My mother and I have always loved cats but only ever had a couple here and there. Ten years ago, my younger brother died in a car wreck and that's when I really started noticing that we were getting overwhelmed. We got to where we couldn't turn any of the strays and orphaned litters away.
Over the last ten years, I have tried a few different times to get help, realizing that we had a problem on our hands. I was always told there was no room or the best option would be to find a farm and release them as barn cats. But none of the cats have grown up "on the street". Half lived inside with us and the other half in various enclosures we built outside to keep them safe from wildlife.
Here lately, I have finally reached a point where I know we 100% need help. Unfortunately, my mother is against it. She gets angry whenever I mention that we need to find a rescue or similar who can get the cats into new homes. She says it's not their fault that things have turned out this way and it's not fair to them to get rid of them or abandon them when we're all they've ever known. I love them as much as she does but I also see the overwhelming problem that she doesn't want to face.
We are now up to 77 cats with 7 males being intact and 7 females being intact. Two of the girls have recently gotten pregnant before we were able to separate them - they now are.
Our food and litter bill alone every month is around $900 and over $1000 on some occasions. That's not counting vet trips when someone is sick and we have to borrow money from family to be able to do that. It feels like a snowball effect that we can't escape from because I want to get help but she's against it. I'm the only one working because I can hold up to an actual job better than she can so she stays home to look after everyone but her health is also not that great, mainly the discs in her back and severe arthritis and she just can not handle the physicality of caring for everyone anymore.
Last night I emailed a large humane society asking for help and did this without my mother's knowledge. I feel like I'm betraying her but I know we need help. I haven't told her that I wrote them. I then felt so guilty that I went in my email settings and blocked the email address I sent my letter to so I couldn't get a reply back.
Should I unblock them and at least see what they have to say? I just don't know what to do anymore. I don't want to break her heart but this isn't how any of us need to be living. The cats deserve a home where they're on the inside and surrounded by love instead of just existing in an outside pen. And we deserve a life where we can enjoy time spent with a small number of healthy, happy babies and not worrying every minute about being able to provide for them.
I'm just very conflicted.
Please understand that this was not intentional and it was just us trying to help save the cats and becoming overwhelmed.
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.
Over the last ten years, I have tried a few different times to get help, realizing that we had a problem on our hands. I was always told there was no room or the best option would be to find a farm and release them as barn cats. But none of the cats have grown up "on the street". Half lived inside with us and the other half in various enclosures we built outside to keep them safe from wildlife.
Here lately, I have finally reached a point where I know we 100% need help. Unfortunately, my mother is against it. She gets angry whenever I mention that we need to find a rescue or similar who can get the cats into new homes. She says it's not their fault that things have turned out this way and it's not fair to them to get rid of them or abandon them when we're all they've ever known. I love them as much as she does but I also see the overwhelming problem that she doesn't want to face.
We are now up to 77 cats with 7 males being intact and 7 females being intact. Two of the girls have recently gotten pregnant before we were able to separate them - they now are.
Our food and litter bill alone every month is around $900 and over $1000 on some occasions. That's not counting vet trips when someone is sick and we have to borrow money from family to be able to do that. It feels like a snowball effect that we can't escape from because I want to get help but she's against it. I'm the only one working because I can hold up to an actual job better than she can so she stays home to look after everyone but her health is also not that great, mainly the discs in her back and severe arthritis and she just can not handle the physicality of caring for everyone anymore.
Last night I emailed a large humane society asking for help and did this without my mother's knowledge. I feel like I'm betraying her but I know we need help. I haven't told her that I wrote them. I then felt so guilty that I went in my email settings and blocked the email address I sent my letter to so I couldn't get a reply back.
Should I unblock them and at least see what they have to say? I just don't know what to do anymore. I don't want to break her heart but this isn't how any of us need to be living. The cats deserve a home where they're on the inside and surrounded by love instead of just existing in an outside pen. And we deserve a life where we can enjoy time spent with a small number of healthy, happy babies and not worrying every minute about being able to provide for them.
I'm just very conflicted.
Please understand that this was not intentional and it was just us trying to help save the cats and becoming overwhelmed.
Any and all advice is greatly appreciated.