I too am glad you posted your story. I'm new here myself, so I didn't know you before, but I can certainly relate to your story.

I've always loved cats. When my husband and I moved in together, we had just one. Over time we got another, just a little stray my daughter loved. But then we got a bigger place, and it was so easy to say, "We have room for one more." Then another, then another, then this one had kittens, then we found a stray who had kittens. At one point I'm ashamed to say, we had about 30 cats and kittens, plus a dog, and birds, and three kids. It was a nightmare!

Like you, it was hard to let go, but I asked myself, what kind of life could I possibly provide so many? The kittens were easiest of course, everyone wants a kitten. The older cats were harder, but we persevered. Eventually, we got down to only 8.

Of course, most people would react by saying" Only 8?!?" But for us we thought it was fine. But time went on and outside things interfered, and again I found myself asking, "Is this too much?"

So we made some more tough choices and got down to 6. And believe me letting "my babies" go was very hard to do. Then we decided to take it one step further and we found homes for most of our extensive bird collection, which numbered around 50 at one point.

Even though the decision was hard, it's one I'm glad we made. taking proper care of so many animals was impossible, no matter how I wanted to deny that fact. Granted, most people still consider us to have a zoo, but for me things are much easier.

Now, all I have to do is learn from your example and not go overboard with my newest addiction, BP's.

Thanks again for your post, and know that you aren't alone in this.

Gale