I'm in somewhat of a pickle. Anyone enjoy solving puzzles? Maybe you can help!

[Earthylove]

So something pretty big has recently come up and I could really use some input!

Some background (sorry its long):
I am very close with my grandparents and have lived with them all of my growing up years until shortly before i left for college. in fact, the first girl i have, if i have a girl, will be named after my grandma. So we are very close, but as of right now, they live on the west coast and my DH and i live on the east coast (I'm finishing up graduate work out here and really loving the city I'm in). Lately they haven't been doing very well and are no loner able to care for their large property, home and all of their animals (chickens and cats). they offered us the opportunity to buy their house for a ridiculously affordable price and live there for free until we have jobs and enough money saved to comfortably buy the home and make it officially ours. Now, this is a great move for many reasons, financially, it's in a great town, i can be closer to my family and grandparents, it's very safe, its a large 2 story house, large yard, its just fantastic all around...

the problem:
the problem is that DH and I plan to ttc at the end of August/early September and so we will have a little one maybe joining us for the move to a new home (we would make the move in 1 or 2 years). this wouldn't necessarily be that big of a concern for me, but my grandparents have a lot of old cats. they have like 7 cats and they are very smelly. My plan was to remodel the heck out of the place because it definitely looks like an old person's house on the inside, it smells, and the cats have ruined many things (carpet, etc) with urine and claw scratching. but! We may not be able to get to that right away because it will cost money and even if we did, the cats are still alive and will probably ruin the new stuff anyway. the cats are old, like 12 years, so in theory they don't have too much longer, however those guys look pretty robust and healthy to me. i'm afraid I won't be able to get rid of the smell without somehow addressing the cat population but my grandma loves them and is asking me to keep and take care of the cats!

So basically the cats are what have me worried about all of this. What would you do? i mean, i would feel bad about keeping them all outside because they're old and it can get quite hot/cold, depending on the season. I could keep them in one room of the house but then the smell would be concentrated and thats probably cruel anyway. I would give them away, but my grandma wants me to keep them. ah!

How do I deal with the cats?

 

[missk1989]

I would talk to your Grandma about it but not until you are actually pregnant. I wouldnt want a young child around all those cats but at the same time I think it would be cruel to give them away at that age.
I would probably give them a room in the house with access to outside. Fill the room with scratching posts and stands so they can climb and jump and get all their exercise.

 

[wishuwerehere]

Are your grandparents planning to move to a smaller property nearby? Could some of the cats go with them? Could you agree to help with their care but not live with them? Alternatively wait until you are pregnant and just say you aren't happy having the cats and a small child...a bit harsher maybe!

 

[Earthylove]

Thanks for your responses, guys! They've been helpful. My grandma is at a physical rehabilitation center right now to build back some of her strength and to wean her off a medication. If she isn't able to maintain her strength at home on her own (my grandpa helps but it is also very difficult for him physically as well) then they are advising she stay with them for long-term care. Not sure what the policy is like for having cats there but maybe we can see if they'd allow one? I know she would love that. If she doesn't go that route, my mom would like them to live with her, in the same state, about 3 hours away. Now, if they have their own room or private space, they should be able to take a cat or two with them, depending on how much room they have. My mom is very adamant about not having any more cats because she already has several, so I'm guessing two is pushing it, hah.

Yeah, I agree with you guys about waiting till I'm pregnant to talk to her about it. And I really like the idea to have a room with access to outside. The downstairs living room would be perfect. I could put all the cat posts and toys and litter boxes down there and put in a little cat door for them to come and go. It should also be easier to clean and maintain that way too..

 

[confused87com]

You may find that you would be able to look after the cats better, so if litter is cleaned well and they have access to outside and scratching posts you would probably see and small a vast improvement. Is a shame that a lot of the behavior marking is found in multi cat households as they find it stressful

 

[Kitteh_Kat]

I'm a huge cat lover, so I may be a bit biased. The house is the cats' home too, so I don't think giving them away would be right, especially if your grandmother still loves them. I don't know if it's quite the same, but we have 3cats in a small 2 bedroom house, and I've found the key is to just stay on top of cleaning. Keep the litter boxes clean daily, provide them with things they can interact with (some toys, cat trees, etc), and space for exercise. If they can get in and out of the house on their own, that might clear up a lot of the problems. Do you know if they have been to the vet recently? Going outside the litter box can also be a sign of illness.

Hopefully you can find a way to make it work for everyone!

 

[Earthylove]

Thanks guys! Yeah, I agree, it wouldn't be right to give them away.
The cats do go to the vet periodically. I think it's a behavior/stress thing that causes the spraying. That's a good point that there are some things I can do to reduce the instance of going outside the litter box..I'm feeling less concerned about this now.

 

[Kitteh_Kat]

Yay! And not to knock your grandparents, but changing multiple litter boxes a day is exhausting, even for younger people. (it's my daily struggle, that's for sure) I wonder if someone is doing it daily, and making sure they have enough litter boxes for all of their herd. Cats are vain clean freaks usually, so it could also be a protest over not being happy with where they have to go. You can also observe them and see who gets along with who, and try to keep the cats that clash apart from each other, if you have the extra space to devote to do it.

 

[loeylo]

Just to comment in the "old" 12yr old cats - my mum and dads cat is 19. Lol!

 

[Earthylove]

Yes, that's true, I know they have a difficult time keeping things like litter boxes clean. Same goes for the chicken coop and general household chores/activities as well, which is part of the reason they're moving to a more manageable living situation. Everything has just become too much.
I can see that it's going to be a lot of work but I really hope I can cut down on the spraying. Sounds like there's hope! Haha

Loeylo- Lol! I know, my mom has a cat about that age and I'm thinking these guys look like they could be around for quite a while yet. Hahaha. They're all part of the same litter, all siblings!

 

[MindUtopia]

If you didn't say yes to moving back, what would happen to the cats? My thought would be that if you said you weren't ready to take that jump, then probably the house would have to be sold and the cats would have to be taken in by someone or otherwise re-homed. Or maybe whoever in your family might alternatively be willing to move into the house and care for them, might be willing to take them? I mean I think that your grandparents offer of the house and the living situation of the cats in a way have to thought of separately. It would be really nice and generous of you to take them all on, but realistically, if you couldn't move back, there would have to be another solution where someone else cared for them. I'm guessing they wouldn't just keep the house indefinitely and uninhabited for the cats, right? So I think when it comes to the point where you are pregnant and contemplating that you want to make this move, then that's a good time to talk about finding a solution. Because either way, someone would have to make a decision about what happens with the cats. Personally, I wouldn't want that many cats plus a house to re-model plus a baby to care for. I just about manage to take care of myself and my daughter (and my husband mostly fends for himself) without losing my sanity.

 

[Snizuitz]

Maybe others have said this, or maybe this isn't scientifically true, but aren't pregnant women supposed to stay away from cat feces? I had many people tell me not to clean out the litter box when I was pregnant, for example. If, as other have suggested, you wait until you are pregnant or getting serious about trying, you can let your grandparents know it's not safe for the baby.

Of course, finding really awesome homes for them would be great, too. I eventually gave my kitty away to a retired lady who devoted her house to her cats. She always wanted to keep 2 and one had passed away, so there was a lonely kitty who needed a friend and this woman's whole life was about spoiling her fur babies. It really took the edge off for me to remember what kind of life my cat would enjoy there.

 

[confused87com]

I'm a vet nurse and cleaning out cats is part of my job. So long as you wear gloves and wash your hands there's very very little risk.