I am on bended knee. I’m desperate for someone to help me with adopting a cat that I simply cannot keep, but don’t have the heart to put outside or have put down.
This is going to be kindof long - please forgive me.
Shadow showed up at my apartment about a year ago and, unable to simply ignore him, my neighbor and I fed him and tried to determine if someone was looking for him. There were no “missing/lost” posters, we never found any listings in the local papers about a lost cat and calling around to various shelters and vets turned up nothing. (If I recall correctly, my neighbor did put a listing in the paper about a “found” cat, with no luck.)
Neither of us could take him in, though. She already has 4 cats and I have a very old kitty who is declawed, has no canine teeth anymore and is very sick with kidney disease and therefore very frail, that could not handle the addition of a young (he’s around 6 or 7), clawed, toothed male cat in the house. So we put a “cat house” out back and continued to feed and care for him outside, even though neither of us like the idea of outdoor kitties - there was just no other option.
Then, a few weeks ago, he was suddenly acting strange. He hid from us, wouldn’t let us near him and sometimes seemed to act dizzy and disoriented. I finally got him to let me approach him and I discovered a nasty wound on his throat. We immediately rushed him to the vet, where it was determined that he’d been attacked by another cat who’d tried to rip his throat out. 
Poor kitty.
Infection had set in and the wound had to be cleaned and drained and he had to be shot up with heavy antibiotics. After an overnight stay, he was ready to come home. But the wound couldn’t be sewn up, as it had already started to heal around the edges and therefore would have needed a skin graft. So I took home a kitty with a gaping wound on his neck that had to be cleaned twice a day and he required oral antibiotics for 10 days. I was told he had to stay indoors during this time while he was healing, so I was left with no choice.
For 2+ weeks I took care of him in my little apartment, taking great care to keep him and my kitty separated at all times. It has been extremely stressful, as neither of them like being the one who gets “locked” in the bedroom/bathroom/laundry room when I’m gone, and at night, they both like to sleep with me, so he cries and cries when I lock him out of the bedroom and make him stay in the livingroom/kitchen. It breaks my heart. And it’s stressing me out beyond words.
I’ve tried leaving all the doors open for both cats to have full run of the apartment while I’m home and just keep an eye out for them, but that backfired week before last when he got close enough to her to chase her down, beating at her on her back and neck as she ran screaming, trying to get away from him. Had I not been able to separate them, he surely would have killed her.
Last week when we had the L.A. Dopetoberfest, I boarded both of them at the vet. I picked up Mewkitty on Sunday evening, but left Shadow there for the full week, as trying to live in isolated compartments in my apartment while having 2 people also staying with me would’ve been a nightmare.
Well, everyone’s gone now, so I have to pick him up tonight and bring him home. I simply cannot go back to living like this indefinitely. My cat takes priority. I’ve had her for 17½ years. She’s my baby and she’s sick and dying. I cannot possibly inflict this kind of stress on her for the last (possibly) year of her life. And believe me, I know from experience that there is NO chance that she will ever learn to get along with this other cat.
But… I don’t have the heart to abandon Shadow back to the streets, either. He’s a sweet kitty who loves to cuddle and always has to be either right near you or at least in the same room. However - he’s been outside and abandoned for so long that he’s still not completely comfortable being cuddled, even though he curls up on your lap and acts like that’s what he wants, so occasionally he’ll reach out and swipe at you. But he’s come so far since he showed up as a basically feral cat a year ago, that I know he would make a great house pet. He just needs to be in a home where there are no other cats (and probably no children, either) and given a lot of love and affection, with someone who will be patient in letting him adjust back to being a “pet” and not an outdoor cat.
He’s litter box trained and has never, ever attempted to claw at any of my furniture (he found a cardboard box I’d left in a corner that he loves, and uses that as his scratching post). And he prefers being indoors, too. He not only has never tried to run out when I’m coming or going, but even if I stand with the door wide open, he makes no effort to go out.
When I learned I’d have to bring him in, I couldn’t do so without having him tested for all the major feline diseases (they all came back negative) and having all his shots (including rabies) updated. At that time I also learned that he’s already been neutered. And since I’ve payed out nearly $500 in vet bills for the injury, tests and shots, I simply refuse to put him back on the street to risk possible future injury by another angry cat or other wild animal (we have a lot of them out here).
I’m desperate. I’m completely stressed out and anxious about this. I want him to have a good home and I just can’t keep him. Is there anyone out there who would consider adopting Mr. Shadow?? Pretty please with sugar on top? Please, please, please help me.
I really appreciate your consideration in avoiding stepping on my penis - Spiny Norman
[sym][sub][sup]©[/sup][/sub][/sym] Jeg elsker dig, Thomas [sym][sub][sup]©[/sup][/sub][/sym]
