What Am I Gonna Do?

Okay, so I called to vet to find out how much it would cost to get Allie spayed. Their normal rate is $50, but it can triple depending how far along she is. So that could get up to $150. She also has to have a rabies vaccination and basically a 4-in-1, I guess even if she is a roamer they don't want her spreading that stuff around. And then of course she'll have a reaction to the vaccine and getting an upper respiratory infection like Archie.

WHY do I know this? I don't even THINK it, I KNOW it, because...well I wrote that Spitty was sick - she can barely open her right eye, and guess what else? I think Spooky has some gunk in HER eyes and a bit of a runny nose. Fluffy, however, shows no signs of illness...yet. So instead of just taking Spitty in tomorrow, I'm going to take all three of them in.

BUT PEPPER, their cat who they've had since he was a kitten (he's now 6 years old) hasn't been acting right, according to my mom, I saw some eye crusties today (could be normal eye crusties), and what looked like a bit of a runny nose. I could just be getting paranoid about him. He's had minimal contact with Archie but they have accepted each other more and more. However, my mom saw Pepper drinking out of Archie's water bowl, and Archie is still recovering (he's still sneezing a bit and his breathing sounds stuffy).

I'm also still debating about getting the three kittens their feline leukemia test, b/c that lady I met at PetSmart said that she could only take them if they were tested and even then she would STILL have to come and take a look at them first. But now I have to wait until they're well before I even let her see them! If I got them the test tomorrow, that's $75 plus another $60 for the medicine and check-up.

But here's my REAL dilemma, that I cry just thinking about. Allie's spaying might cost around $150 and she's just gonna be an outdoor roamer, not even my parents' cat. Everyone (except me) doesn't like that idea, and everyone pretty much thinks we should just take her to the county shelter, where SHE AND HER BABIES will probably be euthanized. Okay, SHE is alive. And yeah, I don't adore her or anything, but still...I am trying to SAVE cats here. I don't even want the babies to die, and having her spayed means they die, and I'm trying my best to accept that. In my best-case scenario, we'd let her have the kittens in captivity so they'd be more friendly, and yeah, go through this all over again. I think I'd try to see if a shelter would somehow certify us as a foster family and we could get help with expenses? No, I doubt that.

So what do I do? I can't let her get killed and I really think that's what's going to happen. I just can't in good conscience let that happen! I don't know what to do! HELP! HELP!