Tonight we had to make a hard and quick decision. There is a group of ferals living near our property that our neighbors feed but give no other care whatsoever, and none have been neutered. So you can see where this has led..lots of cats, and several seem sick. We previously had taken in a kitten from this group only to put it down b/c it had feline leukemia. This kitten was a particular odd grey/brown color, very distinct. There is an adult cat of the same coloration that we haven't been able to capture, but it is pretty sickly looking, so I'm assuming it has feline leukemia as well.
So anyway, tonight a cat wandered up to our house, with the same odd grey/brown coloring (not the same adult we'd seen before). It was the most horribly sick looking cat I have ever seen. It had NO Fat on it at all. It didn't have round tummy cats had, it didn't' even have extra tissue on it's body at all. I had a cat die of renal failure, and this cat looked far worse than my cat did when she died. It was walking very slow and you could get very close to it, which is odd since the ferals are scared of people. One eye was completly closed, the other weeping pus. It's fur was matted, it had dried feces on it's fur. It was so thin you could see the bones of it's pelvis. It was completly missing fur on a third of it's tail. It was covered in flies, which I have only seen in dying animals.
We agreed the cat had to be put down, but it is the weekend in a small town, no vets are open. We felt as though if we were able to trap it, it would have to live in the trap all weekend until MOnday, to take it to be put down. We felt it would simply be in fear and pain until it was put down by a vet, if it did not die before. My husband shot the cat. My husband is an excellent shot, and the cat never felt a thing. The cat never had a moment of fear. I 100% agreed with him shooting it, but couldn't do it myself. BTW, when I picked up the cat afterwards, I'd say he only weighed a couple pounds. He was light as a feather
So, I feel like we made the best decision, and put the animal out of it's misery. We both love cats, but could see no way this animal would ever survive. Do you guys think we did the right thing? Have you guys seen a cat in such awful condition that lived? Please be honest, for if we ever see another cat like that again, I need to know if they have a chance.
So anyway, tonight a cat wandered up to our house, with the same odd grey/brown coloring (not the same adult we'd seen before). It was the most horribly sick looking cat I have ever seen. It had NO Fat on it at all. It didn't have round tummy cats had, it didn't' even have extra tissue on it's body at all. I had a cat die of renal failure, and this cat looked far worse than my cat did when she died. It was walking very slow and you could get very close to it, which is odd since the ferals are scared of people. One eye was completly closed, the other weeping pus. It's fur was matted, it had dried feces on it's fur. It was so thin you could see the bones of it's pelvis. It was completly missing fur on a third of it's tail. It was covered in flies, which I have only seen in dying animals.
We agreed the cat had to be put down, but it is the weekend in a small town, no vets are open. We felt as though if we were able to trap it, it would have to live in the trap all weekend until MOnday, to take it to be put down. We felt it would simply be in fear and pain until it was put down by a vet, if it did not die before. My husband shot the cat. My husband is an excellent shot, and the cat never felt a thing. The cat never had a moment of fear. I 100% agreed with him shooting it, but couldn't do it myself. BTW, when I picked up the cat afterwards, I'd say he only weighed a couple pounds. He was light as a feather
So, I feel like we made the best decision, and put the animal out of it's misery. We both love cats, but could see no way this animal would ever survive. Do you guys think we did the right thing? Have you guys seen a cat in such awful condition that lived? Please be honest, for if we ever see another cat like that again, I need to know if they have a chance.
