cats and eight kittens on our porch. Where does it end??
I haven't even started on the dogs. The dogs that roam all over our yard doing their business, the dogs that tear into our trash, the dogs that bark all night outside our windows. The dogs that are chained to trees for their entire lives, only interacting with a person when the boy goes to feed them once a day. When he remembers.
I think what bothers me most is not knowing what to do. I feel like I have to feed Matilda and her babies, because I couldn't stand seeing them starve. But how many litters are we going to have to raise and give away?? Do I try to get Helen to spay Matilda and whatever other female cats she's keeping? Do I sneak off and get it done myself, knowing that Helen will never do it? And what about the dogs?
Any suggestions? Anybody want a kitten?
2 comments:
That's quite a predicament! I don't know what I would do in a situation like that. Is there anyone you can report them to? I ask that...but I am sure I would not have the guts to go through with it myself! :)
Wow, great neighbors. We have a little cat "living" under our house. It's supposedly the next-door neighbor's cat, but she never says a word when it's ALWAYS over here playing with my kids. We've started feeding her and I even put flea medicine on the poor little thing. I want to ask her if she even wants the kitty. As far as your neighbors go, you can call the local Humane Society to come check the dogs out, I've done that before. They might also help with spaying or convince the "owner" to do so. On that note, do you think she'd even notice if you had it done on your own? (Is that even Christian?) Sorry to comment so much! I just clicked on your link thru a comment on BooMama. Have a great day!
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