I am just sick about the way this worked out. "Corey" was hanging around my yard for several weeks - cats like it here, lots of wildlife and catnip - and I finally realized he was homeless and had nowhere to go when I tried to chase him out. The no-kill shelters were full, so I thought I'd trap him and take him out to animal control (I have an indoor cat and my mom was afraid of upsetting the old guy with a new arrival). Well, I started feeding Corey a week ago. He was very timid, but by the second day he let me pet him. I knew I could never take him to animal control, and convinced my mom to try him out indoors if he proved to be healthy. After a couple days later he actually followed me around the yard briefly and made one tentative "meow", and really thought about sitting next to me on the bench. He remained fearful each time he came around for food, but would let me pet him once he settled in eating.
I called the vet and described the situation, made an appointment to bring him in for the FIV/FLeV test, explaining that I had never picked him up and he might be a difficult patient. They said no problem. I got him to go into the carrier for cat treats, and whisked him off to the vet, very excited about being able to bring him inside for the night.
I explained again in the examining room that this cat was fearful and that I hadn't more than petted him, but they said, let him out of the carrier, and he exploded out of there, bouncing off walls, counters, windows, finally coming to rest behind the blinds on a low window sill. The technician went to get a doctor's advice. The doctor came in and said we needed to talk while the cat calmed down. She proceeded to tell me I would be better off getting a cat from a shelter as this one would probably not make a good pet. I described my progress with it, but she seemed to have made up her mind about him. She finally decided to leave him alone for a while, then if necessary sedate him for the blood test.
So about 4 hours later I got a call at work from another doctor, saying the first doctor had to leave and had turned this over to him. He said when he went in the room Corey hissed and growled. He encouraged me to have him "put down". I said Corey had never been agressive with me, never hissed, and had been letting me pet him more. I insisted they go through with the blood test, then, if he was healthy, neutering and vaccinations. About half an hour later the same doctor called to say the FIV test was positive. I would not jeaopardize the health of my dear companion cat, and no place else would take Corey, so I agreed to let them euthanize him.
Now, what is killing me, is I can't help but suspect the vet just told me the test was positive so they could be done with him. Is that possible? The cat was probably less than a year old, so it seems odd to me that he would have been exposed to the virus already. I keep thinking maybe I should have waited until the cat was more socialized before taking him to the vet, but it is getting cold here, there are lots of dogs and raccoons, even some coyotes, and I see way too may roadkills. I really wanted to give him a good life, had a room all prepared based on what I had read on this forum, and now I feel like I took his life myself.
Thanks for any replies.
I called the vet and described the situation, made an appointment to bring him in for the FIV/FLeV test, explaining that I had never picked him up and he might be a difficult patient. They said no problem. I got him to go into the carrier for cat treats, and whisked him off to the vet, very excited about being able to bring him inside for the night.
I explained again in the examining room that this cat was fearful and that I hadn't more than petted him, but they said, let him out of the carrier, and he exploded out of there, bouncing off walls, counters, windows, finally coming to rest behind the blinds on a low window sill. The technician went to get a doctor's advice. The doctor came in and said we needed to talk while the cat calmed down. She proceeded to tell me I would be better off getting a cat from a shelter as this one would probably not make a good pet. I described my progress with it, but she seemed to have made up her mind about him. She finally decided to leave him alone for a while, then if necessary sedate him for the blood test.
So about 4 hours later I got a call at work from another doctor, saying the first doctor had to leave and had turned this over to him. He said when he went in the room Corey hissed and growled. He encouraged me to have him "put down". I said Corey had never been agressive with me, never hissed, and had been letting me pet him more. I insisted they go through with the blood test, then, if he was healthy, neutering and vaccinations. About half an hour later the same doctor called to say the FIV test was positive. I would not jeaopardize the health of my dear companion cat, and no place else would take Corey, so I agreed to let them euthanize him.
Now, what is killing me, is I can't help but suspect the vet just told me the test was positive so they could be done with him. Is that possible? The cat was probably less than a year old, so it seems odd to me that he would have been exposed to the virus already. I keep thinking maybe I should have waited until the cat was more socialized before taking him to the vet, but it is getting cold here, there are lots of dogs and raccoons, even some coyotes, and I see way too may roadkills. I really wanted to give him a good life, had a room all prepared based on what I had read on this forum, and now I feel like I took his life myself.
Thanks for any replies.
