Too Many Cats!! At My Wit's End!

[Emperor_Tomatoketchup]

Hello! I'm new to the forum, so I'm sorry if this is posted in the wrong place. Please let me know if I'm violating any rules.

Tldr; Extremely obnoxious, yet simultaneously sweet elderly cat 15+ in Citrus County, Florida that needs a forever home!!!

I have come into an unfortunate situation, and I'm hoping that someone here will have some decent advice! A mostly feral, elderly cat named Popcorn has fallen into my lap, after 2 of her previous owners passed away within a few months of each other. I am already living in a 'combined household', and in total, we have 6 cats. (7, with the recent addition). 3 of the cats are my own. The situation is sort of complicated. My sister and I moved back home to help my mother fix up our childhood home so she could put it on the market. Her lover of 10 years lived with us as well. He is the one who took Popcorn in, after our neighbor, her first owner, passed away. Unfortunately, he passed away as well, in June of this year.

We had finally reached an equilibrium, before Popcorn was thrust upon us. Our cats had finally gotten used to each other, and all marking behaviors ceased. But Popcorn really has all of our other cats stressed out to the max. Marking and middening behaviors are in FULL SWING. Especially since Robbie passed away, since he was retired, and would spend most of his day taking care of Popcorn. Since he passed, there is nobody to keep an eye on her during the day. Popcorn has zero boundaries, so it causes all of the other cats to constantly be on edge, including the ones that have never had problems with anxiety.

But the biggest issue has been with my mother's cat, Kiki, who is a walking ball of anxiety. We've actually taken her to the vet to see if they could figure out why she is so anxious/if we could treat it, but nothing came out of it. She was traumatized by rambunctious children when she was younger, and ever since then, she is fearful of everything. She even runs away from me when I approach her with a plate of wet food--and we feed them all on a daily schedule. Also, I spend a lot of time with her, petting her and playing with her. She trusts me, so it baffles me that she acts like that.

Anyway, ever since Popcorn entered our home, Kiki has been so worked up about it, that at one point, she actually held her poop until it almost needed to be surgically removed. It was so bad, she had to stay over night at the vet's office so they could administer fluids/laxatives. She has a private litter box in her room and everything, but even the sound of Popcorn's blood curdling meow sends Kiki burrowing under the covers, where she'll hide for hours until either she hears my mom come home, or someone coaxes her out.

Oh, yeah, Popcorn's meow... It really is extremely loud and obnoxious. The other cats hate it. We humans hate it.... she never stops. When I leave my door cracked after going to bed, she even bursts into my room at odd hours of the night like the kool aid man and screeches right at me at full volume from literally about an inch away from my face. It usually startles me awake, and I continue to have noticably elevated stress levels long after I'm away from her. I have to close myself in my room to escape her. Otherwise, she'll climb my body to get as close as she can to me, no matter what I'm doing, or where in the house I am. I kick her out of the house a lot of the time, but I can't bring myself to kick her out permanently. She's so old!! My estimate would be 15+.

I am not planning on living here forever. My sister definitely won't take her. My mom has too much on her plate, and I honestly can't stand this cat. I have never in my life been able to say that I dislike a cat, but I honestly hate this cat so much. Never thought I'd be one of THOSE people... I feel guilty for hating her. I won't give her to a shelter, because I refuse to send her to her death, but I resent that I have to be the one that gets stuck with her. Everyone in my household has a full time job. It's extremely difficult having to spend so much time and energy cleaning up disgusting cat messes.

I'm only a waitress. I can't even afford her. But nobody else will take her, and that breaks my heart too. It's such a complicated feeling, because, really, she's a sweet girl. All she wants is affection. She craves it. If she had it her way, she'd have someone petting her and holding her 24/7. But my loyalty is to my own cats first. And she's extremely mean to them. Plus, she has no boundaries, and she can't just sit there and let me pet her. Either she climbs my body to be as close as she can get, or nothing at all. We are just not compatible, I guess.

This turned out pretty ranty, so I'm sorry about that!! Thanks for reading if you got this far.

 

[catsknowme]

Welcome to TCS although I am sorry that it is under such frustrating circumstances. Poor Popcorn is certainly discombobulated, losing not one, but two, owners. It sounds like she is suffering extreme insecurity as well as grief. That said, it certainly is not fair to your own kitties. Have you tried rehoming her through NextDoor or a similar app? My other suggestion would to be getting Popcorn on some sort of calming program. Do you know of any kids who could act as a "mother's aide" on a regular basis? It would sure help give Popcorn the reassurance & attention that she craves. I have come to realize that many of the maxims that I learned in Early Childhood Education classes also apply to cats; in this case, "Often the child who is the hardest to love, it the one who needs love the most". At least you are being honest in assessing the situation; it is very difficult for all involved & it is why I understand why some owners have their pets put down when they themselves pass away. As a mother of an adult, special needs child, I have similar concerns, especially after all the budget cutbacks everywhere...there are fewer & fewer options which leaves an extremely vulnerable population ever more at risk

 

[jcat]

Have you contacted no-kill shelters in your area? They may have room now or be able to put her on a waiting list.

Room For One More Pet Rescue, Inc. (Floral City) &gt Florida No Kill Animal Shelters

http://cat.rescueshelter.com/Florida

 

[Emperor_Tomatoketchup]

Welcome to TCS although I am sorry that it is under such frustrating circumstances. Poor Popcorn is certainly discombobulated, losing not one, but two, owners. It sounds like she is suffering extreme insecurity as well as grief. That said, it certainly is not fair to your own kitties. Have you tried rehoming her through NextDoor or a similar app? My other suggestion would to be getting Popcorn on some sort of calming program. Do you know of any kids who could act as a "mother's aide" on a regular basis? It would sure help give Popcorn the reassurance & attention that she craves. I have come to realize that many of the maxims that I learned in Early Childhood Education classes also apply to cats; in this case, "Often the child who is the hardest to love, it the one who needs love the most". At least you are being honest in assessing the situation; it is very difficult for all involved & it is why I understand why some owners have their pets put down when they themselves pass away. As a mother of an adult, special needs child, I have similar concerns, especially after all the budget cutbacks everywhere...there are fewer & fewer options which leaves an extremely vulnerable population ever more at risk

I didn't know that such an app existed! I will download Next door and see what comes of it. It's so very difficult to rehome senior cats. I'll also search around for a local calming program. I've had my feelers out for a senior cat program, specifically, but I live in a small, rural area, and things like that tend to be either non existant, or super well hidden and hard to find. We only recently got a snip it program to neuter and spay strays, so we're on the up and up! Lol

Thank you for your insight!

 

[Emperor_Tomatoketchup]

Have you contacted no-kill shelters in your area? They may have room now or be able to put her on a waiting list.

Room For One More Pet Rescue, Inc. (Floral City) &gt Florida No Kill Animal Shelters

http://cat.rescueshelter.com/Florida

I haven't been able to bring myself to contact the local no kill shelters, since I am afraid that she'd have to live in a cage for the rest of her life, because the chances of someone adopting her are slim. I want to exhaust all other options before resorting to that.

 

[inkysmom]

Popcorn lost two of her owners and is elderly. She's grieving and clingy and feels abandoned and now has to adjust to a bunch of new people and cats. Older cats can't see and hear as well and usually have arthritis so deal with constant pain and can't run or jump or get away from other cats as fast. Her only defense is her voice. At over fifteen she could have painful infected teeth or any number of health problems causing her to constantly scream and not be housebroken. I've taken in three adult feral cats literally off the streets and they all literally went straight to the kitty litter, so did the many feral kittens I raised. Cats are very clean and won't pee or poop everywhere unless they're sick, in pain or literally scared to use the kitty litter.
Popcorn doesn't sound at all like a feral cat from the behaviors you described. She sounds like she desperately needs a vet exam and a lot of individual compassion and attention, someone who's willing to hold and cuddle and reassure her a lot every day. It's not her fault her two owners died. She's old and scared and may feel sick and now is in a place where no one likes her and there's a bunch of new cats that she's afraid of.

I've had seven cats and a large dog after I inherited my mom's cats when she died of cancer. My long time boyfriend who lived with me for years hated them and thought I was a crazy cat hoarder so broke up with me so I had to deal with them alone in a city carpeted apartment.
It wasn't easy but I loved them all they all grew to love or at least tolerate each other and we became a little family for five years. Then within two years five of the cats and the dog all died from cancer and age. Down to two cats and a new dog and miss the old ones and my cat "hoarder" days. Although I wouldn't have that many in a city apartment again. Lol don't miss the bf.

I understand you're in a stressful situation and money is tight but try to find a low cost vet place to get popcorn checked out it's cheaper than constantly cleaning and replacing damaged clothes and furniture from cat pee.
The other cat with extreme anxiety might benefit from an antianxiety medication for a while. It made a huge difference with my dog who was going to literally kill himself from separation anxiety when I first got him.
If you can't give popcorn the care she needs like a basic vet exam and whatever they recommend and someone spending loving time reassuring her daily, she might be better off rehomed or in a no kill rescue.

Can you separate her in her own room so she has her own little safe area away from the other cats? Might help peeing, pooping and anxiety for all of them.