We've always had a cat and I wouldn't be without one. But several years ago a pregnant (autocorrect went with legendary!) queen arrived in the garden. Naturally, we took her in and in due course she had a litter of six beautiful kittens.
Our cat was old so we decided to keep a pair of kittens (our cat tolerated them quite well) and found homes for the others. I got the mother cat spayed and expected her to move on because she was very nervous and semi feral.
Long story short, two kittens were returned to us when a friend emigrated, one kitten was rehomed locally and found her way back to us and moved himself in. The mother cat bonded with our old cat and settled in for the long term. Then my sweet old gentleman cat died aged 18.
So the total number I'm feeding is six. I'm fond of each of them and their adorable personalities but it's more than I ever intended to care for. They are all chipped, neutered and vaccinated, that's not the problem, just the sheer quantity is too high. I'd love to just have the pair that I chose originally.
These are adult, independent cats. I feel sure that if I rehomed them anywhere in my area they'd find their way home. They would need to find a better situation than they are in now before I'd let them go. Lastly, they are tame and respond to us but they (all but one) are very nervous of other humans and are not well behaved lap cats.
Do I have to make peace with being a 6 cat parent or is there another way to solve this??