good to hear stuff is going through his system.
the gentle touches are a good sign. reading is a great idea. it will get him accustomed to the sound of your voice and movements.
hoping y’all get good news at the vets tomorrow.
What’s the word? I hope it’s good news!
Thanks for all you are doing, and I hope there was no bad news!
Awww, I hope Stripes is doing okay.
Okay, here’s the news. Stripe is back from his vet visit.
Things today went very well, in all ways. We had no problem getting Stripe into his carrier. My wife set it up as a bed, with a few soft towels on the floor, and he’s been using it as such over the last few days. Sure enough, he was in it this morning. As per the doctor’s instructions, he hadn’t eaten since last night, except for a few kibbles that convinced him to stay in his carrier-bed, so all we had to do was close the door. He was good during the car ride to the vet’s; he didn’t make a sound.
The vet called us this afternoon, with good news: Stripe is quite healthy! The doctor found no problems in his physical exam, and made sure that Stripe didn’t have feline leukemia, or anything else communicable. This was a concern, naturally, since we have other cats in our house. The doctor also vaccinated Stripe against rabies, feline leukemia, and whatever else cats get vaccinated against. The neutering, under a general anaesthetic, went well also; and Stripe came out of the anaesthetic without any difficulty. All in all, a very healthy little guy.
The foot problem puzzled the doctor though. He checked Stripe’s right front leg thoroughly–he checked all the legs thoroughly–and none showed any indication of a break or a fracture. Certainly, there were no puncture wounds, and thus no infection. But everything seemed to be normal: joints moved as they were supposed to, and didn’t move as they were not supposed to, and bones didn’t bend weird ways in strange places.
What the doctor thought might have happened was just that Stripe stressed or strained (not sprained) his foot or leg somehow. His life outdoors was an active one, jumping over fences, avoiding dogs, and constantly moving. As the doctor explained it to me, if you or I slightly injured a hand somehow–not enough to require medical attention, but enough to bother us a bit–we’d try not to use it so much. In a few days, our hand would just be better, as rest and the body worked together to solve the problem. But Stripe didn’t have a choice; his survival depended on movement, and his foot/leg didn’t really ever get the chance to rest during his busy day.
Until we brought him inside. The doctor approved of the rest he’s been having and of keeping him in his bathroom, and suggested that we just watch the foot/leg for a while. If it gets better on its own, fine; but if not, we could bring him back and the doctor could then take x-rays and see if they could give any indication as to what the problem is. For now, the doctor said, see if just plain rest does the job.
Stripe was good in the car on the way home, and is now back in his bathroom. He opted to stay in his carrier-bed with the door open, but he’s probably a little groggy still from the anaesthetic and the vaccinations. Fair enough; I’ll leave him be. He’s got his toys and plenty of water, and clean litter; and he will have some food in an hour or two–the vet said not to feed him for a while, until he’s fully awake and alert. But he’s back home, and with a clean bill of health too!
Yippee!
dances happy dance
I’ll join you in the dance! Yea for Stripe, and for Spoons, for taking care of him!
That is so awesome! Congratulations to Stripe, and Kudos to you!!
BTW, where are the obligatory pictures?
Yay! I’m glad he’s okay.
Pic? 
We have so many good people on this board…
Should we ask a mod to change the name of this post? After all, Stripe isn’t exactly a feral cat anymore. 
Glad he’s doing well.
I’m so happy that Stripe got a clean bill of health and all is going well. Here’s hoping he has a long and happy life in your family.
Spoons you and Mrs Spoons are truly wonderful people. Thank you for what you are doing for Stripe. He’s one lucky guy, and from the way he’s behaving, it sounds like he knows it.
I’ve been checking back as often as I dared to see how the vet visit came out, and though I’m probably to late to join in the group happy dance, I’ll do my own.
Besides all seven kitties at home will get an extra scritch for Stripes tonight.
If I may offer some advice, past on to me by one of the best socializers in the Bay Area. To help him become more comfortable with humans, try putting a little wet food on your finger and offering to let him lick it off. When he does, gently stroke him. Be sure that is the only time he gets wet. He will quickly associate the yummy wet food with gentle handling from the humans. She swears by this method, and it has worked well for me also.
Please keep us all posted on his progress, and I second the request for pictures, as soon as he’s comfortable enough to get some.
jean
Glad to hear that Stripes is doing well.
That’s very, very good news - it sounds like he’ll be a housekitty in no time. I know there are always people who take a negative view of bringing a cat indoors and giving him the mighty snip, but without your intervention, he would probably have only lived around two years and fathered god only knows how many hundreds of kittens (and you could have had the added bonus of finding his body some day). He won’t be as mobile and free as he was, but he’ll be healthy and loved instead - I think that’s a good trade. Good for both of you.
excellent!!! great news. y’all should be buds in no time.
Okay, my wife and I decided to bring ourselves into the 21st century, and we got a digital camera. And we now have kitty pics!
First, here is Stripe. He’s out of the bathroom and now can roam our basement family room. But he is hiding in a cat tower, and we hope to get better photos later. But here’s a first look.
Just for fun, we used our new camera to take some photos of our other cats–three of them, anyway:
Here is Fiona. You may remember hearing of her in the thread linked to in the OP.
More to come (hopefully) as we convince Stripe to leave his tower room.
I’m sorry, that picture of Tigger seems to be mislabeled. That’s obviously a picture of our cat Cobalt.
They do look alike! I don’t think Tigger would be wearing beads though–he is unhappy enough about wearing a collar and bell, to warn Shiloh of his approach. For some reason, he seems to like to bully her.
I’ll see if I can get more photos of Stripe today. Not sure where he is this morning, but he’ll turn up somewhere in the family room. Just hope he’s not hiding in the sofa bed.
Beautiful cats!