Fellow "Artists" can you help in over-cat population problem?
Fellow "Artists" can you help in over-cat population problem?
Fellow "Artists" can you help in over-cat population problem?#0
Posted: 12/28/05 at 7:27pm
I'm hoping in some way that you can help me--I realize that I'm here in New York--Elmhurst, Queens NY to be exact--a "Bari" from the Feral_Cats_News Yahoo group seemed to think that I should reach out to NJ-based shelters in the hopes that I can get some help with an over=population of cats problem--a problem that my mother created--For over a year, I have been in contact with just about every pet shelter, pet rescue and pet foster care program, hoping that they can help me--but as you can imagine, all are overflowing with pets--so as I said, this Bari, felt I should give you a try--I live in constant fear of our landlord finding out about our situation, and of eviction procedures occuring again--also besides my dealing with this situation, like I said, created by my mother, I now am contending with my mother's failing health--On June 10th she was officially diagnosed with cancer--she's been in and out of hospitals since then--to be honest, it's much too much to handle, particularly since she refuses to go to some facility to help her, therefore, I'm her designated caregiver.
To give you a capsule synopsis of the events that occured and how we came to be in this situation, I'd like to post something, I had posted this past January, in the I Luv Cats Yahoo group--it goes into more detail about things.
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"I Luv Cats" Yahoo post:
Hi fellow cat lovers. I'm addressing this to you all about a very
serious matter. I'm hoping that someone out there can give me much
needed advice and perhaps may be able to help me in someway.
I've lived in my building with my grandmother (now deceased) and
mother since 1961---with the exception of the first year there, we
were always a multi-cat dwelling--but always at a reasonable number
of cats. That is up until 1992 when our troubles began. In all the
years, my mother always took responsibility for getting our cats
fixed--In 1992 we had nine cats, including an unfixed female---my
mother said we didn't need bother to get her fixed as we wouldn't be
getting anymore cats. Well, one day our doorbell rings---I was busy
printing photos, as I am a freelance photographer--my mother
answered the door--she called me out to get my opinion on the matter-
-well there was one of our neighbors who had found a friendly cat
roaming the streets--he asked if we could take it in---I can't tell
you how many times I said no--we couldn't--over and over again I
said this. Well, my mother is the type that doesn't want to hurt
people's feelings, and in comes the cat.
Well I think you all can guess--yep, this cat, a male cat, wasn't
fixed either---so here we have a unfixed male and female cat--like,
duh? Now why my mother didn't at least get one of them fixed is
anyone's guess--I couldn't as I've been a sufferer of agoraphobia
since 1978---that is having anxiety/panic attacks---at one point in
my life I was completely housebound.. I had seen a therapist who
had helped me tremendously---I had to stop seeing him due to
financial problems---now while I didn't become housebound again, I
became limited to where I could go--and while our vet was only a few
subway stops away, I couldn't go to get one of the cats fixed-----
there was absolutely nothing to prevent my mother from taking them.
As you can imagine, we had kittens, and if it had stopped at that
one litter it wouldn't have been a problem--but it didn't---litters
kept on being born.
Now even though I had my agoraphobia problem, I was still
successfully getting my photography published, and developing my
black and white film and prints, and doing indoor studio shots at
home---all that changed by around 1996--I had to stop developing my
film and prints as I couldn't risk having the chemicals about with
so many cats; then I had to stop doing my studio shots, as it could
take me up to three hours to do a "set-up" and only minutes for the
cats to wreck everything--then I even had to stop sending out my
portfolios of work as I didn't have time any longer to work on them--
it was becoming a full-time job, trying to keep the house clean---
What was my mother doing all this time?? The person who was the
cause of this?? Absolutely nothing--she did nothing to help out
with even the easiest and simplest of cleaning chores---she was
leaving it all up to me---now my hopes for even trying to get over
my phobic problems were dashed--I was tied to the apt. cleaning all
the time to make sure the apt. was as odor free as possible.
Then back in 2001, we got a notice of eviction--gee--was it any
wonder----Despite my efforts in cleaning our apt. reeked to high
heaven--our neighbors were complaining of the foul odors from our
apt.---Also--the sheer size and number of cats--by then our cat
population had escalated to one-hundred--yes, you're reading right--
100 ---!!!!
We were lucky in that we got a good lawyer--through her and the
efforts of a Celeste Harrington, who had ties with the media we had
news coverage of our "story"--People came to our apt. to adopt our
cats and so many were placed into good new homes--but unfortunately
not enough. In the meantime, our lawyer became completely
exasperated an dumped us, no longer representing us---She had
expected that the two of us, my mother and myself to do a round the
clock, virtual 24-hour a day cleaning thing to fumigate our apt.
out. My mother continued to do nothing.
It was up to me, to not only clean every waking moment of the day
and night, but at the advice of our lawyer, to get rid of just about
everything--anything that might be retaining pet odor--So I was
getting rid of books, videos, furniture, etc--plus painting up the
apt. from top to bottom, plus putting up and dealing with people
coming into our apt. as early as 8:00 in the morning, to as late as
12 midnight, to view our cats.
Getting rid of the furniture was no great hardship, save for my
filing cabinets--for some reason these were the favorite target
spots for the cats to have accidents on--yes, I did clean them out
periodically, but to no avail--so not only did I have to get rid of
them, but the contents within them---hundreds and hundreds of black
and white photos I had printed up over the years since 1976--plus
all the magazines, newspapers, calendars---all my prized published
work.
Well, last year marked the first year that I've been trying to get
my life back on track again, in every possible way--I've been
listening to Lucinda Bassett's "famous" 15 tape "Attacking Anxiety"
program to overcome my phobia probem, and have had some successes--
Also, I've been sending my portfolios of work again--as of yet I
haven't gone back to developing film or prints yet. With it all my
main culprit is time.
You see, I'm still very much tied to the apt. "taking care of
things"--we still have too many cats, and it still remains a full-
time job trying to keep the apt. clean----I do this insanely, stupid
cleaning routine everyday, to make sure our apt. doesn't start to
reek again of odor. My mother thinks I've gotten to be a nut-case,
fanatical cleaner--no--I'm not---the threat of eviction could rear
its ugly head again, if our landlord got wind of how many cats we
still have.
Yes, I still have to deal with my agoraphobia, but my mother
suffers from far worse mental problems, that unfortunately aren't
being recognized--she is seeing a therapist, but he's perhaps
viewing her condition as only being mild depression---Strange, since
when I describe my mother's behavior to others they ask me is she
bipolar or have dementia? She has no motivation to do anything--no
goals, no dreams, no ambitions---predominately she just sits, doing
nothing at all---It was actually Celeste Harrington, back in 2001,
along with our first lawyer, who said to my face that my mother
wasn't living in reality, and doesn't acknowledge the seriousness of
the way we live with so many cats.
So here I am. There may be some of you who will hate me, and view
me as being selfish--I'm sorry if you think this of me. But I can't
live this way any longer. There remains just too many goals and
desires in my life that I would like to accomplish. I've been
putting off my needs and dreams aside for far too long--I can't go
ahead in life as long as we have so many cats, and of my trying to
keep our apt. odor free with this cleaning routine.
So now I'm trying to eliminate the cat population again. Since
Sept., I've been in contact with every imaginable reputable, animal
shelter, pet rescue, and animal foster care program going--but as
you can imagine, all are full--the only other alternative, facing
me, of course, one that I don't want to do is to have a vast
majority of the cats put down. Believe me, I don't want to do this--
it would be something I would have to live with, with the rest of my
life--but neither can I continue life as I've been living it--I
don't think it's fair to me.
Oh yes, I could keep all of them, but then I'm looking at about
another ten to fifteen years before they die off naturally--am I
really suppose to wait that long before I can consider resuming and
thinking about having a life again?? Am I suppose to wait until
then to overcome my phobia problem, to work full time at my photo
work, or do my work on my crafts that I make for sale?? Am I
suppose to wait until I'm into my sixties to go after my ambitions
in life??
My mother has accepted that our way of life is "normal" --but so
many places I've been in contact with, including Best Friends, have
suggested that my mother is demonstrating "hoarder" personality,
amongst her other deeply rooted psychological problems.
Please realize that yes, I do love the cats--but I really do need
to have a life again--is that so selfish??
So members out there of the I LUV CATS group--can you give me any
advice, help, or suggestions that could help resolve this problem in
a positive way??
Melanie
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I would appreciate any advice you can give me, and if indeed you can help me.
Thank you and most sincerely,
Melanie
Swing Joined: 6/23/05
re: Fellow 'Artists' can you help in over-cat population problem?#1
Posted: 12/29/05 at 12:01amLongest. Effing. Post. Ever.
re: Fellow 'Artists' can you help in over-cat population problem?#2
Posted: 12/29/05 at 7:21pmWell-----I am a writer--did have a short story published in Minas Tirith-Evening star, the Journal of the American Tolkien Society--
re: Fellow 'Artists' can you help in over-cat population problem?#3
Posted: 12/29/05 at 7:46pmDr. Phil had an episode about a woman with Compulsive Hoarding disorder. She had 57 cats. I would try to help with one, as I love cats, but I can't have any here.
re: Fellow 'Artists' can you help in over-cat population problem?#5
Posted: 12/30/05 at 8:54pmwhy do I believe none of this? Sorry, your story is just too long and convoluted to believe.....especially since you just joined yesterday..........I smell a cat, er I mean rat....
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