Well golly. Looks like we've been adopted (cats and pics inside).

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

So about a month ago, I came home and meandered through the house vaguely as is my wont. As I passed the back door, I saw this lying down outside. I quickly took a picture for my wife. When I showed her later on, she told me he’d shown up, dripping wet and shivering. She’d put a towel out for him and he’d curled up and lay there the rest of the day. Since it was about 3 degrees out (about 35 for the Merkins), I ran another towel through the dryer, put some cat food in a bowl and brought both out for him.

I dried him off, he ate the food…and he’s been coming back almost every day since. That bench, under the eaves, seems to have become his safe spot.

We named him Bruce. He is sweet, gentle, kind, and trusting. I think he might have been dumped when he was no longer a cute little kitten.

So we’ve been deciding what to do with him since. We’ve already got two cats, and we’ve never really considered ourselves a three-cat household. We waffled back and forth, and finally made a vet appointment for him last Thursday evening for a checkup and a neutering. We were -><- this close to adopting him. But we still weren’t sure.

Thursday morning, as we were getting ready for work, there he was. After a two day absence, at the door, waiting for a little food. My wife thinks he knew he had a doctor’s appointment that day and wanted to let us know he was ready. He’d never shown up in the morning before.

Instead, we ended up cancelling the appointment and calling a couple of rescue societies. We thought it’d be better to let the rescue folks deal with him. A cat that friendly, he’ll be adopted in days. The vet was going to be expensive, we didn’t have room for another cat. But the rescue societies never called back. I guess they don’t care for older cats…?

We were still going back and forth all day yesterday and this morning. I was all set to tell my wife “Fuggit. Let’s adopt him,” when she called me about 15 minutes ago to tell me that he was back outside. And the side of his face was ripped open and dripping blood.

We called the vet and made an emergency appointment for 2:20 this afternoon. I’ve taken him and put him in one of the bathrooms to keep him away from the other cats for now. We’ve already decided that we’ll help him through this, and chances are…we’ll let him stay.

He’s awful pretty. Until you look at the side of his face. I guess he knew exactly what it would take to make us open our doors as well as our hearts.

Welcome home Bruce.

2

Oh, he’s gorgeous.

Good for you, looking after him. I’m sure he’ll be a great addition to the household.

3

Awww! Good for you for giving him a home. He looks like a sweetheart, too! Congratulations on the new member of your family!

4

Rescues make the BEST pets.

Welcome home, Bruce!

::::sits back and waits for more pics::::

5

Thanks all.

So it turns out the wound on his cheek was a ruptured abscess; it was dripping blood everywhere. He was running a fever and was absolutely covered in fleas.

They’re keeping him overnight to fix up the wound and neuter him at the same time. Little guy better appreciate it. Vets are freaking expensive.

We get to bring him home tomorrow, so I guess I’d better sterilize the bathroom to get rid of the fleas.

6

awwww, poor little one.

when we found nod the naughty (mother’s day) she had an abcessed bite wound. she was about 10-15 days old. the wound took up almost her whole side. she spent the first week at the vets. after the bill she was here to stay. the boo-boo was almost totally healed when she come home on friday.

i hope your little laddie heals up just as nicely. and that y’all have a nice long time together.

7

oh nearly forgot. have lots of food on hand. once he gets over the infection he will be eating like a landshark. he will be catching up on all he missed when he was sick.

noddie gained about a half pound a week after her infection. she held at just a tad over 7 pounds but never slowed down on the food.

8

Flickr is down right now, so I’ll have to come back to look at the pics. Very good job in rescuing this lil’ babe!

9

Friggin’ flickr! I wanna see kitty pictures NOW!

10

Since you have other cats at home, make sure the vet runs a Feline AIDS and Feline Leukemia test (better known as FIV and FeLV). If kitty has been out fighting (the most likely cause of the abscess), he increases his chances of catching one or both diseases.

<Squeezes Bruce long distance>

11

I just don’t understand this - he’s VERY cute, even though he’s not a kitten. I love stripey cats.

12

He looks an awful lot like a mooch of a kitty who shows up at my door occassionally that I’ve named Eeyore as he looks so sad all the time. Come to think of it, I haven’t seen him in a good long time, you don’t suppose. . .

13

He’s cute all right.

There was a little, gray tabby that took to hanging around my mother’s house, greeting her in the morning on her way to work and seeing her when she came home in the evenings. Mom swore repeatedly she wasn’t about to keep the cat, no pet for her, no way. Until the evening Mr. Cat showed up on her back porch with a huge gash in his hind leg. Mom rushed him to the vet and kept him inside that night, where he’s been for many years now. To top it all off, this happened on February 14th. It’s fate.

14

Awww poor kitty. I hope he has a speedy recovery.

He looks just like a stray cat that would wonder into our old house everyday for some food and rest. I have no idea where he came from. I woke up one morning and I caught a glimpse of a cat running from the food dish to under the table. I did not think much of it as we had three grey tabbies at the time.

About a half hour later I seen all our three tabbies in different locations and it clicked that the cat I saw earlier was not one of ours. I looked under the table and there on one of the chairs was a large grey cat. He hissed and yowled at me so I just left him alone. I later saw him leave through the cat window.

He came every morning and I called him Snagglepuss. He would eat, rest awhile under the table on one of the chairs and then slink out again later. The strangest thing was the dogs nor the cats seem to care he was there. No fights or hissing. They just ignored him and he ignored them. You could not pet him though. I don’t think he was feral as much as just a stray left to his own way to long.

He disappeared several months later just as mysteriously as he has arrived. Maybe we were just a resting spot and he had to continue his journey.

After all the vet bills are over with three cats are really no more work than two. Of course four are no more than three and five are no more than four…and nine is no more than eight :wink:

15

Aww, he’s such a cute kitty (I too love stripey tabby cats!), and good on you, Aguecheek for taking him in and tending to him. Hoping that the rest of the adoption goes smoothly!

16

I’m so happy this has a good ending. Abscesses look terrible before they are cleaned up, but usually heal well once treated properly. I love brown tabbies!

17

Oh, FIV and FeLV are being checked for sure. Looking for ear mites as well, and getting all the vaccinations.

Hm. He’s apparently between one and two years old. How long would it take to walk from TN to WA? If you’re willing to cover the vet bills, I’d be happy to ship him back to you ;).

Again, thanks everyone for the kind comments. We’ve never adopted a stray before, and we’re kind of wary about it (litterbox training, socialization with other cats). I hope he’s as gentle as he was before he got sick. Our one Siamese mix Calvin (on the right) is such a pushover, he’s already lost the Alpha Cat spot to Lily (on the left), who’s only been here since August.

The vet called, and said the abscess was draining beautifully. We’re to pick him up around five. Updates as events warrant. And more pics of Bruce.

18

I’ve adopted or temporarily adopted dozens of strays and they all adapted fine. I have a feral who had never seen a litterbox before I got her and she figured it out immediately. Give him time to adjust to the other cats and he’ll be fine. (In other words it might take a little time.) But they’ll all work it out eventually.

More pics please. And I’m sure he’ll give you many years of happiness.

19

litter box should be fine. socialization may be a bit tricky.

enjoy the newbie. he will be very happy to be with y’all.

20

You realize, of course, that he was adopted the minute you gave him a name.

Did you get the “silent meow”?