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- Jul 18, 2015
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Hello everybody, this ended up being a long post, but please bear with me, I really need help. We have two cats, both of whom were adopted from our street when they were 6 months old. They are brothers, both ginger tabby. They have been with us for 1,5 years. One of them was sick from the beginning (gum infection) so we took him to the vet a few times. However, a few months after neutering, he started to lose weight, and wasn't energetic, so we took him to the vet again, and it turned out to be something serious (they are still not sure what is was, it wasn't leukemia or kidney infection, they thought maybe toxoplasmosis). We took him to the vet twice a day for 5 weeks. He was finally okay, his blood results were good, he started to eat etc. However, due to these vet visits, he developed some sort of timidity, and even going to the vet for routine checks became traumatic for him. He even started to hide in our apartment, especially when both my husband and I approached to him at the same time. Anyway, last week, his parasite shot was due, and when we took him to the vet, he discovered that his gum infection reappeared, so we took him to the vet for 4 times. The last time we took him was Monday, and it was the day his parasite shot was going to be given. Unfortunately, the clinic door was open and when the vet was about to give him the shot, he ran away. My husband saw him running towards our apartment's direction. But since then there is no sign of him. By the way, the clinic is 5 minutes away on foot from our apartment, pretty much a strait route, but there is an intersection near the clinic. My husband last spotted him just before he approached the intersection, but bot the vet and my husband think that he must have been through it with that speed. We have been searching for him day and night, with his toys and food on our hands, made posters and put all around our neighborhood. I assume he is very afraid right now and hiding away somewhere. I wanted to ask whether anybody knows when do they stop hiding and start to come out to search for water and food? I should add that we live in Istanbul, where there are a lot of street cats and dogs, as well as cars. I am so worried that he will be injured by a cat or a dog or a car. Because it is summer and it is hot, I am also worried that he won't have access to water. There are some food and water containers around, put by the neighbors for street animals, but not on every corner of course. I read stories where timid cats like mine hide for too long that can lead to dehydration. Dehydration lead to kidney damage; kidney damage can lead to kidney failure and death. Is that true??. Do you know anything about that? Is there anything else that can be done? Because he is too timid, are we looking for him too early, and feeling hopeless too early?