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I see what you are saying about family problems preventing things and what-not... but is it really family problems that are preventing you from training a cat? or is it just lazyness?(not calling you lazy) just.. if it was a dog it would always be in your face and looking for attention.. a cat doesn't normally do that (at least not what I've seen unless you train it to love ya) .. so could it be that you just forgot about the cat because it wasn't in your face?? animals do things to get attention.. they're just like you and me .. but they don't talk... can you blame them? I wouldn't want to comunicate with my owner unless it was.. "I'm hungry" lol but even then... that's why they'll stand by their dish until you give them food lol

it all comes back to responsibility and attention for your animals doesn't it?

I would have made the sacrifice of sleep and kept him in my room until he was trained. Simple.
It may not have been entirely pleasant for him at first but it would not have been a permanent arrangement. And, he would not have been confined permanently. Could the bird not have gone into a cage/other room while your cat stretched his legs until he could be trusted to share a space? Certainly that has worked for many people in the past.
Or I would have shifted the cavy and gerbil into the smaller room and put the cat into the larger bedroom.
As said before, it wouldn't have been permanent so there would have been no harm done. Unlike cutting out claws, which is very permanent.

Like you I have trouble sleeping whilst other things are in the same room. When my oldest ferret was sick though that did not stop me from having her in there so I could moniter and medicate her throughout the night. Hey, those weeks sucked a bit but that's what pets are all about; taking responsibility and making sacrifices when it is required. I would rather sacrifice my sleep than my pet's toes.
But I guess it would have been easier to have left her in another room, even if it would have been colder and therefore a danger to her damaged lungs.

Tell, me, do you also support defanging and debarking for similar 'special' situations?

I am sorry if I come across as hostile. Yet no one has ever managed to give me a justifiable reason to do that to a cat.

Actually, the gerbil and guinea pig were in my brother's room because I could not sleep with them in my room. In general, the manner of my sleeplessness is not something I feel necessary to explain fully or expect people to understand. The guinea pig wouldn't have lasted more than a few hours, even if we tried; my brother is her "dad," and she rarely tolerates any contact at all from anyone else. She tends to gnaw her bars very loudly when she wants something, whatever time of night it mayb be, and he's the only one that seems to be able to understand what she needs. She also used his room to run around and get exercise regularly, which would not have been possible in mine. For many other reason, my brother and I could not switch rooms.

The cat would never tolerate being behind a door. He's always been one to "knock" on them with his paws and throw a fit when he wants in a room, let alone if he was being confined to one. He also learned how to open any doors not left securely shut as tightly as physically possible. Besides that, I do not see how confining him for days in one room would keep him from trying to get at our bird the time day he was let into the rest of the apartment.

As for the bird, she was already in a cage; that was not the problem. She is far too bold for her own sake, preferring to come up to something nearby rather than back away from it; this includes the paws and mouths of curious cats. As I mentioned earlier, incidents like this almost killed her several years ago with one of our dogs.

Pokemasterat - This is not an issue of "paying the rent." This was an issue of dumping a cat or keeping him. The apartment would not have let our cat in with full claws. The apartment was theonly choice of living space available that I can recall, especially at such short notice. Would you prefer I get rid of teh cat? He had already lost the companionship of his brother less than a year before and was now losing the friendship of our two dog as well, since they were staying with my dad. Would it have been more fair to sever his ties completely with the rest of the family he'd grown up with? There would have been no gaurantee that any stranger who might buy him from a shelter would have not declaw him. And it would pain me to think of giving him up like that, especially since it took him years of being indoors before he finally let anyone besides my immediate family touch him.

As for the comment about the fingers... Personally, I would readily give up part of my hands if the only other option was to never see my family again. However, my personal choices for myself are not a part of this.

To be perfectly, honest, I do resent the fact that people are treating this like it was a choice I fully made. The choice was not in my hands at all, in fact, but I still cannot see any other possibility to it. I was essentially part of a frantic rush to get out of the house before my dad decided we weren't allowed back in. A lot of things were lost to my dad in that divorce, including some other pets whom I still regret not having with us and wish I could have taken. I'm not saying I'm "special" or deserve "special treatment." I'm merely stating that the only other real option at this point would be abandoning my cat at a shelter. It was difficult enough for us to find an apartment that allowed animals at all.

Very True I agree with every word.

Thank you so much for saying that. I work at a animal hospital and it hurts to see people do that. The doctors at my work will only do it as a last result but I don't like it at all. I say find another way.