a cat walked in my door the other day.

[spooky]

i opened my door to get some coffee and a big orange tabby cat walked in, laid on my rug and listened to my Love CD. i let him stay for a while. he is the apartment cat, a stray. he's friendly and declawed.

i don't know what to do with him .i don't want two cats. should i just put food and water out, and let him come by whenever he wants?

he gets along with my cat, but i'm afraid he has worms or something else communicable. i can't remember if my kit's shots are up to date, i don't keep a close eye on it because i never let him out.


if you think he won't make my kitty sick, i don't mind letting him into my apartment while i'm there. KY summers are very hot.

[ap Dafydd]

If he's a stray, then there's no one to make sure that he's defleaed and dewormed so there's no guarantees on either.

Sounds like your idea of putting out food and water and treating him as a guest is the best one.

If he doesn't belong to anyone, then he's probably low on his love rations too, and tomcats need a whole lot of love!

gwyn eich byd

Ffred

[LadyAutumnCat]

Feed him and give him water, and I'm sure he'll work his way into your heart. Sounds like he's meant to come your way.

[SphinYote]

There was a black cat who showed up on our doorstep a while back. He was kind of sickly so we didn't take him in--we have two cats of our own, and one hates newcomers with a passion. But I did feed him and give him water (secretly, as my dad didn't approve, though I suspect he knew and didn't say anything). Also stayed with him and petted him a while, and he was the most loving cat I've ever seen.

Every time he would try to follow me inside after he finished eating. I wish I could have let him in.

One day he came up ith his eyes all swollen and wheezing, not sure what he got into or what someone migh have done to him, but that was it, and I put him in the garage w/ food and water and took him to the vet the following day (his eyes had cleared up by morning, but I'd been planning on taking him for some time, this just gave me the excuse I needed with my dad, he didn't want it around, but he didn't want it to suffer, either...)

Was going to take him to the Humane Society after getting him fixed and dealling with whatever he was sick with (upper respiratory). Unfortunately, he turned out to be FIV positive (which is the cat equivalent of HIV), and the Humane society immediately puts those cats to sleep, becaue they're not entirely sure about paths of contagion to other cats (it seems to be mostly limited to deep bite wounds, but there MAY be some way of spreading it through the air, etc.

Anyway, there was a lady that the vet told me about, she keeps a colony of FIV cats, b/c they can life comfortable, and normal lives if given the chance, they just have a higher succeptibility to disease due to the FIV attacking their immune system.

Went to where this lady lives, and it seems to be a good place. The cats seem happy and well cared for. So he went to live there after getting antibiotics at the vet for his upper respiratory infection.

Actually, my point to all of this wasn't to ramble and give the cat's biograpy, but to suggest that you be careful if this cat is around your other cat...

FIV isn't common, but it isn't altogether uncommon, although you'd probably have more to worry about with FeLeuk (Feline Leukemea sp?) than FIV. There's no cure for either of them.

Much as I wanted to take the newcomer in, it's a good thing I didn't, for the sake of my cats. Although, I am going to visit the cat colony soon and bring a donation of food or money to the person who runs it, as she is running this nonprofit.

Be careful, and for peace of mind at least you might want to see if your local vet will take a look at it and test it at a reduced price. Maybe ask any neighbors who sem to like it if they'd be willing to donate a few dollars to the cause. It seems like a very sweet natured cat.

[spooky]

how much does it cost to de-worm a cat? it is 2 years old, about. i know it had it's first round of shots because it is fixed and declawed.

i don't want to take him in, but i feel responsible for him since he came up to me.

he rubbbed himself against my legs, the little slut!

[winterrosewaitin]

If you can't afford to take care of the cat, please bring him to a shelter. He is declawed, so he has nothing to defend himself with. If someone went to the expense of declawing, I'm sure they may be looking for him.

[Queenorivers]

well, he can't defend himself. Try a shelter

[Caelia RavenWolf]

As horrible as it is... his being declawed and neutered doesn't mean he's had his shots. My cat had both of those things done to her before I got her but she never had a single shot. Not all vets really care that much.

However, if you take him to a shetler try to find a no kill shelter. Places like the Humane Society will only keep them for 2 weeks and if they haven't been taken by the end of that they're put to sleep. I've heard that the ASPCA doesn't put them to sleep but I don't really know as we don't have that around here.

He sounds like a good cat though, are you sure you don't want 2? :)

[Isil Darkmoon]

how much does it cost to de-worm a cat? it is 2 years old, about. i know it had it's first round of shots because it is fixed and declawed.

i don't want to take him in, but i feel responsible for him since he came up to me.

he rubbbed himself against my legs, the little slut!

Deworming isn't incredibly expensive. It's the cost of a standard vet visit, plus two oral doses of wormer, which I personally have never had top $25 for both.

If you have a room in teh house you can seal off (a bedroom, bathroom, etc) you can let him in the house, set him up with his own food and litter, and keep him in quarrentine until he sees the vet. A few of the most mild ailments (respitory infection, etc) can be communicated through the air, but all of the more serious issues, from worms to FIV, need some form of contact between the two cats, so a quarrentine alone should prevent any of those, should hd have them.

Please take him inside if you can, or to a shelter if you cannot. A declawed cat absolutely 100% should NOT be outside, ever. He has no way to defend himself. I'm against keeping cats outdoors at all, but with a declawed one it's exponentially worse.

My personal suspicion is he'll grow on you. Two cats really aren't any more work than one, at all, as long as they're both fairly healthy and get along. And I've always believed that animals choose their people, not the other way around, and that if he showed up to you it's for a reason.

[Old Witch]

If I weren't desperately allergic to cats (and if I didn't have 5 dogs, cat haters every one) I'd pack him up, take him to the vets, get him his shots, buy him a personal litter box, bring him home, put him in quarantine in the house some where to make sure he wasn't contagious and after a couple of weeks or so, turn him loose in the house and tell him "Peace and long life, Live long and prosper........"

[spooky]

i would love to take care of him, but at the moment i have to steal my cat's food. i have to steal my own food, really. i have $0 right now.

he sits on the apartment steps all day, he's big and fat and healthy. his gums are pink. he doesn't seem to be in a lot of need, so i'll keep him outside. the aspca does kill, and frankly he seems to be doing just fine on his own. i'll bring him in if it gets too hot or cold.

really, i'm looking for places i can get him shots or meds for free. i don't mind getting laced up and taking him someplace, but i can't pay for it. if there is a cheap way to de worm a cat, i'ed do that.

[Bryony]

Well, the Feral Cat Coalition does that... but since he's fixed and declawed, good luck convincing them that he's wild.

Spooky- why don't we set up a "MW save spooky's stray" unofficial donation thingy or something? I'd be willing to give a few bucks to help you keep such a sweet kitty cat...

[spooky]

aww. i'll think about what i want to do with him. i know MW'ers would be generous, but long term i'm sure they don't want to support my cat. and they shouldn't.

i really think he's ok. i am pretty sure other people are feeding him and looking out for him too. he's just too well fed to be scrounging.

[Caelia RavenWolf]

You know it's possible that he's not even a stray. Just because he's outside all the time and lots of people feed him doesn't mean he doesn't have his very own people. We have a big, fat grey cat at our complex. He's always outside and to all outward appearances is a stray... in fact most people I've encountered do think he's a stray. But I happen to know who his owners are.

So, you never know. It's not like a fenced in yard will hold a cat :p And yes, if he appears healthy and happy then I wouldn't worry about it too much. At least you know he's not starving. Maybe someday you'll have enough money to take him in if you want. Until then I say, just be nice to him :)