Okay, we don't have enough work to do with our own four cats, so we've been watching this other neighborhood cat. She's been around for years, and has always been "sorta" friendly; if she was in the yard, she'd let us skritch her, she'd talk nicely but just slowly walk away. She always looked slim but health in the past.
Recently, though, she's been hanging around our yard more. She's VERY bony (her hips, shoulders, etc, stick out scarily), but seems to move around just fine. Here's a picture:
We've been giving her crunchies (sometimes dry, sometimes with a little water) and she's been happily eating them, though not exactly acting starved or anything. I went over to try to talk to the owners, and found that they're leaving plenty of food out for her. They didn't answer the door, though.
I've noticed that when she eats the crunchies, she sometimes throws up a little of what she just ate, and also throws up a little bit of sticky, phlem-like stuff - then she immediately re-eats what she threw up. She doesn't do this too often, tho, and otherwise we don't see anything odd about her other than the extreme thin-ness.
My wife spoke with the owners recently, they commented that "she didn't seem too well", and were thinking of taking her in to be put down, but weren't sure she was that ill. We're not really sure either.
Someone on my Flickr picture wondered if she had worms, is that a reasonable possibility?? She's never left droppings where we could collect them, and I'm a little nervous about taking her to our vet when she's owned by someone else, besides which we've had enough cat expenses lately, I'm not crazy about a bunch more (I'm sure this will run $200 or so).
What do you all here think about this situation?? Any advise or thoughts on what we should do or think about this babe?? She's very sweet. Doesn't really like to be petted too much, but I found that after we fed her and petted her a little, she settled on the lawn nearby and just hung out. I think the owners aren't much into giving attention to their cats (who are entirely outdoor cats).
(Gods, I'm SORRY for being so long-winded!! I didn't know I was babbling so much)
Recently, though, she's been hanging around our yard more. She's VERY bony (her hips, shoulders, etc, stick out scarily), but seems to move around just fine. Here's a picture:
We've been giving her crunchies (sometimes dry, sometimes with a little water) and she's been happily eating them, though not exactly acting starved or anything. I went over to try to talk to the owners, and found that they're leaving plenty of food out for her. They didn't answer the door, though.
I've noticed that when she eats the crunchies, she sometimes throws up a little of what she just ate, and also throws up a little bit of sticky, phlem-like stuff - then she immediately re-eats what she threw up. She doesn't do this too often, tho, and otherwise we don't see anything odd about her other than the extreme thin-ness.
My wife spoke with the owners recently, they commented that "she didn't seem too well", and were thinking of taking her in to be put down, but weren't sure she was that ill. We're not really sure either.
Someone on my Flickr picture wondered if she had worms, is that a reasonable possibility?? She's never left droppings where we could collect them, and I'm a little nervous about taking her to our vet when she's owned by someone else, besides which we've had enough cat expenses lately, I'm not crazy about a bunch more (I'm sure this will run $200 or so).
What do you all here think about this situation?? Any advise or thoughts on what we should do or think about this babe?? She's very sweet. Doesn't really like to be petted too much, but I found that after we fed her and petted her a little, she settled on the lawn nearby and just hung out. I think the owners aren't much into giving attention to their cats (who are entirely outdoor cats).
(Gods, I'm SORRY for being so long-winded!! I didn't know I was babbling so much)