A friend of mine, who used to live in a small 2-bedroom apartment with her son and 5 cats, appears to be in a potentially bad situation.
She and her adult son have moved into a larger apartment, which would have been comfortable if she had kept just the five cats, but now they have 11 cats - 5 adults, two near adults, and four kittens.
They started out with the five cats, then she adopted - or rather was adopted by a kitten as we were leaving a grocery store. Not long after that, they took in a sweet little baby calico that was found on the property where they live. These two have become parents and they are not even full grown yet.
Not long after they adopted the calico, they were found by another kitten who was running around alone next to a busy street. My friend knew this was too many cats as it was because she was afraid to tell me they had adopted another kitten.
A few weeks later, the two kittens I mentioned before had a litter, and I adopted one of the babies. They still have three of the kittens and have made no attempts to find homes for them. When I asked her if they were going to keep the babies, she said she couldn't just give them to the shelter. She did say something about giving them to an animal rescue, but most of the rescues around here are full so I don't know if she is going to be able to do that. One of the kittens is already named, so I am nearly certain that they are keeping that one.
11 cats is not too worrisome on its own - I used to have 11 and I was able to care for them. My worry is that they have one breeding pair that have not been fixed yet, one cat that has been in heat many times, and another male cat that is getting old enough to become a father. Not to mention at least two more unaltered males and possibly one female - depending upon the sexes of the three kittens from the recent litter.
My friend keeps saying that she is going to get the cats spayed and neutered, but she has not done this yet. She has had one female going in and out of heat for over two years now. How this cat has not gotten pregnant with one unaltered male around, I will never know. My friend says that the two cats do not like each other, but I am certain that the female probably loves any other cat when she is in heat.
My concern is that my friend already has a potential kitten factory that she keeps making excuses not to deal with, and when the three kittens grow up, there will be more breeding pairs that will create more breeding pairs.
So far there has been only one litter, but I am wondering what - if anything - should I do? Should I just keep my mouth shut and mind my own business? Am I getting worried about nothing? Or am I seeing the beginnings of a potentially bad situation?
