First stray for a "non cat" person PLEASE HELP!

I have so many questions that I don't know how or where to begin.. Growing up, I've only ever had dogs and small animals. When I moved in with my boyfriend over a year ago, I was already very familiar with his cat named Trouble, and she's now my best friend. (seeing as my friends and family all live about 3 hours away from me lol!) The thing is, his cat acts EXACTLY like a dog. Cuddles, plays, sleeps with us, eats treats. So she's amazingly easy to take care of and has the best disposition in the world. My boyfriend got her AFTER she'd been rescued, spayed, vaccinated, all of that! 

Here is where I need your help: I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO TAKE CARE OF A NEW CAT!! For the time being, we have taken in a "stray" cat. I am not SURE if it's a stray, I am not SURE if it's someone's pet that they keep outside. And while I wait for someone to claim her, I have many questions and many uncertainties that are STRESSING me out! 

I'm going to explain the story of the stray and ask for any advice at all:

Friday 9/27 I went outside to get something out of my car. As I was walking down the driveway, I saw a cat start to walk towards me. I froze. I love petting neighborhood animals, and have even been known to slowly befriend wild rabbits, but I know how skittish they are and that they can cause some damage if approached the wrong way or if they're just too "wild". The cat stared at me for about 2 and a half minutes, and didn't move. Not wanting to upset it, I decided to open the door of the car and get my things. The cat then started walking towards me, and I thought it was going to try to get in the car! It just rubbed its head against my leg and purred. I thought this was strange, coming from a cat that I'd never met. I petted it for a bit longer, and it laid on its back and put its legs up in the air - exposing its belly! After a matter of maybe 7 minutes. Gingerly, I went to pick her up. She let me! I held her and she melted into my arms. My mom was visiting me at the time, so I had her run and get some wet and dry food.

We put some wet food ontop of dry food in one bowl and I put some water from the hose in the other I came back out to check about 15 minutes later, and saw her eating out of the bowls through the window. She ate the rest of the food, had a drink, cleaned herself off under my car and meandered off. I thought to myself, "Well good, maybe she is just a pet that was left outside or got out for the night.. cats have a great sense of GPS, maybe she'll get home tonight." 
 

Saturday night, I left one whole bowl of dry food and one whole bowl (1 large can) of wet food.. just in case. I left it out around 7 and went back to check around 7:45. I stepped outside and saw a larger black cat eating out of the bowl. The cat RAN as soon as I opened the front door and lo and behold, the stray came out from under my car and began to eat the remaining food. I sat there and cooed to her: "It's OK darling, I will keep watch. You eat and eat, I won't let anyone get you." (I know she can't understand me, but yeesh! I felt for her.. she's a fairly small cat out there on the streets, if even for a night left out by an owner, I felt bad). There was about half a can of wet food left, which she ate all of. Then she moved onto the dry food and ate the WHOLE BOWL. She kept awkwardly biting the bowl, and couldn't seem to properly eat. I was worried for her, but knew that if I brought her in.. it would be a huge responsibility on my shoulders. Needless to say, I shouldn't have set the food out if I didn't want to deal with it, but I have never lived in a place where there were many strays around.. I was just trying to be kind.

Finally, Sunday night, when she came around I showed her to my boyfriend who had been out of town. He told me to bring her in, and he took our cat into the bathroom. I held the stray outside of the bathroom door and Trouble was YOWLING and hissing and so scared out of her mind, trying to run through the wall opposite of the door. This stray just sat on my lap and looked a bit intimidated. My BF told me to get our extra unused litter box for her, because he knew as soon as I brought her in.. I couldn't just let her back out. Our garage was really cluttered so he suggested we put her up in our guest bedroom. I gave her food, litter, water, a brand new un-used toy and a cardboard box with a freshly laundered sheet to hide in. After visiting with her for about an hour before bed, she MEOOOOOOOWed, then MEEEEEOWed, the MEOWMEOWMEOW constantly.. so I went back in, took a pillow and one blanket, and laid on the bed. She went between trying to run through our second story window to get ouside, meowing to get outside and coming to sniff and hug me. I think I fell asleep sometime around 6:30am. 

Yesterday I woke up, we took pics of her (with her eyes closed) and put a gender-neutral post on craigslist along the lines of: "found: small white and grey cat" and asked people to verify the sex and gender if they believe it's theirs. I have put up flyers around the neighborhood and plan to copy about 20 more that said the same thing as the CL post. Throughout the night last night, she pooped in her litter box, peed in her litter box, did not spray the room or claw and curtains or bedsheets. She did attempt to jump through our blinds, and has a HORRIBLE time covering up her poo. Throughout the day yesterday, we visited with her and she was very content, laying and sleeping on the spare bed and now meowing. We inspected the poo, and saw no signs of worms. We checked around her bum as much as we could without upsetting her and saw no signs of worms or redness. I checked her coat, and there's no irritation on the skin and there ARE a few teenie black dots, but I couldn't make out any fleas and saw no movement.

*I DO know that fleas can be present that aren't easily seen and SAME with the worms* I know you must think I'm crazy to have her around sheets and curtains and MYSELF that could get contaminated. But I just.. as long as there wasn't a way for her to stress out my other animals, I couldn't live with leaving her outside! And then to bring her inside, trap an outdoors cat in one room, and not visit it? I just couldn't. Currently, as I type this, it's going on Tuesday.. well, here I am again at 6am actually.  There was about 3 hours of quiet time this evening where she slept next to me, and each time I'd shift around (I was reading) she'd move so that her head was closer to mine. I thought she was sound asleep, I got up to take a benedryll or 20 and soon after heard "MEEEEEEEEEOW, MEOOOOOOOOOW" and had to come back to the room. When I came back she ate some more, pooped again and then started her routine of trying to run through the window and meow to get outside (around 4am). She's now even venturing towards the door to the bedroom and scratching around it. Her meow is strange tonight, it's not desperate and deep like it was last night.. it's kind of high pitched and and sounds like "wwhhhhhyyyyyy eeeeyyyyeeeee" and lots of "eh" and "meh" sounds. This evening I noticed that she either has VERY TEENY top and bottom front teeth or none at all. I don't want to bother around her mouth too much, but it looks like her sharp ones are all still there and doesn't smell bad. 

Oh my.. She's come back from the door now.. and is cleaning herself on the bed. (I SERIOUSLY PRAY SHE DOES NOT HAVE FLEAS OR WORMS! that will be major clean up stress for me) But I'm telling you, she is the SWEETEST cat.. even more docile than mine, which I truly thought was impossible! I've read online that pregnant cats are sometimes very friendly.. so I wonder, have you encountered a stray cat that was especially friendly because it was pregnant? She's skinny enough to feel her spine but not skinny enough to look sickly. Her belly doesn't have a huge buldge, maybe a VERY very slight one in the lower belly, but I think it might be from eating so much food? 

My vet sometimes takes patients on a same day basis if it's urgent and you call at 8am. So in two hours, I am going to call and see what they suggest. Now that I've told you my story, let me sum up some questions I have:

1.) Have you ever heard of a stray being extra friendly like this? Allowing a stranger to pick it up? Have you ever heard this was because they were pregnant?

2.) Where should I draw the line at vet bills? We're not sure if our cat will accept a new animal and are unwilling to compromise her happiness. So, if the owners DO claim the cat.. should I expect them to pay any of the vet bills that we incur while she's in our care? If I can find a family/owner to rehome her with, what's the max that I should ask for a rehoming fee to cover some vet bills? What does a typical vet visit cost if a cat isn't up to date on vaccines and has fleas, worms, or other health issues? God forbid, what if she's pregnant? Do cats incur extra medical expenses if they become pregnant? 

3.) What can I do if no family claims her and no rescue takes her? What if no shelters are accepting cats and our cat is too depressed around another cat? I can't let her back on the streets and worry about her...  and it will break my heart if she keeps returning for food at night. I just can't do that. We rent a townhome and the neighborhood doesn't allow for animal shelters unless they're in your fenced in portion of the yard, and we need to keep our gate locked to keep unwanted animals/strangers out of the yard, which is also a safe space for Trouble. I'm the kind of person that would stress to the point of sleeplessness if I went on vacation for a week, and no one else fed her. If we moved.. what then? 

I am so stressed out I just need help. She's currently looking at the wall and yowling again.. she wants to go back outside. Maybe I should have left her alone, and never brought her inside. But now that I have, I can't turn my back on her. I keep thinking, "it's for the best that she's safe inside for now" but what happens after the "for now"?! I am REALLY stressed I KNOW I'm rambling, but this is my second sleepless night. She is now curled up at the end of the bed, quiet. She's confused, I'm confused. Please help...

First of all, you can calm down.  You have done nothing wrong.  After I try to answer your questions, I'll add a few tips to help things:

1.) Have you ever heard of a stray being extra friendly like this? Allowing a stranger to pick it up? Have you ever heard this was because they were pregnant?

Yes, Yes and Yes.

2.) Where should I draw the line at vet bills? We're not sure if our cat will accept a new animal and are unwilling to compromise her happiness. So, if the owners DO claim the cat.. should I expect them to pay any of the vet bills that we incur while she's in our care? If I can find a family/owner to rehome her with, what's the max that I should ask for a rehoming fee to cover some vet bills? What does a typical vet visit cost if a cat isn't up to date on vaccines and has fleas, worms, or other health issues? God forbid, what if she's pregnant? Do cats incur extra medical expenses if they become pregnant?

I would not ask the owners for reimbursement - you took on this responsibility yourself.  If they do claim her, you will probably find they were frantic with worry and she got out on accident.  If they allowed her to go outside without spaying her, they're pretty irresponsible and probably wouldn't give you anything anyway.

Your vet costs can vary.  First and foremost, for your own safety and theirs, flea and worm treatment.  Secondly, spaying if it hasn't been done.  even if you don't keep the cat, she may have escaped looking for love, so its in everyone's best interest to have this done ASAP.  If she's already pregnant, you can decide whether to end the pregnancy and spay her.  That will  add a cost to the spay fee but if she has kittens, they will cost, too.  That decision is entirely up to you.

3.) What can I do if no family claims her and no rescue takes her? What if no shelters are accepting cats and our cat is too depressed around another cat? I can't let her back on the streets and worry about her...  and it will break my heart if she keeps returning for food at night. I just can't do that. We rent a townhome and the neighborhood doesn't allow for animal shelters unless they're in your fenced in portion of the yard, and we need to keep our gate locked to keep unwanted animals/strangers out of the yard, which is also a safe space for Trouble. I'm the kind of person that would stress to the point of sleeplessness if I went on vacation for a week, and no one else fed her. If we moved.. what then? 

You can find another home for her or keep her.  There are many, many options if you keep her.  She and Trouble will have to get used to the idea of sharing the home (lots of good tips on this site about introducing cats).  She can live in your backyard with a small shelter, food and water.  Once she's gotten the idea that this is home, she should stay pretty close.  If she wanders, you will have to make a decision about keeping her inside.

If you go on vacation, the same person who takes care of Trouble can feed the new cat.  If you move, she goes with you.  Inside or outside, if no one claims her, she's your cat.

Take it a day at a time.  You have helped her tremendously just by feeding her.  You have some decisions to make, so try to make them without too much worrying.  She's safe now.  Thank you for helping her!

Hi Annie! My parents live in an area where strays are extremely common and since my parents are huge cat lovers, they often take care of them. Some are completely feral, others will allow to be petted, some are more friendly than others. There was one cat who was so sweet and cuddly they wanted to keep her inside with their other 5 cats. Every time they fed her she went NUTS for food and they believed she was starving and struggling outside to find food. (This was during the summer so they weren't concerned about getting her in before our cold, Canadian winter at this point). After a couple weeks they found out it was one of their neighbours cats! She was just kept outside most of the time, but she did often go home to sleep inside... so she wasn't starving as they thought and it explained why she was so overly friendly.
 

I'm worried you may be keeping this cat away from her home as many people do have an indoor/outdoor cats, especially if she's extremely docile and friendly. I know you're doing this out of the goodness of your heart, but that's just my feelings. Do you have close neighbours? or are you closer to the country where strays might be more common? I would maybe try knocking on some peoples door in your neighbourhood.. maybe someone will recognize her and know who's cat she is.

As for vet bills, just to walk through the door is about $90 here. I don't vaccinate my indoor cats so I'm not sure about those exact costs. Any cats in this area who are needing homes are always free... there's such an abundance of cats that there's no way you could ask for money. Perhaps your vet can check to see if she micro chipped or tagged. Depending on what you're getting done at the vet, you can possibly ask the owners to cover the costs if they ever step forward.. but I think it might be an issue. If she was injured or hurt I could understand asking for reimbursement but just to get a general check-up, which isn't "necessary" could be hard to ask for it back.

If she was indeed a stray, and you cannot rehome her, with a lot of patience and time you can introduce her to Trouble and have them live in harmony, keeping both cats happy. There's plenty of information on here about introducing two cats. It can be done.

Some other things I wanted to mention..

-One of my cats has a hard time covering poo too.. she hardly puts an effort into it anymore, leaving it for another cat to cover up.

-My friend had a friendly, extremely-pregnant stray at her door once who she let in and she had her litter over night. Your vet can easily tell you if she's pregnant.

-How you described her, skinny, no tummy bulge, I would think she doesn't have worms. I'm not sure but in my experience their stomachs get quiet round, or I'll see little 'rice' pieces on their behind before it gets to that point. Worms are quiet easy to treat.

-My parents recently moved and left a HUGE amount of cat food for the new owners and a long letter asking to feed them.. my mom was so upset leaving them without any reassurance that the new home owners would feed them, but there's not much you can do, unfortunately.

Sorry I couldn't be more help, but I'm interested to know what happens. Please keep us informed and I hope you can have a good nights sleep soon!goes. I hope you can get a good nights rest as well!

In my area we have lots of cats that are indoor/outdoor cats.  They are super friendly and allow many neighbors to pet and hold them.  I would go door to door knocking with a picture of the cat or put fliers on all the cars or even the neighbors doors.  I would think that someone might know if the cat is truly a stray or someone's pet. 

I definitely would keep her isolated from Trouble.  You don't know about the health of this cat and you don't want Trouble to get fleas/worms, or other illnesses?  Is she using a litter box? 

It is so nice of you to care for her and look after her when you think she may be in need of help. 

If you don't end up finding the owner, I would get her to a vet soon.  You want to be sure she is healthy and especially spayed/neutered.  You then can decide what you want to do with her.

Ondine said:

I would not ask the owners for reimbursement - you took on this responsibility yourself.  If they do claim her, you will probably find they were frantic with worry and she got out on accident.  If they allowed her to go outside without spaying her, they're pretty irresponsible and probably wouldn't give you anything anyway.

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Yeah, I guess that's a bit tacky.. to ask for the money back! I'd rather get the family that is frantic with worry, I would know that that is money very well spent. I'm always willing to give a little to those with good intentions and kind hearts. I'm just going to have to REALLY hold my tongue if it turns out that this cat turned up pregnant and because its owners never got it spayed. What do you think the chances of her being pregnant are? What are they usually for cats on the street.. something like 50/50? Does her being extremely friendly up those chances at all.. from your knowledge of history? 

kittylove542 said:

Some other things I wanted to mention..

-One of my cats has a hard time covering poo too.. she hardly puts an effort into it anymore, leaving it for another cat to cover up.

-My friend had a friendly, extremely-pregnant stray at her door once who she let in and she had her litter over night. Your vet can easily tell you if she's pregnant.

-How you described her, skinny, no tummy bulge, I would think she doesn't have worms. I'm not sure but in my experience their stomachs get quiet round, or I'll see little 'rice' pieces on their behind before it gets to that point. Worms are quiet easy to treat.

-My parents recently moved and left a HUGE amount of cat food for the new owners and a long letter asking to feed them.. my mom was so upset leaving them without any reassurance that the new home owners would feed them, but there's not much you can do, unfortunately.

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Thanks so much for your advice.. you made it seem a little less overwhelming to tackle. You're the first person to say that worms aren't the end of the world, and I really needed to hear that from someone with experience. I do NOT have a strong stomach and I was getting sick just thinking about worms. I still am, but to hear someone act as if they're not the absolute worst thing makes me feel a little better. Also, thanks for responding about the belly. It's not a "pot belly" type and there's nothing around the bum .. so I hope it's just a "food baby" and not any real babies.

ShadowsRescue said:

 
I definitely would keep her isolated from Trouble.  You don't know about the health of this cat and you don't want Trouble to get fleas/worms, or other illnesses?  Is she using a litter box? 

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She IS using the litter box properly, and hasn't gone to the bathroom anywhere else in the room, or sprayed anywhere. She just doesn't cover up anything in the litter box.. she attempts to, but it's as if the large litter box were too small for her.. she will walk her front legs out of the box and paw at the floor beside the box, thinking she's burying it haha! I also spent about an hour driving around and posting 30 flyers in our development, and all around the neighboring plans. 

Thank you everyone, for your time. I was SO tired and SO frustrated when typing that post. I got a few hours of sleep, and feel a little less panicked now. We are taking her to the vet tomorrow, they said they estimate the visit to be around $135.. for the check up, tests for HIV and AIDS, vaccines and pregnancy check. They also said that there's a treatment.. I believe the name might start with "R" but I am not sure, and it is applied to the back and treats mites/fleas and some worms. They said it's the most comprehensive and affordable treatment. I think this is a good start. Once we get this done, THEN we can work on getting her back with her human family, rehoming her, or acclimating her to the house. I think I'll feel more secure once I know what I am dealing with. It's all of the uncertainty that is making me just so crazy! $135 isn't exactly ideal, but it's not going to break the bank. If it means we go out to eat one less time this month, I can live with it. 

Please keep your fingers crossed that she comes up healthy, free of parasites, and not pregnant! Then.. if you've got any more good mojo in you, pray we find her loving family and reunite them! I'll update again tomorrow after the vet visit..

Many vibes for you and this kitty. She is very lucky to have found you. Thanks for taking care of her. Fingers crossed that she is NOT pregnant.

Oh, and the vet was probably referring to Revolution. It does treat for fleas, mites and some parasites.

Hello again everyone! Sorry that I haven't gotten back to the forum in a few days.. I've been a verrrry busy momma. 

I posted about 40 flyers in the neighborhood.. two on every mailbox cluster, flyers by all of the elementary and middle schools near my house, and a CL ad. And got nothing.. one girl emailed me and said her sister's cat ran away, she sent me a photo to compare with mine because she said she couldn't tell from my post.. unfortunately, it wasn't the same cat. Everyone that meets her says "no way is she feral.." she is just too sweet and easy going.  She will purr and nibble at your nose, she has YET to claw me even once and we've often played together, and she sleeps on the bed with me now.. or in the blanket that I put on the floor next to my bed.

I took her to the vet Wednesday, and they did give her Revolution. They said that was the only safe treatment to give to a cat that has a very good chance of being pregnant. (I'll get to the pregnancy in a moment..) As far as fleas/mites, the vet said she had no visible mites or fleas but she DID have flea dirt.. aka "flea poo" *yuck*. Her belly didn't seem bloated enough to have hook or round worm and her feces/bum was clear of tape worms.
After a check of the teeth, the vet said he couldn't believe that I found a stray as healthy as her.   Again.. I don't think she was a stray.

As far as the pregnancy chances: They said an xray  or ultrasound would cost about $145 to check for kittens/number of kittens.. then if we still decided to get her spayed and get her kitten aborted, it's going to cost an extra $160 minimum. I told the vet that I had done research on cat abortions and I know that it was common practice, but I was unsure about doing that to "Lucky" as I've been calling her. The vet started to get very empathetic, and tried explaining, "You have to remember, remember, it's a cat, not a human, it's a cat and there is a difference... it's.." and you could tell he was going to try very hard to convince me that it's not the same as human abortions. (We live in a VERY conservative area so I bet he gets that a lot). I kindly explained that I was actually pro-choice, as I felt that a woman is competent enough to decide what to do.. but what concerned me was that there is no explaining to a cat that one day it's pregnant and one day it's not.

He visibly relaxed, and kept trying to explain that the cat's hormones go back to normal and they're just fine.. he even refused to call it an abortion and insisted it was just an "adjustment".. um, no, I've seen how fast kittens develop.. you don't ADJUST a kitten away!  But he did enough to convince me that there are more cons to keeping the kittens than pros.. 5 minutes of him talking about his rescue work had me convinced. It still makes me sad for her, as she is very "queen-like" and a gentle soul.

But, we scheduled the spay/"adjustment" for Wednesday. If she's late term, it's a $65 upcharge, and if she needs fluids it's a $34.. we still haven't decided if we're going to opt for her to get a blood test pre-op to make sure her kidneys/organs are healthy enough for anesthetic because it's another $70. We just had to pay $85 twice +$60 to get panels run on our original cat.. and then the new cat's initial visit was $110.. so we're already upwards of $700 here between our two girls. Guess you could say, what's another $70, but still.. there's something a little nerve-wracking about depleting your vet fund savings.. you never know what could happen. 

I can only conclude that someone got her as a kitten and then decided they didn't want to take care of her.. or they moved and left her.. either way, she didn't deserve to be abandoned and she's safe here with us now. Whoever owned her wasn't responsible enough to get her spayed.. so why would I imagine they'd be able to step up and handle any other responsibilities? Our baby Trouble is VERY, VERY sheltered and she's a huge scardy cat.. so it's been slow going. We're not going to let them walk around each other until after Lucky gets her final round of shots and worm checks and she's spayed.. but we have held them in the same room and let them see each other.. it's slow but steady progress. They are both very sweet souls, so I think that it will work out and Trouble will have a friend who speaks her own language.. which she will appreciate I'm sure. It's a LOT more work, but after realizing that I took her in and by doing so, I gave myself a few options. Of all those options, the only one I could live with was caring for her for as long as no one else claimed her and if that meant forever, then so be it. I will know to not feed the strays next time if I can't handle them coming around, or worrying about them being outside, and I this will be the last cat we get for sure.

But having 2 cats is something I can definitely adjust to.. and this has been a HUGE learning experience. It's taught me a lot about taking responsibility, taking on more than I can handle and balancing things that you want with things that you are actually capable of having.

I really appreciate the support I've gotten here and I am so glad to know I have a lifeline when it comes to cats in this forum.. I will post pictures and updates as the time goes on and again.. thank you all! 

Thank you so much for the update.  I had to laugh as now you have "Lucky Trouble" for cats!

You are doing the right thing by this kitty.  She deserves a good life and it certainly sounds like she'll find it with you.  Your are smart not to introduce her to Trouble until she's gotten the all clear.  Give her a few days recuperation time and slowly let them see and sniff one another.  If Lucky has a room to herself during this time, it will help keep her stress level down.

I know what you mean about depleting the vet fund but that's why you have it.  You are using it for a good reason and that's what counts.

I am so happy that she has a clean bill of health.  You are doing the right thing with her spay/adjustment on Wednesday.  I know it is hard, but the alternatives would be much worse.  She will heal quickly and easily and you will have a wonderful cat for life.  You did a wonderful thing in rescuing her.  Let us know how it goes on Wednesday.

Another update: Lucky is settling in wonderfully. 
 

Picking her up post-surgery was very hard for me, because I knew there was a chance they were going to come back telling me she was pregnant.  Well, she was pregnant. I ended up having to keep apologizing to the vet and techs, because I know I'm being more crazy about it than most people would be, and the irony is that regardless of my personal beliefs on abortion I have the firm belief that government should keep their hands out of women's lives, and women are more than competent to make their own decisions.. they're the ones that have to live with them. But me, making the decision for a cat? Who will never be competent enough to understand that she WAS pregnant, but isn't any longer? And then her hormones.. no one can talk to a cat and ask them if they're feeling more depressed, why they're not eating, etc.  

It was a painstaking decision to make, but my boyfriend knew that we wouldn't be able to care for more cats and I knew that if someone was irresponsible enough to abandon this cat, it could happen all over again to her babies. Well, I had to handle her vet visit all on my own, and was told afterwards by a receptionist, "We did have to charge the maximum of $65 extra.. she was pretty far along and full of kittens." Of course, I started bawling in the vet's office. SO there I was, trying to be a responsible adult and ended up acting like a child. But.. "full of kittens" and maximum charge for a "late term"... just some phrases you can't possibly be OK with hearing. 

She's been eating A TON and snuggling me - so I think she is comfortable and does not feel depressed at the moment. I fed her 3oz of wet food the night after her surgery.. then a pinch of dry food (beyond what the vet recommended). The next morning, she hadn't puked or had bad stomach issues, so I fed her a full bowl of dry food and another 3 oz of wet food. That afternoon my boyfriend found that she had eaten a HOLE in the cat food bag to get more!! Hahah.. I couldn't be mad, poor darling was scared she wasn't getting her next meal. And after all she'd been through, who could blame her? I slept with her, and she fell asleep on my stomach the first night post surgery. Last night, I brought her downstairs with me and she slept next to me on the couch while our other cat, Trouble, was perched a bit higher on a cat tower. I think her being higher calmed her down, and she fell asleep (and was SNORING) in the bed ontop of the tower, and Lucky was snuggled into my side. They were in the presence of each other for about 2 &1/2 hours! I took Lucky back to her recovery room, for some dinner and in case she had to use her litter box. I slept with her again last night, and she was flopping all around, trying to wiggle closer to my face for kissies and closer to my palms for scritches. 

So, she seems happy enough so far. I am still feeling a lot of guilt, but I am so proud of her. She is such a trooper, and she is so kindhearted. I feel like I'm the lucky one, which is one reason why I just love her name. My boyfriend says I'm playing favorites, because we have "Trouble" and now "Lucky," but Lucky's a lil pipsqueak, and her name just fits so well! I knew in my heart that this cat once knew what it felt like to be safe and know love.. and there was just a connection I made with her that I couldn't shake. I will say that I don't think I will be taking in any more stray animals, but I have so much respect for people that run shelters and shoulder that burden. It's been a bumpy road, but I am so glad that she came to me and I could show her love and make her feel safe. I'm going to continue to sleep with her until she recovers enough to start roaming the house and mingling a little more. It won't be easy or quick, but if last night is any indication I think Trouble and Lucky will make a great pair.

Thanks for everything and for the kindness. Glad to know there is such a great online community for cat lovers, I will definitely be visiting again!

What beautiful kitties!  You have given them a wonderful life.  And even though it was difficult, you made absolutely the best decision for Lucky.

Thank you so much! I'm partial.. but I think they're the cutest little darlings! So regal and silly at the same time.. haha. I'm glad that it worked out so well for us.. I know others do not have as much luck as I have had, so I am very thankful. And thanks for your kind words about the hard decision.. we are adjusting to it more and more each day. Have a wonderful evening/day! 

Thank you so much for the update.  I realize the experience has been very difficult.  Yet you now have this beautiful loving Lucky who sounds as though she fits in perfectly with your family.  How "lucky" she is to have you! 

It was very nice to read your story and I think you did the best and took the right decisions. The two cats look adorable and it very nice to know they now have each other and the two of you.