I heard a sad story from a co-worker today. She is a true cat lover (has 5 of her own) and is always catching the strays or ferals in her neighborhood, testing, neutering and keeping/adopting/releasing them.
There was a black tom (unneutered) that had been hanging in her neighborhood for a while that she couldn't tempt to her trap. On Friday, out of the blue, he walked directly up to her, started rubbing all over her legs and loving on her. She picked him up, brought him inside her home, and set him up in an isolated room until she could get him to the vets on Saturday.
Poor Toby was emaciated but still 11 pounds. By his frame he should probably have been a 20 pound cat. When he stretched out the toes on his paws, they were about 3 inches wide. She spent the evening with him on Friday, and because he was so loving, she slept on the floor with him overnight. He purred, he head-butted her, he kneeded on her as he sat in her lap. All this from a cat that up to that evening, had all the signs of being a feral cat.
When she brought him to the vet's on Saturday, they tested him for disease and unfortunately he tested positive. Based on his physical condition (it was horrendous), the vet suggested that he was too far gone and wouldn't get any better. So with tears in both of their eyes, and loving arms to hold him, they put him at rest. They guessed him to be about 18 months old.
I hear stories all the time from folks at work about their pets, but somehow this one struck a nerve. Poor Toby had a bad life, but when he realized how sick he really was, reached out to a big scary human to help him out of his misery. Feral cats never cease to amaze me on how intuitive they are.
As my co-worker said - he had a miserable life, but in the end, he had a name, a person to love him and hold him as he went crossed over the bridge.
Please light a candle for this beautiful boy. I didn't know him personally, but I know his story well.
There was a black tom (unneutered) that had been hanging in her neighborhood for a while that she couldn't tempt to her trap. On Friday, out of the blue, he walked directly up to her, started rubbing all over her legs and loving on her. She picked him up, brought him inside her home, and set him up in an isolated room until she could get him to the vets on Saturday.
Poor Toby was emaciated but still 11 pounds. By his frame he should probably have been a 20 pound cat. When he stretched out the toes on his paws, they were about 3 inches wide. She spent the evening with him on Friday, and because he was so loving, she slept on the floor with him overnight. He purred, he head-butted her, he kneeded on her as he sat in her lap. All this from a cat that up to that evening, had all the signs of being a feral cat.
When she brought him to the vet's on Saturday, they tested him for disease and unfortunately he tested positive. Based on his physical condition (it was horrendous), the vet suggested that he was too far gone and wouldn't get any better. So with tears in both of their eyes, and loving arms to hold him, they put him at rest. They guessed him to be about 18 months old.
I hear stories all the time from folks at work about their pets, but somehow this one struck a nerve. Poor Toby had a bad life, but when he realized how sick he really was, reached out to a big scary human to help him out of his misery. Feral cats never cease to amaze me on how intuitive they are.
As my co-worker said - he had a miserable life, but in the end, he had a name, a person to love him and hold him as he went crossed over the bridge.
Please light a candle for this beautiful boy. I didn't know him personally, but I know his story well.
