find good homes for my cats

I don’t want to jinx this, so I’m furiously knocking on my wood-product desk between typing fits, but my mom may have found a home Eris and Rhi. Her friend’s daughter lives out in the country and wants a couple of cats for her barn. Granted, this isn’t the setup I dreamed of. I’d rather they were indoors, but since neither of them has much interest in the litter box these days, maybe this is for the best. The no-kill shelter has a waiting list over a year long for cats, so if I don’t find homes for them before we move to FL, they’d have to go to Animal Control and probably be euthanized, and I just can’t do that. Anyway, I know the lady (Cindy) is a cat person and would take good care of them. They would have a big barn to play in, and it’s full of hay in the winter, so they’ll be warm. Also, she’d feed them, not just expect them to hunt, since they’ve been indoor cats all their lives. I really think this is a good solution. Mom is supposed to talk to Cindy again this week and iron out the details.

I’d still like to find a good home for Carly as well. (That way, we’ll only be moving the dogs and Buddha & Salem. Still a handful, but much less than it is right now.) But I won’t give Carly up unless I find the perfect home. She’d be so much happier as an “only child,” and I’d love to find a nice elderly lady who can give her all the affection she needs.

Due to financial issues, I had to cancel the girls’ appointments to get spayed, and I haven’t been able to reschedule them yet. I really need to get in gear with this though, so my goals for the next week are to place an ad on Craig’s List, update my posting on the Springfield Pet Exchange site, and reschedule their appointments for sometime after I get paid on the 11th.

Just when I was sick to my stomach deciding to abandon my cats in a nice neighborhood rather that than drop them off at some shelter where they’d either be put down or likely spend the rest of their days in a cage my mother finds a roommate, which means she wont’ be losing her house, which means my kitties have a place to live for a few months while I get set up in Seattle!
I’m just.. so happy!

Eris and Rhi have appointments with the APL to get spayed on March 5th, and I emailed the lady who was interested in Eris to let her know. I really hope she still wants her. She seemed so nice, and her son is a HUGE cat-lover. It just sounded so perfect… If not, I’ll be taking out a newspaper ad in the next couple weeks. Any advice on questions to ask perspective adoptive pet parents?

This afternoon, I left a message with the local APL about getting Eris and Rhi spayed. Since they’ve always been indoor girls, I never worried about it before, but it’ll greatly increase the chances of finding good homes for both of them, even if the lady who was interested in Eris never emails me back. =^(

I posted an add at PetFinder.com and a bulletin on MySpace today..
Hopefully something will come of that..

I guess in the end all this detachment amounts to nothing trying to rationalize with myself that no matter how much I love my kitties I can’t stay on this sinking ship just to keep them…

It looks like my mother’ll take Sage, and I put out an add on Craigslist for Tula and Posh… People have already started to reply.

I feel so guilty, all of them asleep together on the bed beside me…
This knot twists tight in my stomach..

I hope this isn’t a mistake…

I’d really like to find GOOD homes for my 3 girls before we move out of IL next year. 5 cats and 2 large dogs is just too much to deal with, whether or not we move, but I don’t want them to go to just anyone. They are my responsibility, after all, and I want to make sure they have good, happy lives. It breaks my heart to have to part with them, but keeping up with 5 cats is just more than I can handle. The hair situation alone is enough to drive me nuts, not to mention the litter boxes. 2 of the girls (Eris and Rhi) won’t use the box if other cats use it too, and how can you prevent that in a house with 5 cats?

I think I may have found a home for Eris through the Pet Exchange Yahoo Group. I explained her litter box aversion to the lady, who assured me she would be an “only child,” so I really hope this works out.