I took in 2 cats in a bad situation and it's becoming too much for me
8 years ago my partner's ex caught 2 feral kittens at around 12 weeks old and gave them to his family. The kittens were already a bit older and never got fully out of that feral state.
4 years ago his mom and sisters got 2 more kittens + a territorial dog that terrorized the 2 cats.
The 2 cats were living under the bed, one mutilating himself out of stress.
So 1.5 years ago my partner and I decided to take in the 2 cats to give them a better life.
It's been 1.5 years and they have definitely improved a lot, but they are still so scared of things and us when walking or moving, and their anxiety rubs off very hard on my other cats. It has become increasingly frustrating but there is no way I would send them back into living under that bed, self mutilating. Taking them in brings us to a total of 5 cats, and with these 2 being so anxious its getting to me, especially because we are trying to move across the country and I honestly think they will have heart attacks.
I wanted to help them out so bad but the fact that it's been 1.5 years and they are just teaching my other cats anxious behavior is really causing me to feel overwhelmed and a bit of regret. I don't know what to do honestly and am just looking for some advice :(
We have tried giving them their space, feliway, etc. To expand on how bad the situation initially was, we had to call the maintenance guy the first day because the one had ripped out the plating beneath our dishwasher to hide under it.
Thank you xo