I think my neighbor just dumped his cat.

No third eyelid visible, as good as sign as a normal poo! I've always thought abandoned kitties are so affectionate because they got lots of attention back when they were cute little kittens, and are as starved for it as they are for food.
I once witnessed a woman dumping a litter of kittens in an industrial park. When she got out of the van and started calling kitty I thought she was a kindred spirit and was going to offer to assist her in the rescue I thought was taking place.
I was stunned to see it was the opposite, the kittens were coming out of the van. I had the presence of mind to jot down her tag number and call 911. All they did was make her retrieve the kittens.
God knows what she did with them then, I wish I had been able to catch them myself. One seemed to have been left, I saw it a few times early in the morning, but could never get close.

That's nice about the shelter helping with the meds and vet check- it's one more thing you don't have to worry about. I guess all you can do right now is think about the moment, not the future for this little girl (which by the way is a complete cutie!). I have heard of some vet clinics taking in cats, treating them, then trying to rehome them or keeping them as resident cats. Maybe you could call veterinarians in your area? It's a long shot, but it's worth a go!

Since you and everyone else suspects parasites of some sort, I would go even further than just washing hands. I'd change clothes completely. When I get back from the kitty shelter I volunteer at, I always take a very hot shower and change clothes (then again, I have this paranoia when it comes to my cats' health as many of you know ). Especially if it's fleas, they can stick to your clothes and then get transferred to your cats. I may have missed reading something, it's likely, but is there anyway you could ask your neighbor what was going on? You could always lie and say that you saw a cat running past your house or something and was just wondering, just to get a feeling for what happened exactly. Maybe you could report your neighbor then for neglect, if she's as sick as she looks. I know around here it is illegal to abandon a pet.

Best of luck to this little one- sounds like she's gonna need it! And bless you for offering her your help.

Callista, that is GREAT news about the rescue helping with the vet and meds!

Continued that the other kitty will turn up for your loving help.



Laurie

She is staying the night at the rescue. Tomorrow she gets a vet visit and we will see whether she can be saved.

The vet needs a name, so we've given her one: Olivia.

It's refreshing to see kitties get rescued when evil things have happened to them... she sounds like a total sweetheart, and she's very lucky to have found you!

Vibes for you that she can be made healthy and whole, and have a home somewhere.

Word came back from the rescue... bad news and good news.

Mixed report from the vet. Her skin problems are from flea infestation. She was given a capstar to kill any fleas on her at this time. She is on antibiotics - Clavamox - 2X daily.
She will need to have Advantage(it was free) placed on her in about 3 days to kill new hatchings. (If moving her into house we will need to treat Tiny & Christy with FrontLine Plus)

She was very friendly to the vet also. She needs to be spayed. Vet did not feel any babies which is a huge plus.

Negative side is the vet found several lumps on her that could be cancer. When she is spayed they will take a sample of a lump and send it off so we will know.

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Wow. This kitty just cannot catch any breaks, can she?

She is probably coming back to my back porch; I can watch her after she's spayed and give her medicine well enough. The back porch is covered, well ventilated and out of the sun, so she'd only need to come inside (and in range of my two territorial cats) if it rained or got hot. I've been spending a good deal of time outside myself and would prefer to put off the introductions until Olivia feels at least a little better.

So we don't know whether she has cancer or whether they might be some other problem altogether; what we do know is that nobody is going to mistreat this cat ever again, whatever else happen to her or however long she has, and that will have to be enough.

...screw the stoicism and pass the tissues, please.

Originally Posted by Callista

So we don't know whether she has cancer or whether they might be some other problem altogether; what we do know is that nobody is going to mistreat this cat ever again, whatever else happen to her or however long she has, and that will have to be enough.

...screw the stoicism and pass the tissues, please.

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Bless you for taking her in and caring. Olivia's a lucky little girl to have found you.

Plenty of that it's nothing and she can enjoy her life...no mater what she knows that you care.

*takes a few tissues and passes the box over.*

I could sit here and cry for her too, but I am thanking the Lord she found her way to you. Now no matter what, she will have good care, and most importantly some love and affection. I hope the other cat finds a safe place too.

Originally Posted by Callista

Word came back from the rescue... bad news and good news.

Wow. This kitty just cannot catch any breaks, can she?



...screw the stoicism and pass the tissues, please.

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Yes she caught a break, she caught you. Whatever time she has will be spent with someone who loves her and is doing all they can to make her happy and healthy. Just imagine the same health issues out on the streets alone?

I think we'll all just have to stock up on tissues, I already have a lump in my throat and must have gotten something in my both eyes.

Lots of vibes for Olivia.

You are so wonderful for taking care of Olivia!!

Her skin condition does look to be allergy related, and like the vet said, most likely fleas. I have a cat with severe flea allergies, and while I treat mine with Advantage during flea season, a single flea bite triggers that type of reaction. While the antibiotics will help, and the Advantage will rid her of fleas, if her skin doesn't start to clear up, ask for an anti-inflamatories for her (like prednisone). I've had to resort to that during bad flea seasons. Just imagine how itchy you get from a mosquito bite, and you can start to imagine how she feels with all of those flea bites. Poor thing has to be miserable right now.

First off-- bless you for caring about this little girl.

Second - man, I would soooo report your neighbor. Where I live, animal neglect and abandonment is a crime... depending on the severity. I would love to see him get what's coming to him whatever the scope of the law is.

Third - mega vibes for her well being and recovery and for finding a permanent, loving, caring home!

Oh, bless her heart and yours too! I'm so glad that she found you. I have this idea that when animals are in trouble or know that they need outside help for themselves, they know to find a kind human who will help.

Keep us updated on her progress!

Wow... possible cancer, ain't that just the pits huh?! Poor little Olivia.... If it is teminal cancer, at least you can take comfort in the fact that her last days are as good as they can get for her, and she will know that someone actually cared for her, even for a short time.

I hope everything turns out well for this little girl- she deserves it!

DEFINITELY report your neighbor- it's completely illegal here to abandon a pet like that. And it's abuse, since she was so sick and he owned her. I think it's only a misdemeanor (sp?) around here, but I know in a lot of places it's considered a felony, meaning hard jail time

. If only it could be that way all over the world, am I right?!

I'm sorry to hear about the possibility of cancer, but bless you for taking this sweet girl in. As someone else said, if it is cancer at least she will know love in her final days.

I have a theory about people. Sometimes I believe the send sick cats outside, or to a shelter so they do not have to witness the reality of their death. In that way they can create a happy story about how the cat is doing. They never have to think about the truth. We had a cat dumped at the shelter door last summer, who was so full of mamory cancer the vet said the kindest thing to do was to end her suffering. I always refer to this type of scenerio as "Cleaning up someone elses mess." I get mad, but in the end I would rather be there with a cat so it knows it is loved, than have some heartless idiot with her when she is put down.

I am glad to hear she is getting the care and attention she needs.

My kitty was also a stray. I really think they know that they've been rescued and are so grateful, hence the affection. Mine is the most affectionate I've ever had. I love it!

Originally Posted by KRZ

I could sit here and cry for her too, but I am thanking the Lord she found her way to you. Now no matter what, she will have good care, and most importantly some love and affection. I hope the other cat finds a safe place too.

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Callista.... I'm just so thankful (again!) you took her in! Poor thing is SO MISERABLE from the fleas (and maybe cancer pain?) and yet is so loving! She deserves to know your love no matter how long she has.

it isn't cancer and that it is VERY easily treatable - whatever it is!

Olivia is officially FIV/FLV NEGATIVE!

She's back here with me now after a day at the shelter. Unfortunately she has to live in the crate until we can treat her fleas properly, which can't be done until her skin heals well enough to put the Frontline treatment on her. She's already had Capstar, which seems to have killed the fleas biting her now, but there are still eggs. Her skin looks less inflamed already.

Olivia completely charmed the lady from the cat rescue who took her to the vet and kept her overnight. Then she charmed the vet, and the nurses... The vet says it's a wonder she is still so loving after having been mistreated like this. The rescue lady says it's one of the worst cases of fleas she's ever seen; I flea-combed her head and her tail (the only two places where I wasn't afraid of hurting her if I did), and got so many scabs and dead stuff that the flea comb filled right up with them--but no live fleas. Yay Capstar!

She took her antibiotic without a fuss--amazing!--and started chowing down on the food the second she could get to it. She purrs at the sight of food, can you believe it? I hope the inflammation gets better so I can cuddle her properly instead of just stroking her head. She's been drinking water like there's no tomorrow, too; I really hope that's an enthusiastic appetite and not a symptom. She had diarrhea once but she's recovered from that.

And, because I just have to show off her cuteness, missing fur and all, here she is rolling on the floor, just having headbutted my foot:


OK... so how do you report animal cruelty?

Originally Posted by Callista

Olivia is officially FIV/FLV NEGATIVE!

She's back here with me now after a day at the shelter. Unfortunately she has to live in the crate until we can treat her fleas properly, which can't be done until her skin heals well enough to put the Frontline treatment on her. She's already had Capstar, which seems to have killed the fleas biting her now, but there are still eggs. Her skin looks less inflamed already.

Olivia completely charmed the lady from the cat rescue who took her to the vet and kept her overnight. Then she charmed the vet, and the nurses... The vet says it's a wonder she is still so loving after having been mistreated like this. The rescue lady says it's one of the worst cases of fleas she's ever seen; I flea-combed her head and her tail (the only two places where I wasn't afraid of hurting her if I did), and got so many scabs and dead stuff that the flea comb filled right up with them--but no live fleas. Yay Capstar!

She took her antibiotic without a fuss--amazing!--and started chowing down on the food the second she could get to it. She purrs at the sight of food, can you believe it? I hope the inflammation gets better so I can cuddle her properly instead of just stroking her head. She's been drinking water like there's no tomorrow, too; I really hope that's an enthusiastic appetite and not a symptom. She had diarrhea once but she's recovered from that.

And, because I just have to show off her cuteness, missing fur and all, here she is rolling on the floor, just having headbutted my foot:

OK... so how do you report animal cruelty?

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If it were me, I would call the non-emergency number for the police, and they should direct you on what to do.

I think in this case you'd have a very hard time proving their was any real abuse (neglect, obviously!). The previous owner could just say that they lost the cat when they were moving and the resulting injuries and fleas were from being outside. Thats if you can even find them. I'm sorry but I just don't think they are going to be able to prosecute on this one. That being said, talk to the rescue they should be able to direct you to the proper authorities.

Just carry a big stick in case the neighbour comes back to pick up some mail...
(I'm joking... a little...)

And good on you for taking her in!! She looks incredibly sweet!! for getting rid of those nasty fleas! and healing her skin.

I talked to the neighbor's landlord. Apparently, the landlord had just evicted my neighbor for not paying his rent since April of this year, and the entire house was crawling with fleas and filthy. Before the last couple of years, he was a good tenant and the house was clean; but then his cousin came to stay and, apparently, he began drinking heavily. All downhill from there.

The landlord also said that Olivia had been living there for at least five years, so now we have an approximate age for her.

Olivia takes her medicine well and uses the litter box, though she misses the box sometimes by hanging her butt over the edge. She can have a bigger box or maybe a covered one once we get her out of that crate.

Every morning and evening I let her out and give her her antibiotic, and then I sit down on the porch floor and cuddle her for a half hour. When she sits down on my lap I can feel the heat coming from her back legs and stomach, where the skin is still badly inflamed. This morning the back of her neck was healed enough for a flea treatment, so she got that.

This afternoon as I was cuddling her, she stopped rubbing her head against me and looked up at me, then very slowly and deliberately put her paw on my chest.

I know that move. I've only ever seen it in a cat that has decided to trust me. Apparently Olivia has decided exactly this.

I confirmed that when a few moments later, she stopped her rubbing and stepped out of my lap to get a few mouthfuls of food, apparently having gotten the point that she did not have to be insistently affectionate for me to pay attention to her. Then she climbed back into my lap, experiment concluded. I had indeed not vanished, and I think she was satisfied.

As soon as I can figure out whether she will spread fleas if taken into the main part of my apartment, I will take her crate inside so I can talk to her when I'm at home, and so the others can get used to the idea that there is another cat here now.