The neighbor's cat is pregnant again....

[haele]

The old lady won't get her or the first lot of six kittens (five males, one female)fixed, because it's "not Ghod's Plan". She also believes cats should be indoor/outdoor, even if we do live in the middle of the city with traffic and coyotes, 'possums, and raccoons that live in the nearby canyons. Lucky thing we're on a cul-de-sac; traffic is very light, but even so, we've got a couple crazy drivers and the kits aren't exactly street smart.
She also thinks that she can tell "Cookie", a rather skinny but friendly calico, not to go out and get pregnant. To her, Cookie's just like her aunt.
The old lady's a bit finicky, she does not really approve of others feeding Cookie and her kits - like the neighbors across the street who have created a native habitat in their front yard - but since she "trusts" us as good people who won't try to steal from her, we're apparently okay. She's already indicated she's hoping we take Cookie in while she goes out to Utah in a month or two to make the rounds of relatives.
I'm already one step ahead; our evil plan is to trap Cookie and as many of the kits as we can, and get them fixed by the local Feral Cat coalition while she's gone. Her family members who are living with (or rather, off) her could really care less one way or another, so it's pretty much up to us to keep a kitten explosion under wraps.

Haele

[and-justice-for-all]

1. Good plan...

I took a neighborhood tom to the vet for a snip, He remained out side for about a year. Only to take up residence in our home where he resides, fat(20#)and happy he is. That's my Piggy.

[japple]

2. You're an angel. She sounds like she's "leaving everything

up to god" so she doesn't have to shoulder any responsibility. Good thing that you and your neighbors are looking out for her kitty family. I'd do the same thing. Keep us posted.

[japple]

4. In the same vein, and in case you missed it the first time around.

[hamsterjill]

3. There's one in every neighborhood it seems!

THANK YOU for being proactive about this situation.

There are some people whom you simply cannot reason with on the issue of spay/neuter, and it's best to circumvent them when at all possible.

I have some people like the woman you describe in my neighborhood. My motto is that if THEIR cat comes into MY yard, it will visit the vet, and then be returned a much happier, healthier-and-unable-to-procreate kitty. I don't steal their cat. I merely "borrow" it for a short period of time!

[Coyote_Bandit]

5. The cats should be spayed/neutered

And a responsible owner should not permit their animals to leave their property.

That said, I would pursue legal action against anyone who would take one of my animals to have any medical or cosmetic procedure performed without my knowledge and consent. Not their animal, not their right or obligation. If I do not abuse or neglect my animals then you have no right to subtitute your judgement regarding their care for my own. You want to spay/neuter. Others want to declaw, crop tails and ears and remove dewclaws.

I most definitely would distrust, resent and feel betrayed by anyone who would agree to take in my animals for a period of time as a ruse to have a medical procedure performed on them. Such conduct is deceptive and a betrayal of trust. If you are not willing to care for the kitties in the old lady's absence then perhaps you should suggest that she board them. I guarantee that the vet will recommend they be spayed/neutered - and will take necessary actions to comply with local spay/neuter laws.

In any event, if you have local laws requiring that the cats be spayed/neutered then you should report the violation. Your local authorities will have a protocol for addressing and resolving the issue.

While this may not be the situation with the old lady next door, you should note that there may well be factors in play which are not obvious or apparent. I took in a dog who was a renal failure dog at 5 months of age. His best prognosis was "wait and see" and he came with a recommendation to be euthanized. We waited to neuter him until his kidneys had fully developed and his health had stabilized - which was much later than customary. He's a senior dog now and doing well in spite of a lifetime of renal problems. Had I entrusted him to your care you just might have put that result in jeopardy.

[roody]

6. Good luck on your good deed.

I spend time at the animal shelter petting homeless cats. There are many.

[BrklynLiberal]

7. I agree with your plan 100%.....and I might even go a step further and try to find new homes for the

cats before they get killed by some passing traffic....

This woman obviously could not care less. She is going away for a month and "assuming" that neighbors will be feeding her cats???!!!!

[haele]

8. Update - I think one of the current crop of kittens is gone -

Momcat had five last october - two friendly - an orange "runt" who's very sweet and keeps wanting to come inside our house, a orange tabby-point(the alpha male),and three skittish - a "moo-cat" (white with large black saddle and spots), a seal point and a almost white with calico points (the only female, very "tentative" in movements), who's also skittish. They all tend to stick around both houses, especially since we put out food, so it's pretty obvious when one isn't coming around.

The calico girl kitty has been missing for a week - the kids next door haven't seen her since she went out last friday with the rest of the group.

Coyotes, probably, since the girl has shown a bad habit of freezing when she's faced with something scary, and there's quite a few coyotes in the canyon with their own cubbing season.
:cry:

The old lady's kids and grandkids are too busy to care for another crop of kittens, and they've got a rather old fashioned (pre neuter and spay) way of looking at animals; since the older son doesn't want to deal with kittens and was really not happy to hear she was pregnant, I've got a nasty feeling that they're going to be disposed of after birth. I've broached the matter of getting the cats fixed with him - he's non-committal - mostly because no one but the old woman in that family has money.

Haele

[Lorien]

9. Good for you! And good luck with catching them all

it's amazing how negligent so many pet owners STILL are.