my ex boyfriend and i ended up with 13 cats at one time...we couldn't turn away from a helpless kitten...but those cats got the best care possible...it was like an industry...three litter boxes changed daily...20 lb bags of litter and high quality dry food...cases of people tuna...vet bills...some of my cats died due to my ignorance of some basic health problems...i felt terrible...but i learned from those situations...when my family threw me out of the apartment i was then living in alone (due to my choice of major at college) i held a number of my darlings in my arms while the vet put them to sleep...i knew there was no way i could move to a rental with all of them...i put them to sleep rather than giving them away or surrendering them because they were all about 8 or 9 years old and i wanted them never to be traumatized or end up in a bad situation...i was what they had known all their lives...they trusted me and strange as it may seem this was the only way i could fulfill their trust...i dispised my stepmonster for putting me in that position and still do to this day...my family is in real estate and i begged her to just give me the apartment in exchange for all rights to my father's estate...but she just wouldn't...my heart still aches...