He stole my heart and won't give it back! - Page 2

Buddy is doing great. We're moving from Florida to West Virginia (I tend to move a lot) and when Buddy first gets in the car he meows pathetically, but then calms down and goes right to sleep.

I am REALLY annoyed with the shelter I got him from tho. I feel like they lied to me.

When I adopted him they sounded like the best shelter on earth. They "rotate" their cats from the Petsmart store to foster homes so they get the much needed interaction and love. They guarantee all of their cats are vaccinated, dewormed, tested for FIV and FeLV, medicated for fleas, neutered and microchipped before adoption.

Buddy has a respiratory infection, was NOT microchipped, was NOT dewormed, and there are no dates on his vaccination records. I found out that he was in a foster home for about 9 months, and he is covered in flea poop from a severe infestation (his little white chin is covered in black spots), he has yellow stains on his heels and developing sores on his skin (which I've only ever seen on animals rarely let out of cages)... I can also feel his spine and his hips, which I pointed out to the vet at Banfield, but she seemed to shrug it off. Having worked at Petsmart, I have a thing against Banfield and I will get a second opinion on Monday when I take Buddy to a different vet.

Buddy also is afraid of loud noises, terrified of sticks (I bought a string on a stick toy, which he runs and cowers from), and he appears to have no feeling at all in his right hind foot but it doesn't affect his walk... He also seems to be afraid to play... I suspect this is due to abuse from his previous home. =(

Even though all that he's been through, and I suspect that is a lot, he is still a lover. He warmed up to me right away and he curls up with me at night. I made a promise to him that I would never abandon him or hurt him. Hopefully someday I can prove that to him and he will believe me.

One of the volunteers told me that he had a severe flea infestation. They were laying eggs on his chin and in his cheeks, and they were swarming his face. I would think it was acne, except the black spots are all over his body but mostly concentrated on his face.

He's gonna hate me, but dirty kitty really needs a bath. I may, in a week or so, find a groomer willing to bathe a kitty. But for now health and security are the most important things. We're staying in a "strange place" (hotel) tonight, so he's hiding under the bed. I haven't seen him in hours.

I'm making a list of vets to call on Monday. I don't care if I have to spend $200 just to find out that Buddy is a healthy kitty... I want to know. =/ I'm sort of a paranoid type of person...

The worm I saw looked like a long grain of rice, but I thought tapeworms came out dead? This thing was wriggling around and looked like it was laying eggs on his tail.

The one thing I'm pretty sure they did was treat him for fleas. I saw one flea on Saturday that was alive, but I haven't seen any since. They told me they used a dose of Advantage a few days before I adopted him, but next month I'm going to start him on Revolution.

You know? I looked up cat acne. It might be that. The volunteer said it was flea poop "from the massive infestation" and I just assumed she was right. I'll ask the vet.

I'm too paranoid for my own good sometimes. I won't have internet for the next couple of days so I'll let you guys know if it was my paranoia, or if it was something real after he sees the vet. XD

And I'll post pictures then too. I just need to find my camera or my bluetooth adapter so I can upload photos.

mrblanche; I thought that too. The flea may have been from anywhere tho. The house I was living in was flea infested, and the flea may have come off my clothes or blankets. The hotel I was staying in was really dirty, so the flea may have come from there. I've been checking for fleas and that was the only one I saw.

BlueRexBear; I asked about why Buddy wasn't on their website. I thought that was curious. They may have known he was sick, and thats why he wasn't on the website. I also thought it was odd that some people said he was only there for days or weeks, and others said he was there for months. A lady who worked at Petsmart said that he'd been there "off and on" for the past "several" months, but a volunteer at the shelter said that he'd "only been with us for a couple weeks".

We made it to West Virginia today. We unloaded the car, put all of the animals in my bedroom, and then my friend took us out to dinner. When I got home Buddy was hiding in the back of the closet shaking, and it took us 10 minutes to get him to stop shaking. He actually thought we'd abandoned him! =(

I'm gonna see about setting up a vet appointment tomorrow. There's a vet around here that has an in-office laboratory. If they don't charge an arm and a leg I'll take him there.