So it looks like my brother has a cat after all [Update - cat had to be put to sleep]

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

When I was looking for a companion for Pie, I went to my friend the Cat Lady’s house to check out one of her organization’s foster litters (which had a kitten named after out late, loved Mystery). For some reason, I took my brother along.

Merlin and Mystery came out to play; the other two hid behind the toilet the whole time. I fell in love with Merlin. My brother, unsurprisingly, fell hard for Mystery.

He wanted to adopt her, but we had arguments about Logistics, mostly the division of cats as people in the family moved. It was quite possible that he would end up with another three cats, and I told him four was too much. He reluctantly conceded my point.

In March, he mentioned he was feeling lonely and I mentioned that all the litter except Mystery was adopted and he said to heck with Logistics anyway. And we called the cat lady and went shopping and did all the things-- I even had a SD post full of cat pictures ready to write-- and then, on the day of the adoption, it fell through.

So Bro decided, forget the cats, he was going to temporarily move back in with us. He’d have us and our cats for company. And so we changed tacks and started talking Logistics for Brother coming home, and we figured that was that.

But no. Saturday, Bro is walking home from his friend’s house, and he sees a cat. And the cat is purring and rubbing against him and he’s giving it scritches. And then a truck pulls up, and it’s the cat’s owner, and the guy says, more or less, “Do you want him? I’m moving to Florida and I’m looking for someone to adopt our cats.”

By Sunday, Bro had the cat.

His name is Punny (pronounced “Poony”) and he’s ten years old and suuuper mellow. Perfectly copacetic about being taken by a stranger and confined to an apartment. Oh yeah, and Bro’s more or less scrapped the moving-back-in idea, just as I was starting to get my head around him abruptly dropping the get-a-cat-and-stay-put idea.

We’re thinking about trying, at the suggestion of our family therapist, some sort of experiment to see if Punny would get along with the three cats at home. Just in case we do end up in a four-cat situation somewhere along the line.

Here’s Punny.
Here’s Punny looking greyed-out in the sunlight.

I’ve sternly ordered my brother to keep the photos coming, but that’s all I have so far.

2

Adopting an adult cat earns extra awesome points.

3

Agreed. The best cat I ever had was 7 when I got him. He lived to be 16, and I miss him every day.

4

more
pictures

Gosh, he’s so cute. I can’t wait to go over and see him in person.

5

He looks like a lover!
My cat had that toy/scratcher thing too. They’re great.

6

Wow, what a cool twist of fate. They were meant to be together!

My best friend and his family just went to pick out a kitten. They came home with four. They wanted a girl but one of the boys was super super playful with his son, and they didn’t want to break the group up, so now they’re a cat pack family!

One of them kinda looks like Punny. They are very sweet babies with white fur with different colored markings (which is cute cuz their last cats were two identical black cats. I can tell these ones apart!)

7

UPDATE, now that I’ve got my account working again: my brother was sold a lemon.

Something I did not know when I wrote the OP: Punny had last been to the vet in 2012. That’s eight years. For reasons I’m not entirely clear on, my brother asked for Punny’s records, got the above response, and just brought him home the next day anyway, without insisting that Punny at least have an exam first or something.

Results from the vet: Punny has a respiratory infection, a mouth infection, and bad teeth. Also he’s dehydrated and constipated. Expensive results, because of course Punny has no insurance, and he can’t get it without a vet checkup.

The good news is, I guess, that the bloodwork came back okay. There were some elevated counts, but that apparently was from the dehydration. A course of antibiotics is fairly simple to do; the only really tricky thing is the teeth.

So, uh, we’ll see how things go.

8

Sounds like Punny very badly needed to get out of where he was, and into the household of somebody who takes care of their cats properly. I’m glad your brother took him; he might not have lasted much longer otherwise.

If his kidneys and liver and heart are basically or at least mostly OK, he ought to be fine once treated. They might have to pull the teeth; but he should still be able to eat OK, and it presumably won’t matter if it messes up his hunting skills.

9

I spoke too soon. Punny has… something in his intestines that may be a tumor or may be fluid or may be hardened poop and there’s no way to tell without more expensive tests, so the vet told my brother to take Punny home, and if he’s not better in a week it’s probably cancer and he’ll need to e put down. (Or so I gather; my brother’s texts were rather terse).

10

Poor Punny!

At least he’s had a short time of, presumably, good food and pats; and will, I presume, get as much more of both as is suitable.

And maybe he will be better in a week. We can hope. – is there any treatment sensible to give in case it’s just hardened feces?

11

It would seem not, since they just sent the cat home. Bro said last night that he seems bit better (and sent a new pic).
Meanwhile, at the Stapes household, Enigma is feeling poorly. When it rains it pours, I guess.

12

Aw, he looks very much like one of mine!

Except older and sadder. I hope he feels better soon. Or at least eventually.

And best wishes for Enigma!

13

Good news: Punny has poopied! And he’s actually eating a bit. I’m starting to feel a bit hopeful.

(Also Enigma is… getting better by small increments. I’m giving him subcutaneous fluids and anti-nausea injections, and it seems to be helping. Still spending most of his time hiding in the basement, though).

14

You have the coolest family! And Punny is beautiful. I love those bonnet kitties.

15

I was a bit afraid to look at the thread; but am now relieved. That may be cautious good news, for both of them; but it is good news.

16

I’m afraid to report that Punny is not doing well. He hasn’t been eating and he’s spending all day hiding. I’ll keep you updated.

17

Ooof. Not good at all.

Another vet visit, maybe?

18

Bad news. “It looks like Punny will have to be put down by the end of the week. The cancer has taken over his intestines.”

19

Oh, poor cat.

At least he’s had some comfort in his last days. If your brother hadn’t taken him, he might have wound up deserted out on the street – it doesn’t seem that his previous humans had been properly taking care of him; and if they were moving they might just have left him.

ETA: how’s Enigma?

20

Enigma seems to be back to health in the sense of eating a drinking and all that. Still acting weird, though, like he’s got cat PSTD. Super skittish.