How to help with an overpopulation of cats? Please read.
My mother started with two stray cats outside of her house when she moved in 10+ years ago. At some point we got a cat, (I was a child and still living at home) the cat was able to go in and out of the house. My mother unfortunately did not spay/neuter the animals we had and they almost never saw a vet. Needless to say, procreation happened and what started as two strays and one of our cats has now populated over the course of 10 years. My mother legitimately has 20+ cats that are teenage or full grown, and three cats just had litters of kittens. My mother decided to move to another state and obviously can’t take them all with her, but she just plans to move and leave the cats. Her thoughts are that there’s a new subdivision that was built behind her house, they’ll migrate and find homes… that isn’t going to work for all of them, not everybody wants a cat, and she lives directly off of an incredibly busy road where cars are consistently traveling 60+ miles an hour. She also feeds the cats, so they aren’t used to having to hunt for food or fend for themselves- they’re dependent on her.
I understand how fucked up this all is and I’ve been in tears several times since hearing that she was just going to leave the cats. She is overwhelmed with life right now, she’s not a bad person even though this is a completely awful decision, and remember that sometimes depression makes a person act in survival vs actually living. She just really has to get out of her house for good reasons.
I’m about an hour outside of Atlanta, GA and I’ve called three different pet rescues. Two have said they are not taking in anymore animals right now and one does not accept feral cats. Most of the cats are very sweet and loving and some don’t like to be touched or pet but can be around humans with no problems, however because they have always been outdoor cats and are not used to being 100% domesticated I can only assume that these cats would fall under “feral” (Please let me know if i’m mislead on that!!)
None have ever been spayed or neutered or had shots but they are in good health and most are just very very sweet cats. They are all BEAUTIFUL, and they resemble a Maine Coon very much. Lots of the cats are black but a few are grey or tabby, I’m not sure what to do with a total of 20/30 cats and kittens, I don’t want them to be left behind without the opportunity to have a loving home, and I’ve already reached out to everybody I know in addition to animal rescues.
I need some kind of advice, direction, etc. but please do not bash my mom. She’s doing her best.