three cats need homes

New York City NY

Description

11 years ago, I adopted a litter of kittens that were born to a homeless cat. My neighbor rescued them, nursed them then gave them to me. They have had a very good life with me. I am disabled and poor so the cats are used to having me around all the time. Over the past two years, I have incurred $10,000 in credit card debt for veterinary care for Skittles and Charlie. I have been rejected when I’ve asked for financial assistance from pet charities because they are overwhelmed and have strict guidelines in what illnesses they will help with, and expensive diagnostics are never something they help with. I’m trying to rehome all four cats because I won’t have credit cards to use should they need veterinary care in the future. It’s very hard for me to give these cats up, as I consider them my children, and I keep praying for a financial miracle, like finding a vet that is affordable. They are very sweet and affectionate cats. Emotionally, it is best for them to stay with me but realistically, they need to be in kind, beautiful and peaceful homes that can provide them with veterinary care. They are strictly indoor cats but they are used to doing whatever they want so I will not give them to someone who will put unnecessary restrictions on them. They claw at furniture so you’ll need to cover upholstery (declawing is not an option - it is cruel and very bad for their health - any vet who declaws for reasons other than a cat harming other pets with his claws is not a good vet). Snowshoes is the only one who doesn’t claw furniture - she only scratches her scratching lounge. I gently stop them when they start to claw. They knock things over when they are playing so you have to set up your home accordingly. The only restriction they have is that they are only allowed to eat cat food, so they won’t beg you for your food, but they will examine it out of curiosity. They all sleep in bed with me. They eat Blue Wilderness canned cat food. They all had their teeth cleaned three years ago and are not yet due for a cleaning. They love to watch YouTube nature cat videos, so I play them frequently. We used to live surrounded by wildlife and they had lots of windows to sit in and enjoy the breeze, the treetops and the animals. Squirrels actually made friendships with them through the windows. Then I started to feed the birds and the squirrels and that was the best entertainment for them. I’m sure they miss that life but they seem happy here in the city and they do enjoy watching the seagulls and pigeons fly in this concrete jungle. Description of cats: Charlie is spunky and cute as can be and follows me around the house. His coat is shiny. He has a curiosity about my neighbor’s pets so he ventures out into the hallway and goes to their doors but always comes back quickly because he’s scared and needs his mommy’s protection. He almost didn’t survive infancy. His rescuer had to syringe feed him to keep him alive and both of his eyes have been scarred since infancy but he doesn’t have a problem seeing. He had crystals in his urine when he was young so he can’t be fed dry food much and only the kind made for urinary health. They all love dry food but I mostly give it to them when they are sick and need coaxing to eat or when I need to get them to come out of their hiding places before I leave home to make sure they aren’t locked in a closet. Charlie just recovered from triaditis, which nearly killed him, and he is back to his normal, playful self.  He was an excellent patient and I gave him intensive supportive care at home during this health crisis. I’m hoping this was a one time occurrence but I am not willing to rehome him for another six months because I want to make sure he doesn’t have a chronic condition. He has just been diagnosed with thickening of the heart muscles but doesn’t yet need medicine for his heart condition because his heart has not stretched. Snowshoes is pretty and likes to lay sweetly next to your head in bed and on your chest. She also likes to play with foil balls then deliver them to you, announcing her success, as she’s a great huntress of toys. She is gentle and doesn’t scratch furniture. I must admit, she is the best behaved of the four, not that the others are difficult. They are just cats being cats. She’s a bit overweight but I’m hoping her recent changes in diet will help. She hasn’t seen a vet in three years. I’ll be taking her this Spring for a wellness exam. One of her eyes has been ulcerated since birth but she hasn’t had any problems with it. Skittles is beautiful, cute, sassy, funny, very talkative and a bit bullied by the others because she is the smallest and has always been skittish. She loves to have her belly gently pet when she lays on her back and she often curls up to me. I would like to rehome her first because she is bullied. Skittles has had lung problems for two years. I constantly took her to veterinarians for expensive diagnostics and treatments, but it was her last specialist that diagnosed chronic bronchitis and came up with what appears to be an effective treatment that will cost $130 a month for the rest of her life. I’m hoping the vet is wrong about her needing to be medicated for the rest of her life because medicines have side effects. She hates taking her medicine and I feel so bad giving them to her but I’ve figured out the best way administer them to give and I have finally found the best compounding pharmacy that makes the doses small and tasty. Still, she reacts badly and drools it out so I wipe her little face afterwards. She really hates this entire ordeal.