Luckily, we don't have anyone here trying to poison the cats. The only thing that happens here is that Pet Alliance will try and come out to trap so they can spay or neuter them so that our cat population doesn't continue to explode.
However, we are in a laid back neighborhood that doesn't mind the cats. If someone were to start poisoning them we would figure out who it is and get charges pressed. There was a short time before the cats came that we would have rats and mice outside. They used to get into my shed. They chewed through the floor in the bottom of the shed to get inside and next thing you know I am cleaning up messes.
Haven't had to worry about that for a few years now. The only other time I saw a rat outside, I was hearing a strange noise to the side of the house. Couldn't figure out what it was at first. However, this one kitty jumped up with its supper in its mouth which made me jump.
I never been a dog person. I was afraid of them when I was younger and some of the dogs still scare me from time to time.
The one thing I would say about owning a cat though is that you really don't own that cat. The cat owns you.
They become your children. In 2019, she got sick as well and stopped eating. I think that's when she started to have issues from Congestive Heart Failure. However, the vet at the time missed it. She started to slow down over the years and figured it was because she was getting older. It was because of the CHF.
However, that vet bill was expensive. I ended up paying around 3000, for 2 overnight stays there. The vet tried to talk me into putting her down when she was only 9 years old. She refused to eat while at the vet. I was out of money for more treatment because they wanted to put a feeding tube into her. This vet lead me to believe that a cat not eating for a day or two was really bad. So I ended up having them remove the IV bag and cather and I brought her home. Told them I wanted to bring her home to spend sometime with her and then will bring her back to be put down.
That was the only way for me to get the vet to let me take her home if I agreed to bring her back to put her down. It was a good thing I brought her home. She refused to eat there but as soon as she got home, she went right for her food dish.
In order to pay for her vet bills, both myself and my mom as well destroyed our credit. We had to not pay any of the credit cards, loans, and let some of the normal bills go to the next month. My credit score is still very low. I am just starting to get to the point where we are rebuilding the credit. I was very close to filing bankruptcy but was able to pull out of it. I still get phone calls from the creditors but they are now past the statute of limitations. So they can't sue. In 2018, we spent about 4000 for my mom's pitbull (originally my dad's before he passed away) but that didn't break us financially until my kitty got sick.
For the most part, the normal major expenses are the flea meds, they are expensive. But then again, when you have as many cats as I do, it gets a little pricey. Luckily they only need the flea meds every other month. The only other thing is shots. Most of the time, I got a few vets that I can take them to and it's only 5 bucks a rabies shot. The only other minor expense is dry cat food and litter.
The other thing I will say is that my cats are not normal cats. Some of them act like they are dogs. It's so funny to see them. Some of them don't meow they squeak instead. Now I need to figure out which kitty is going to become my work kitty.
Taco was always in the office with me when I was working. If I went into the office without her she will meow, scratch and then jump at the door. And the jumping was loud. When I was working, she would lay down in the office. When I had to do my team meetings or one-on-ones, she would jump onto the desk and then onto my shoulder to get into the video. She knew the difference of when I was working and when I was in a meeting.
I made some 11x14 posters of some of her pictures, and I have two different t-shirts with her on them. I found a company online that makes custom t-shirts from your photos. They looked so good. I turned this picture into a t-shirt.
I finally got that Orange kitty outside trusting me. (Not the orange kitty in this photo) I am able to pet him. He is super gentle. I haven't captured it yet. I want it to be able to trust me more before, I get him neuter and his back leg checked out. This is the one with the leg problem. He is able to walk on it but can't run on it.
All I want to do with this one is get him fixed and have the leg checked out. Once everything is good to go then he can be released to be outside again or will be adopted out. I am way over the limit that I can handle right now.
In fact today is litter box duty. I didn't get to it yesterday since I wasn't feeling well. However, today I gotta get the litter boxes done and get one added to the utility room so that I can stop them from pooping and peeing in the kitchen.
