Finally decided I have to let my cats go...

[bitashamed]

I've changed my name for this as I'm a bit ashamed to admit it to anyone. I have 2 cats, 1 a rescue and 1 i've had since a kitten. They're both about 4. Since dd was born we've been struggling to cope with them as well as our very old dog. They hate dd and seem to spend all day mewing at the door then as soon as we let them in they run riot or immediately start mewing to get back out again. They've also started doing the toilet indoors again even though we've got a part of the garden set aside for them to do their businesss in. Dh is getting REALLY stressed by it because hr feels they are ruining indoors and outdoors (he just laid expensive gravel- I know, I did warn him). The main problem is the expense. I only work PT and we're now struggling to pay insurance, vaccinations, food, cattery fees when we're away at family etc as well as the extra expenses from dd's nursery etc, not to mention an arthritic dog.

PLease don't hink badly of me but I've got to the stage where I think it would be better if they were rehomed. I love them to bits but I feel that they aren't being looked after properly now because we don't have the same amount of time to care for them and because of dd they seem to be outside a great deal. We have a cat flap on our shed but it's so cold that I worry about them at night- I just can't let them in though because they always poo and it's unhygienic woth dd about.
Does anyone know about asking the RSPCA to rehome them? Is there any chance they would be put to sleep if they weren't rehomed? If that was the case I would never let them go.

Sorry for ranting so much but it has gone on for so long now that I feel it is the best soltuion for all of us, even them. I would love to know they were in a loving home where thay got all the attention they deserve

Sorry about your cat, Sue. I had to put my cat down about 13 years ago and it was very sad, even though the cat had an incurable liver disease and could not be cured.

Hayls, also meant to say I respect your decision and am sure your cats will find another loving home. Don't feel bad about this.

Sorry about your cat too Sue (and the sick on the duvet!)

How naive am I though? When one of our cats was put to sleep some years ago on the advice of the vet, I didn't realise they actually charge you for it! I remember leaving the vets in tears and everyone being very sympathetic, and going home with the empty cat box. All very sad, then a few days later the bill for fifty quid arrived! I shouldn't have been surprised really though I guess, they charged painfully for every other thing we ever went to them for..

Hmmm, hadn't really thought about it but I supppose there isn't really any reason why we shouldn't adopt some more animals in the future when we're in a better position to care for them properly. I love having my dog, even if she is old and a total pain/scrounger sometimes but I couldn't be without her. She belonged to my gran and when she died I jumped at the chance to take her on. ATM, dd is rolling about on the floor playing with her, they're both fighting over the dog's squeaky toy (dd has actually spent most of the afternoon playing with a cat toy despite having a room full of brand new Christmas toys!

It's so nice to hear other people's stories

Thanks for the sympathy. Deciding on the best for a pet is just another responsibility you take on when you have a pet, isn't it. Hard but necessary.

IKWYM about the vet's bill, Tinygang. We had to pay ours on the spot, writing a cheque through blurry eyes.

Oxocube, that's so true about having a pet in the house, it does impart something to a home. I'm amazed at how much pleasure children from pet-free homes get from our animals, they just adore them. Dd2 thinks her friends come to play with her but really they just want to play with her pets. Dd2 is having a huge amount of fun with the kitten we have acquired. He's about 7mths now and very friendly. Dd had him dressed up the other day in her doll's clothes - he had on a vest and cardigan!! Still, he got his own back this morning by chewing the head off one of her Barbies.

OMG suedonim, thank goodness my dd can't read that well because if she could read your last post she would not be so keen on getting a kitten. Her barbies are her prized possessions! I was told that I had to wait until the Spring if I was to have any chance of gertting a kitten so I guess my 23 month old has a few more months of growing up to do before we get a new addition to the fmaily.

Having read all this though, and to add to my previous post, our cat tolerates dst. Avoidance being his way of dealing with them - he waits until they are close to bedtime before coming in for the night (about 7-7:30 pm) if he is in the house with them he is always in another room. He has never scratched dst and they have learned over time to leave him alone or give him gentle strokes if he does deign to approach them. The whole reason of us getting a dog was that they were so good with our cat and my parents dog.

Lonely mum, getting a kitten would work as mentioned by others, it would be a case of your children being there already and him/her fitting in with them. Rather than suddenly you appear with this thing that makes funny noises, smells and takes all the attention away! And do post when you get one please!

And again, good luck on getting a new home for the kitties! We took about 6-7 weeks before finding a home for our dog. The local SSPCA centre, although a bit shirty that we were rehoming, had a book where we put his details for people to contact us. We went through nearly 20 interested people before finding his perfect home. Like us, you will know exactly what home will suit your kitties.

Yes I think you are right. I have just remembered we used to have a cat visit us before we had children (itr lived a couple of doors away but spent a lot of time in our house as we had a cat door left over from previous owner. When I brought our first baby home, the cat visited once, didn't stay long and never returned! Cats, eh? They don't care what message they get across do they?

Hayls I don?t think at all badly of you. You are being very responsible. I am a cat lover (have six at the moment) and they can be very hard work to look after some times. You are thinking of what?s best for everyone, including the cats. Why think badly of yourself when the only people who should think badly about themselves are the ones who dump their animals in the street or in bins to die when it wouldn?t take them much effort to take them to an animal shelter. There was a dog thrown out of a fast moving car a couple of years back on a motorway near to me
Most of my cats are rescue cats. About seven years ago one of our neighbours cats was living in their garage as they couldn?t keep it in the house with their little boy. The lady wasn?t happy about this because before her ds was born the cat used to sleep on her bed and she didn?t like to see it out in the cold. I had this cat from her and took him to live at my grandparent?s house. They are an elderly couple who don?t get out much and love their animals and at that time they had just lost their elderly dog who was their last remaining pet. They were so happy to have a cat again. Now, 7 years on, the cat still lives with them and is totally spoilt. They treat him like their baby and feed him fresh meat and salmon. He gets to sleep wherever he likes and if he wants to get up on a chair they are sitting on to sleep, they move out the way for him
The good thing is that on occasion we have bumped into his old owner and have been able to tell her that he is still ok.

The RSPCA put down surplus animals when they run out of space. They choose the less healthy/older ones who are less likely to be rehomed. The Cat Protection League will never put a healthy animal down - they have volunteers who look after extra cats at home when they are overloaded. We got our cat from the Cat Protection League. She has taught us to open the door when she taps it and we sometimes get up when she curls up on a chair behind us. Daft aren't we - but she's a lovely animal who everyone strokes, even those bird lovers who don't normally like cats. I'm just worried we might lose her when we move - she's already unsettled by all the boxes in her territory. She hates to be indoors (and I'm going to have to keep her in for a few days) and she's really going to miss catching all her mice!

hayl you are being very responsible. Lonelymum we were told the Cat Protection league wouldn't give us a kitten because of dd (age 3 at the time). They didn't have any anyway. Dd chose our cat because she was "friendly". The only cat that ignored us and went on eating when all the other were approaching the bars of their cage, wrapping round our legs????????? We were assured she'd be a good family cat (and warned off another cat, who didn't like children). Don't know how dd got it so right but we couldn't have been happier with a kitten Our cat still acts like one in term of chasing her tail/ being playful.

one word of warning..the cpl are not always very sympathetic. i know they should be but be prepared for a load of questions. i found a cat once who was a sorry state, covered in oil and looking very thin. i took it home, bathed it as best i could. i would have kept it but it ripped the fur out of two of my cats several times in one day and went for my son. yet it was a lovely afectionate animal to adults. my friend had an empty house she was trying to rent out at the time in my street so i kept it there until the cpl could rehome it (they were full at the time) i fed it, looked after it and kept it safe. when i finally gave it to cpl they rang me a couple of weeks later insinuating that it was my cat and i had dumped it on them as it had a medical problem. (i had no idea of this obviously) they asked me over and over if the cat had its injections..i told them i didnt know and repeated the story of how i found it. they didnt seem to beleive me. it saddened me greatly that when i was trying to help the poor animal all they could do was critisize me. im not saying dont contact them..(and all people are different, it could be a very nice "cat foster" person you deal with) but if they do react like this, try not to take it to heart. you know you are trying to do the best for them x