Traci, abandoned cat that I may have to take home....

[Sara]

There is this mall in the park with outdoor restaurants. For about 5 years I have seen this female black cat there with a tipped ear. When I first saw her she had a shaved spot on the side which must have been from spaying. I assumed there was somebody working with feral cats who had spayed and vaccinated her and tipped her ear and re-released her where they found her. She always looked young or at least young adult and healthy until just tonight when I went to eat in one of the restaurants. She has to be an abandoned rather than feral because she is very tame. She's small and blackish with some redish hair, I think she is part Siamese, the small rounder kind of Siamese and part black cat just by her coloring and shape/size. Anyway, tonight we took her some meat to eat and I was a little surprised because she looked old and frail this time. She ate some meat but left the hard part as if she could not eat it. She just did not look glossy and healthy to me. She had saliva on her chin and when she meaowed her little chin would shake. I examined her mouth and teeth and they looked all green, with slimy mucous and her gums looked really bad. The teeth also looked long. I wonder if she is just too old now to be living this abandoned life or if the group that originally took care of her is not around anymore. Or maybe they can just spay and release but they have no means to take the older ones home. I feel really bad about this as I have seen her off and on there for years.

I am really considering taking her home. She needs a bath, external and internal parasite treatment and dental care. I also think she's getting old. I have 6 and this would be very hard for me but I just don't think she's in good enough shape anymore to live outside like this. Maybe I could find her a home after she is all healthy again. How would I safely bring her home? What would she need first? I don't want to bring parasites into the house but I don't think a bath at this point is a good idea. What about putting one of those parasite ampuoles on her and then bringing her home? Then take her to the vets for a CBC and disease testing? What's the first step with a tame, older abandoned rather than feral cat? My vet could see her on Monday. How long I wonder until she could get her dental care and cleaning?

My other cats would just hate me for this but... I have a feeling with these rotten teeth of hers, how can she make it on her own? I also think she might be too old to fix up and put back there. A younger cat yes, you could fix the teeth and re-release her but she's just so tame and not so young anymore. Maybe she's not as old as I think but her mouth told me otherwise. Do abandoned cats have dirtier teeth or do you think my feelings about her age are correct?

[Tambrey]

Oh Sara....I hope you are ale to do something for this poor kitty...

I know that is would be hard...been there done that financially and emotionally...it is rough...but knowing I helped a critter live a more meaningful life makes everything worthwhile...

Bless you adn keep us posted...

[Sara]

Most of my 6 are rescues. The only part I worry about is space, if I am over crowding my cats or causing them too much stress. They are all healthy and happy though. Maybe I can adopt her until I find a more permanent home with more room... I think I will go tomorrow and investigate this a little further. Bring a cat box and see how she reacts to being put inside. She's really, really tame. She let me check her teeth and mouth. Poor thing... I think she must still be tame because she lives around the restaurants. Maybe if they were raised in a home they never forget? Can an older outdoor cat ever be happy in doors? Mine are indoor only. I have no yard. Just a large apartment and am moving to a small loft, hopefully soon, with a large enclosed balcony.

[Tambrey]

Oh, I remember reading in another post about the apartment...it sounde beautiful...

I think they can adapt if they have love and affection and all the comforts they need...

All of mine are rescues as well...right now we have 10 in our house...I only intended to ever keep the first four, but I just never managed to find homes for the others....but then I have not tried very hard...I get attached too easy...

[Sara]

I hear you, hehehehehehe! It's so hard to adopt them out once you get attatched. I'll post tomorrow after I go there with a cat carrier. I think I will pick up some wet food and that parasite ampuole. I have a guest room I can isolate her in. My vet I am sure will give me a better assesment of her age and health on Monday. I just don't know what kind of state she is in and without observing her closer and getting her looked at there is no way to know for sure. My cats will freak if I bring her home. They are so emotional.

[Traci]

Sara, do you not have an emergency vet available to you? If so, I would take her to an emergency vet ASAP, she could need treatment for a variety of things.

The mouth problem doesn't sound good, she could have a serious infection that demands immediate treatment, could have diseased teeth that are making it hard for her to eat....she could definately benifit from antibiotics.

Don't apply any flea or worm treatment to her, let the vet do that, he needs to determine what would be the safest course of treatment, considering she may have other health problems to adress more seriously. She may also be dehydrated.

If you have a seperate room for her, by all means try to bring her home. But, considering the shape she is in, I would strongly recommend trying to get her seen by a vet sooner than Monday. Feed her canned food, lots of water, keep her warm and comfortable, but try to get her to a vet ASAP.

[Sara]

It's raining. We have the guest room set up for her. We are going to go look. We will take her by a vet we know is open on the way home and see what he thinks about her condition at this moment and about bringing her home to also see our vet tomorrow. I'll buy some wet food and I have a heater set up in the guest room. I will ask this vet about the parasite ampoule, if it's a good idea or not and if so he can put in on her for me. My vet can come here to see her tomorrow so it's less stressful. I only hope we can find her in the rain but my hopes are she will be near the restaurants where it's proteted from the wetness. She does not really hang out in the park with the other cats. I have a clean, cat carrier with a blanket inside. I hope no diseases can pass through the guest room door. I'll keep her alone of course until we get this all worked out. Weather calls for rain today, clearing tomorrow. I hope it stops though.

[Sara]

I forgot to say, if the little vet, where we have to pass to get some wet food with her and have him take a look, says she needs the ER we will go straight there. We do have an ER here. I need to get litter and wet cat food anyway and that ampoule, only if he approves after an exam. I'll post when we get back. The rain is supposed to clear tonight, perhaps if she is not there she will come out when it stops raining. We will keep checking. She did not look on deaths door to me, she ate the meat, she just did not look well. The saliva bothered me and I feel she will probably need tooth extractions and cleaning once her health is up to par. I'll know more when we return. I plan on hanging out there a while giving her a chance to make an appearance. Wish us luck.

[Phoebe's human]

Here's wishing you luck, and I hope you're able to do something to help this kitty!

You asked about adjusting an outdoor cat to life indoors. I had a cat that I got when she was a kitten, and she was outdoor/indoor for her first 3 years. Then she abruptly had to become an indoor cat. She made the adjustment with absolutely no problems. She remained an indoor cat for the rest of her days, and she lived to be 19.

[Sara]

I'm finally back from the prominade and the ER. I spent around 3 hours looking for her in the rain and finally found her under a potted bush. She smelled so bad that we knew it was straight to the ER and not the vet.

I want to start by saying that this cat is a Saint. She's so nice and tame and everybody at the ER just keeps calling her a Saint. She does not fight or scratch or hiss... Nothing...

The smell is abslutely putrifying, it eminates from her mouth and surrounds her. He mouth is dripping with saliva and infection and her gums are all full of ulcers.

They found nothing wrong during the exam except the mouth. She's about 7-10 years old, spayed female with a tipped ear. Dark chocolate brown/black with brown eyes. Small female. They did a simple blood test and everything was normal except some dehydration. They are keeping her overnight on an IV with saline and antibiotics. They will also give her some wet food.

Tomorrow she will be taken to my vet for more analysis. We need to find out if she has those terrible contagious diseases like feline aids, leucemia and all of that. I'm holding my breath on that one. They said the liklihood for a cat living this abandoned life is high but with her I think not as high as a regular feral or abandoned. One because she's so tame I don't think she hangs out with the others, two because she has obviously at one time been spayed, ear tipped and released by some cat group and maybe, just maybe that protected her somewhat? I know she's not running around breeding or fighting... Do you think that might help her odds some? If shes infectious I don't know what I will do. I worry about bringing her home tomorrow if she has something contagious. I can keep her in the guest room but still.

She will also get bathed tomorrow, nails clipped, de-parasited internally and externally although no parasites have been visible yet. She will get whatever vaccines she can at this point and they are calling in the vet who specializes in dentistry because her mouth is a mess. It won't be a routine cleaning. Most of her teeth are all rotten and I think there might be lots of extractions. Am I missing anything she might need?

What if she's positive for anything? I'm pretty worried. We probably won't have the full analysis until 24 hours after they send it in tomorrow.

Off to take a long hot shower. I took my clothes off as soon as I got home and changed. I hope I'm not carrying around any germs.

Oh yes, I wonder how many of her teeth if any can be saved? At this stage of gingivitus or whatever you call it I fear not many teeth will be okay. Her whole jaw bone is probaby infected.