This beautiful long-haired tuxedo boy has lived on the outskirts of my clowder for years now. Showing up during a nasty thunderstorm, skinny, malnourished and anemic, he was immediately taken to the vet and neutered. Once released in one of the enclosures, it took him less than a week to figure out how to dig out (impressive when you consider when we laid out the groundwork, we used heavy vinyl plastic, layers of gravel, more plastic and more gravel to stop escape attempts). I would discover weeks later after he escaped that he found our only weak part of the floor- right where the cat door goes out into the screened catio. A very narrow space underneath that door, that I still wonder how he fit in there to tunnel out!
So after his great hisscape, he was elusive, running at the very sight of humans (even me the head cat food can opener person). In the last few weeks, I have seen him more than ever before, and he looked bad. Past attempts to trap him have failed, so all I could do was pray that God would allow me the opportunity to help him out if I could.
This morning, my prayer was answered. He was right outside the door when I opened it to let the dog out, and MK stayed on the steps while Kota made his way around him. Concerned, I bent down to pet him and he didn’t move much, so I scooped him up Still no response (very worrisome). I hustled him inside the house and put him in the patio cage until the vet opened.
He came home at 4:00 shaved from all the mats, on board were flea treatment, de-worming and covinia shot to help his infection. They did bloodwork on him, the results will be back in a few days. I think this bad weather has just kicked his butt. They place him at about 12 years old- most of his teeth are missing, the rest are dirty but not infected. he just laid there and let them examine him, groom him, shave him in spots to get rid of the bad mats- offered no complaints, didn’t scratch or bite anyone. he’s back in the cage right now sleeping off his new experience at the vet. He will stay there until the blood work results return. I am not sure why he has mellowed out- I am hoping it is just age and not something major wrong with him. Of course, I just paid off the vet last week! Now I have $300.00 more to cover- but he is worth it.
They do know who to trust in the end, even if for years they do not give you the time of day. I don’t have your history of working with kitties and rescue, but I have a few experiences. I will always remember “Blue”. My first attempted rescue at our home in WA. HUGE unneutered male who began to let me feed him behind the shrub in front of our picture window. He eventually let me touch him (briefly) for a pet, but would huff and glare at me the whole time.
The day came when he just sat there, didn’t huff, didn’t eat, didn’t move. It was a high fever and an illness that he could not come back from. I knew, in the end, he had gifted me with his trust. Best wishes to MK that this not be anything he can not come back from.
It’s great to hear that MK came to you for help! Let’s hope he recovers nicely. Bad teeth make everything worse.
I agree that MK came to you for help. He was ready to trust, perhaps knowing it was that or else. That Kota is quite the dog; you and he work well together.
I believe they talk to each other and they know where they can go for safety and help. first name that come up when they need is Mary Ann’s, of course we all know that she is God’s special angel for kitties, pretty sure he has his hand at guiding them to her for help, even when the help they need is crossing over. God bless you Mary Ann, stay well.