Another stray showed up

[Tina B and crew]

Dag-nab-it! I had seen this guy out here once before and he ran, but two nights ago he walked up onto our back deck and gave me a pressie. Broke my darn heart naturally. He's in bad shape, full of ticks, patches of missing hair, dirty, an open oozing sore behind his ear, and sounded as if he was having some respiratory difficulty. Well, he came back today in daylight hours, but unfortunately 20 minutes too late for me to call the spay/neuter clinic to set up an appointment. I caught him anyway and set him up in the kitty condo on the deck (which is covered). He isn't too happy, has tried to escape a few times when I put food in or reached in to pet him.

I will call the clinic in the AM and see when they can schedule a neuter/vaccinations. Hopefully it won't be a week, I am not 100% sure they do neuters every day of the week. They are a low cost clinic that runs on donations and volunteers. Once he's fixed (and tested and vaccinated) then it's the whole "what the heck do I do with him" routine again. Where I struggle is this: if I can't find him a home do I let him back out there? I cannot take him in, that is out of the question. But it's so hard to place cats around here. Am I a bad "cat person" if I let him back outside? At least he would be neutered and vaccinated. They sure do know how to find the softies don't they?

BTW...Chunk and Lucy are doing great. Both just had their annuals and got a clean bill of health. We still deal with Chunk trying to play dominant cat about once a day, but Lucy handles him pretty well.

I hope all of you are doing well. I know I don't check in often. Been so busy I just don't always think of it until something pops up. But you are all on my mind still!

[Tina B and crew]

Here is a picture of him. You can see he isn't too happy. This was right after I got him in there, but now he is all stretched out and at ease. He appears to feel safe

Oh...and since the photo was taken I've put a large piece of plywood behind his condo and a tarp over top of it to block any rain that might blow. The deck is covered but rain sometimes blows under the cover. He's sheltered good but still has plenty of air circulation to stay cool.

[Tambrey]

Tina...I sure do understand your dilemma...been there all too often myself....and I have let them go back outside again, knowing they were tested for feline leukemia, got spayed/neutered, vaccinations, deworm, ears checked and so forth...they are turned back out in better condition than they came to me, and have a better chance of surviving since they do usually stay around the yard, and there is always shelter, food and water for them all

He does look rough Hoping you can get him in and taken care of soon

[Tina B and crew]

Tambrey, I know you know exactly how it is but ten fold actually! Thankfully I have not had to deal with multiple cats, just one at a time. He's been through the ringer, and this isn't the ideal location for an outdoor cat. The ticks are HORRIBLE this year. I've found no less than 8 on me in the last two days within 20 feet of my back deck! We have several packs of coyotes in the mountains on either side of us, raccoons, opossums, dogs that run free, foxes, bears, rattlers...not to mention idiot humans. It's the coyotes that concern me most though. I have no real good shelter for him if I let him back out either. But if it is what I have to do at least I know he has been protected against disease and being neutered he might stick close by.

Another alternative is finding a barn or stable for him. We have an organization called Barn Cat Buddies that "re-homes" feral, stray, and shelter cats into barns and stables as a last alternative. Unfortunately they are up to their ears and beyond this year and have no available barns. They have been rescuing cats from the shelters at the 11th hour to keep them from being euthanized. I suppose it's a better option than none. So I have my "horse" friends putting feelers out there, and friends putting feelers out for anyone looking to adopt.

He's settled into his condo very nicely. I looked out just a bit ago and he was sleeping like a baby. Probably the first time he's felt really safe in a long time. Bless his heart! He might actually make a fine indoor cat after all.

[Tina B and crew]

Oh and unfortunately the clinic I am taking him to only does spay/neuter and vaccines (they do test for FIV/FeLV too) so he won't be getting treatment for anything else unless I take him to my regular vet...I may break down and do that even though I really don't have it in my budget right now. I will have to do something about the ticks though and I think the clinic does those. Trying to decide if I want to have his ear clipped or not...

Take that back...clinic only does Revolution, so no tick control...

[Tina B and crew]

"Tyrion" did well overnight. We never heard a peep out of him at all. I covered all but the bottom part of his condo with a lightweight sheet to keep the cool, damp air out. He had dumped his water and urinated on one of his towels sometime during the night (so not it does smell like tom out there, but not as bad as it was with the previous one) but otherwise it seems like he rested easy. I always worry about them getting depressed in small spaces. He ate well this morning, let me pet him, even came out of his cage for a bit but went right back in when I fed him. Now he's sleeping soundly listening to the morning noises.

I have an appointment for neuter and vaccinations on Tuesday. They are going to call if they have a cancellation on Monday. I may try to take him out later and gently go over him and comb him. I'm not practiced in removing ticks, so I am kind of leery about removing them if I find them. I should probably make an appointment with my vet since he obviously has some fight wounds. I just don't have it in my budget really to vet another cat right now. Going to wait to see how his test results come back first.

[Tina B and crew]

Not sure that name will stick...it doesn't seem to fit him quite right.

Update again...nothing significant

I moved the cat to a room in our old RV. It has a couple of bunks that I took the mattresses off so he has several levels to explore, windows, a screen door, and a separate area for his food and water that is away from his litter box. I will probably regret this because I'm sure he is going to have the place smelling like tomcat! But I felt he needed the room to stretch out. I covered the floor with those heavy plastic runners to protect it and make it easy to clean. I sat down with him for a bit and he got on my lap and demanded that I pet him, scratch him, and accept his head butts and pressies. I discovered that his foot has suffered some injuries at some point too. He isn't favoring it or anything, but the fur is missing around a few cuts. I will keep my eye on it.

Oh...and he has AC over there if it gets very warm, so I don't have to worry about him overheating like I did in the condo on the back deck. Not to mention, it was right by our door so I could smell his tomcattery...blech!

More pics later!

[k9Karen]

Don't worry about removing the ticks - it's really very easy. Forget about all the old wives tales you've heard about how to remove them. Get a good set of tweezers and grasp the snout of the tick as close to the skin as possible. Pull back gently using steady pressure and the critter will let go. Drop the disgusting hitchhiker into alcohol, soapy water, bleach or any other thing you have on hand that he won't be able to swim in, and will likely be fatal, and then toss or flush them when you're done.

Good luck. I hope everything works out and you're able to find him a good home. I think once he's cleaned up, he'll be a very pretty cat.

[Tina B and crew]

Thanks Karen, that was what I was figuring. I just went over him and fortunately did not find any right off. He's pretty good about letting me groom him so I gentle brushed him and used a comb to get some of the dirt and loose scabs out his fur (ever so gently!!). When I rubbed my hand over him I didn't feel any ticks, so maybe the one that I saw on him last night was it (it wasn't attached)

He's doing great. Looks a bit more content here as you can see. You can see his nose is a bit pink where it looks like he had an abrasion, but it is not open or oozing. His ears are split in a few places too. He's pretty ragged, but he is definitely a lover - at least of people. Have several people putting feelers out for me. Fingers crossed!!

[k9Karen]

I'm glad your fears about ticks were a false alarm. If you haven't already, be sure to check in the "armpit" and groin area, and also in the ears, they sometimes tend to like those areas.