12/04/2025
Tonight broke me a little.
I was asked if I could help three tiny kittens, so I put up a post asking if anyone nearby could go and collect them for me. A lovely person offered and within minutes that part was sorted.
Then I received another message. Someone saw that I was helping these kittens and immediately said, can you also go get this other family that needs help. I explained that I had no room. That I had no carer available. That I physically cannot take on another family tonight.
Instead of understanding, she replied with, well I just saw you rescued the other kittens, why can you take them but not these ones. What is the reason?
This is the part that crushes me. People think rescue means unlimited space unlimited money unlimited time unlimited carers and unlimited emotional capacity.
But I am one person.
Just one.
I do not have a magical shelter that expands. I do not get government funding. I do not have endless time or endless money or endless helpers. Every single cat or kitten I take in needs a safe carer lined up first. That is my procedure. That is how I prevent disaster. Without a carer I cannot take them. That does not make me a bad person. That makes me responsible.
When I said no she asked again about another family. Then again. Then she pushed. She said “ well you are a rescuer after all! “ at this point I blocked her. I couldn’t deal with any more. I told her in a polite manner why I couldn’t take them but it didn’t stop.
It was nine thirty at night. She kept messaging, she was really stepping over my boundaries at this point.
But here is the reality.
Rescue is hard. Brutally hard.
You do not see me staring at my phone with tears in my eyes because I am watching messages roll in from people begging for help and I cannot help them all.
You do not see the guilt I carry.
You do not see the mental exhaustion.
You do not see the nights I do not sleep because a cat is sick or a mum is giving birth or a kitten is fading.
You do not see the vet bills piling up when I already have no funds left.
You do not see the rescues currently in my care who rely on me every single day.
I get over twenty messages a day asking for help. That is twenty emergencies. Twenty lives. Twenty heartbreaking stories. And no matter how much I carry, someone always asks for more.
Please understand something.
I do not say no because I do not care.
I say no because I am drowning.
I say no because I am out of space out of money out of carers out of hours in the day and out of emotional strength.
I am trying to run this rescue alone while also keeping my own cats fed safe and cared for.
I should not have to defend myself.
I should not be guilted.
I should not be pushed past breaking point because someone does not understand the reality of rescue.
Please stop hounding rescuers.
Please stop making us feel guilty for what we cannot do.
We already carry the weight of what we cannot save.
We already lose sleep.
We already cry.
We already feel guilty every single day.
I am mentally exhausted.
I am out of funds.
I am trying.
I am doing everything I can as one human being running an entire rescue alone.
Please remember that before you send that extra message or that extra demand.
We are not machines. We are people with limits and hearts that already hurt enough.
