I have been struggling with a concept that is difficult to accept. However, I sense it is crucial that I accept it. Just as I have used the analogy with FoffDad of a life boat filled with our animals (as in "So who would you chose to throw overboard?" in response to a momentary rant of "We have too many animals!" usually after stepping in something unsavory), I now must accept that the boat is indeed full. We can take on no more. Shrink filled my last available bedroom. I have learned that with a colony of cats, introducing another new one can either go well or throw the entire colony into a snarling, hissing, nervous mess. And nervous cats often engage in inappropriate excretion . I hate inappropriate excretion, and not just because it can precipitate rants from FoffDad.
Knock on wood, this has not been a major issue for a long time, but that is because the last time I isolated the two female cats that would not blend in with the female cats downstairs. This was not a hard decision. One of them refuses any cat/cat contact, hates dogs, hates being outside, and basically likes to sit and look out the window. Yeah, she is as big as Jaba the Hut Feline style. Yes she is on a diet. No, it does nothing. The other cat is quite dear, does OK outside, does OK with the dogs, does not like other cats. She is a fragile little thing, so I would never put her outside to be, say, a barn cat. Oddly enough, giving these two cats a bedroom together has worked out much better than having them share a house with other cats. But that fills another bedroom. Our bedroom and the guest bedroom need to stay cat free.
The line between a rescuer and a hoarder to me is that a rescuer does not take on so many animals that the ones already in the home are harmed by the additional drain on resources. So we are full. For the first time. Quite odd.
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