Want to share a happy story...keeps us going!
This handsome dude is Matthew. I got a call from a woman who said that a cat she was feeding was sick. I took her some antibiotics, being in denial about taking in another cat; am trying to reduce my population. I got to her house, and met Matthew, looking as he does below. Obviously he needed a lot more than a course of antibiotics. He was thin, lethargic, matted, and coated with mud and dirt, and his mouth was badly infected. The sweet woman who had called me had been feeding him, and had given him a small bed beside her house. He let me pick him up and put him into my carrier.
Got him home. I don't give baths unless absolutely necessary, but...he let me bathe him at length. Lots of muddy water down the sink. Then wrapped him in a towel and spent maybe two hours picking the mats and burrs off of him. He let me do that too...what a blessing! When he'd had enough, I put him in a big cage in the living room, chest height, covered the cage, and let him eat and rest. Rest he did, bless him. I assured him that he was safe and would be cared for from now on. He had been with humans, it was obvious. How long on the streets? He was neutered and had his ear tipped. The tip suggests that he had been thought of as a 'feral' when taken to be neutered.
This handsome dude is Matthew. I got a call from a woman who said that a cat she was feeding was sick. I took her some antibiotics, being in denial about taking in another cat; am trying to reduce my population. I got to her house, and met Matthew, looking as he does below. Obviously he needed a lot more than a course of antibiotics. He was thin, lethargic, matted, and coated with mud and dirt, and his mouth was badly infected. The sweet woman who had called me had been feeding him, and had given him a small bed beside her house. He let me pick him up and put him into my carrier.
Got him home. I don't give baths unless absolutely necessary, but...he let me bathe him at length. Lots of muddy water down the sink. Then wrapped him in a towel and spent maybe two hours picking the mats and burrs off of him. He let me do that too...what a blessing! When he'd had enough, I put him in a big cage in the living room, chest height, covered the cage, and let him eat and rest. Rest he did, bless him. I assured him that he was safe and would be cared for from now on. He had been with humans, it was obvious. How long on the streets? He was neutered and had his ear tipped. The tip suggests that he had been thought of as a 'feral' when taken to be neutered.
Matthew's abdomen was distended, and I feared that he might have cancer or feline infectious peritonitis...and he needed immediate dental care. So while under sedation, he received an ultrasound and x-rays. YAY!!! He was just badly constipated! An easy fix. That took care of itself. Never feed dry food...He had eight teeth removed, and got two kinds of antibiotics for the gum infection. I can speak for him to say that he was also greatly relieved...
Matthew was sooo easy-going! Nothing fazed him: not the other cats, the new environment, the sore mouth...It was only two days before he ventured out of the cage, and just days after that that he didn't need to go back in, didn't need a safe place. He tried all the spots: cat tree, couch, bookcase (!), counter...felt at home here!
Rare and lovely to find one in such bad physical shape, yet in such great emotional shape! Matthew is a very old cat...the chiropractor he sees says that his spine is in fine fettle, but that it feels like a very old spine. He sleeps a lot, but can jump like he' floating! Up onto the counter like a butterfly! He eats well, loves, LOVES, being scratched on his chin, and, from the first day, rolls over to get his ample belly rubbed! he's a big cat, with very long lets! I can't wait to see his fur after it becomes lustrous and thick! What a mensch! Welcome to your new life, beloved Matthew!! Long may you reign!
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