*UPDATED* I CAN Manage To Keep My Cats Now!

dalek

UPDATE: Thankyou to everyone here! :T
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What's the best way forward?

RSPCA?

Cat Protection League?

1 was a stray, 1 was abandoned.

I love them dearly but am struggling.

Also they don't get on with each other.


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UPDATE: Ignore the above - things will be ok now!

gettingready

All shelters are full - are you SURE you can not find way to keep them?

Perhaps try asking for help on:

http://animallifelineuk.org/

or

http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php?board=61.0

Dunroamin

What about cutting back on something else so that you can afford them?

OnAndUp

What specifically can you not afford ie. food, vets bills?

I'm sure that people on here could give you some good ideas?

Tiddlywinks

What's changed in your life that means that you can't afford to keep your cats.

Is there anything that might help?

The previous poster is right - all the shelters are full, life is hard for middle aged cats when they are homeless because very few people are interested in them.

dalek

Benefit is £71 a week and i now have to top up my rent by £50 a month.



I don't want to lose my cats but everything is beyond a struggle.

jason1231972

Are you on housing benefit and/or council tax benefit (excluding 25% single persons' discount only). If so, you may be eligible for certain vetinary help via the PDSA, which can eliminate the need for costly insurance. Help from the PDSA is 'free' (they request voluntary donations) for eligible pet owners.

If the above is not an option, when it comes to insurance, food, etc., have you reviewed your current situation? Insurance for cats is (usually) relatively cheap, and can be shopped around for. You can get everything from extremely basic policies that cover life & death situations, to fully comp 'lifelong' policies.

Food costs should be near negligible assuming they don't need specialist kind of food and are happy to eat off the supermarket shelf

gettingready

I have a feeling OP does not have insurance at all so it is not an issue re being able to afford insurance/chnge insurers.

I was on JSA for a year and remember the struggle to keep my 4 cats and a dog - could nto do it without my daughter's help.

For a single person, being on benefits is a terrible struggle to make ends meet at all.

One lives on next to nothing and keeping pets fed only may not be possible.

Tiddlywinks

dalek wrote: »

Benefit is £71 a week and i now have to top up my rent by £50 a month.

I don't want to lose my cats but everything is beyond a struggle.

£50 - ouch

You could ask on Freegle / freecycle for spare cat food - cats are soooo fussy that sometimes owners have stuff they don't know what to do with.

As someone else said, PDSA will help with vet bills.

In the longer term, could you move to somewhere else that's cheaper? Could a friend share the cats with you? Could your family help out for a while?

Sorry, I'm sure you've thought of all this before.... good luck.

jason1231972

gettingready wrote: »

I have a feeling OP does not have insurance at all so it is not an issue re being able to afford insurance/chnge insurers.

I was on JSA for a year and remember the struggle to keep my 4 cats and a dog - could nto do it without my daughter's help.

For a single person, being on benefits is a terrible struggle to make ends meet at all.

One lives on next to nothing and keeping pets fed only may not be possible.

Yep - I realise - me and the OP kind of posted at the same time. Didn't realise the situation was so dire at that point.

However, re: food, surely the cost really is quite low? I don't buy into cats or any domestic pet needing to have the best of the best. If it's on our supermarket shelves (and has thus passed quality tests and so on), my former pets (dogs) have eaten it, with no ill effects at all.

In times of hardship, I've fed a dog on less than £2.00 per week (2 x 1/2 tins per day of 4 for £1 food picked up in discount high street shops...top-brand food, just approaching its sell-by date, or has a bit of foreign writing on the packet, etc.). In times of extreme hardship, out came the long-forgotten tins of tuna from the cupboard, economy sausages from the back of the freezer, etc.

I've no idea what cats can 'safely' eat on an extreme budget, but surely there's something they can have that costs literally a few pence, without compromising on their health and nutritional needs.

If the OP really has no option, and even a couple of pounds per week would break the bank, then the point isn't that they must keep the cats on the advice of forum members, the point is that the shelters are quite literally full...

gettingready

Dalek - what are your current cat related expenses?

What do you feed them? What btand? How much does it cost you per week?

Do you use cat litter? What brand? How much does it cost you per week?

How old are they?

Are they neutered?

Have they got any health issues/need regular medication?

What do you use for flea treatment/worming, how much does it cost you per month/week whatever?

Any other costs?

Is your financial situation likely to improve? Are you hoping/able to get off benefits and get into work/improve your finance?

How big is the place you live in? Could you posibly sublet a room?

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Once we know the above perhaps we could help you bring the costs down to minimum?