Found extremely thin stray

I found a very, very thin stray cat and brought her home. I will probably take her to a no-kill shelter but I am not sure yet as I don't think she would have much luck getting adopted because I suspect she is fairly old.
She is so thin I can feel every bone and tendon in her body, her spine is standing out of her back like the spines on a lizard, she is missing large spots of hair, mainly on the back and sides of her body - I suspect it is from flea allergy which has gotten better as the fleas wouldn't be well off on such a thin cat out in the freezing cold - the hair looks like it is starting to grow back and the skin is not flaky or anything. She is front paw declawed which makes her completely unfit to fend for herself outdoors and she is missing several of her teeth which makes he believe she is probably an elderly lady.
She has been such a trooper, she has used the litterbox flawlessly since I took her home last night and she has not been upset being locked in the washroom (I have other cats and want to keep her seperate until I know she is ok). She drinks a lot but I don't know if it is because she is ill or just dehydrated due to lack of unfrozen water outside. She has eaten well. I have been careful and given her small meals only so she wouldn't eat herself sick. She is incredibly loving and absolutely loves to be petted and has been fine with me looking at her teeth, ears and behind for signs of trouble.
I have confirmed she has fleas which didn't come as a surprise to me and I imagine she probably has worms too but I am unsure of whether she is too thin to handle flea and worm treatment. Would any one of you have any idea about this and maybe what I should treat for? What else should I get for her to keep her comfortable and help her get better?
I definately don't want to harm her or do anything wrong.

Thank you in advance,

Ishtaka

Whereabouts do you live? Any possibility you can keep her? Poor kitty- also when you take her to the vet have her scanned for a chip, she could be a runaway.

I live in North Eastern Ohio and if I am going to take her to a shelter, it will be Strayhaven in Greenville PA. I set up their website a while back so I know for sure they are no-kill. I suppose I could keep her in theory but I don't have a lot of money and if she should need extensive medical care, I'd really be in trouble.
The odds of her being a runaway are unfortunately very slim. I found her in a small town and have been told she had been living under a housed for quite some time now so if anyone had wanted to find her, they would have if they had just put up posters or gone to look for her. There are lots of abandoned animals in that area but I have never seen any in this condition.
I'm back and forth on the issue of keeping her, to be honest, because on one hand I'd really like to but I'm not allowed to have a 3rd cat here (though they'd never know) and as I said, I can't afford medical care if it is needed. I'll call the shelter tomorrow and see what they say. Knowing them, they might try to talk me into keeping her (they always want me to adopt more cats) and they may be able to set me up with some shots and basic treatments.

Just wanted to welcome you to TCS! Thank you for caring for this cat.

Katie

Aww poor baby! Where in NE Ohio do you live in? I am from Kent/Hudson.
I agree if there is any way to keep her try to do that. Like you said, she might not have any luck in a shelter being old. Could you try to rehome her on your own while she is recovering? Post an ad up on Petfinder.com and put fliers up and maybe you can get a home lined up for when she is better and then she doesn't have to live for too long in the shelter.

I live in Lordstown near Warren but I found her in Kinsman.
She is a lovely kitty and I am awfully fond of her already. I'll sleep on it and see.

Thank you for taking her in. Thank you also, for realizing that a cat is a commitment. I'm glad to see your smarts taking over for your heart. If she indeed needs a lot of expensive treatment, it is best you give her up to the shelter so she can get what she needs, a thorough work-up. I HOPE you can end up keeping her because you seem like you really care about her, so I'll send good "find some money" vibes your way, hopefully that helps! Good luck!!!

I forgot to mention that she is really bowlegged on the back but also seems to have that tendency on the front at times. Is this due to lack of muscle, poor diet or what does this mean?

some of the private shelters by me offer to sponsor a cat if you keep it. You could also contact the shelter and offer to long term foster the cat if you want to keep her but money is an isue

I called the shelter today and they said they were full but could give her the shots and worming no charge if I take her so we went there and had that taken care of and then we took a trip to the vet for some testing ($63 which I think will fit into my budget). Status: Leukemia negative, distemper negative, no earmites, no respiratory issues, probably no more than 3 years old, good eyes, good teeth (she isn't missing as many as I thought), flea allergy which made her lose a lot of hair (we did a shot for that) and she is 6.7 pounds.
You just won't believe how good she was through it all, never hissed or tried to bite or anything and she went through the leukemia test like a trooper without sedation as I somewhat protested that due to her being so thin.
I guess I'll have to come up with a name for her now.
She really is a lovely cat.

Ishtaka

Originally Posted by Ishtaka

I called the shelter today and they said they were full but could give her the shots and worming no charge if I take her so we went there and had that taken care of and then we took a trip to the vet for some testing ($63 which I think will fit into my budget). Status: Leukemia negative, distemper negative, no earmites, no respiratory issues, probably no more than 3 years old, good eyes, good teeth (she isn't missing as many as I thought), flea allergy which made her lose a lot of hair (we did a shot for that) and she is 6.7 pounds.
You just won't believe how good she was through it all, never hissed or tried to bite or anything and she went through the leukemia test like a trooper without sedation as I somewhat protested that due to her being so thin.
I guess I'll have to come up with a name for her now.
She really is a lovely cat.

Ishtaka

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That is a great update....if you need help with names...let us know.

Katie

Poor cat, it's wonderful your taking such nice care of her, and went to the trouble to bring her home, you deserve a big pat on the back-good on you!

if there were more people in the world like this, so many animals wouldn't have to suffer.

Poor cat. She must have been an indoor pet at some time as she is declawed. I am so glad you found her and I do hope you can keep her.