Greetings those of feline inclinations, don't let my username put you off (though it is true), for I should like some help in my current dilemma, and so I seek the aid of those much wiser than I in the subject of cats.
A recount of what has happened:
On November 5th, I was working on my car in the side yard. I had turned on the engine and was simply allowing it to run for a few minutes to warm up while I sat in the driver's seat with the door open.
And then there was suddenly a striped grey cat in my lap. This rather took me off-guard, as cats and I have never been on speaking terms. A cat's usual reaction to me, regardless of how tame it may be to anyone else, is to usually run as far away as possible, or to lunge and attempt to maul my face. But this cat simply remained in my lap, meowed and rubbed its face against mine (whilst I cringed, waiting for the inevitable biting and clawing - which never came).
I have cared for many stray dogs (and birds, snakes, ferrets, even a goat) in my time, but never a cat. However it is my nature to attempt to help animals, and so I began looking over this grey cat. It was covered in fleas, and had some strange black goo stuck on its back (thankfully it was not motor oil, I know that stuff too well to not be able to identify it) and seemed quite skinny. It purred the entire time, stopping only to meow before continuing the purring.
Is it normal for cats to purr so much?
My boyfriend then came out, spotted me with said cat, and knowing of my previous history with the creatures, had himself a good laugh.
We weighed the cat that night, it came in at barely four pounds (I think the scale was being generous). I can only assume this is underweight for a cat? It had no stomach or any other internal organs to speak of that were easily palpable, the 'belly skin' behind the ribs was only that - skin. We fed it a can of tuna that night, having nothing else suitable for it. Grey cat slept on my legs that night, and we awoke to fleas. I cannot stand fleas, so suiting up in long sleeves, we endeavored to give the cat a bath. I expected there to be some battle wounds for our efforts, but aside from holding a 'spread eagle' post the entire time, the cat took the bath surprisingly well. No screaming, no hissing, no meowing, no clawing. I fear the cat may have lost another half-pound of it's weight in that bath though, so many fleas, dirt, hair and whatever that black stuff was came off of it. I didn't think so much filth could come off of such a small animal.
We walked her around the neighborhood asking anyone we could find going door-to-door if this was their cat, or if they even recognized it. Nothing. Three blocks north and south (I live on an island, east and west is water) and no one recognized the cat. We took her to the humane society and asked if they had any reports of a cat missing by her description. There weren't. They ran a scan for a microchip - nothing there either. I was wanting to leave her there, as I knew nothing of cats, but was told that the shelter was full and being as I said I found her on the streets (she found me, but it's all the same in their books) she would be counted as feral, and euthanized.
I took the cat home again.
Over the next four days we endeavored to gather cat supplies and take her (turned out to be a girl, not that one could tell when I first found her) to one of those portable clinics where we got her vaccinations and purchased dewormers - her feces, when she finally went, was crawling in parasites. However due to the crowd and the un-enthused nature of the workers at the clinic, we really didn't get any concrete answers out of them about caring for cats.
It has been two weeks now, she is up to seven pounds. She has been receiving cooked salmon (extras from our cooking, though none with any spices on it) and tuna from a can to supplement her dry cat food diet. Would salmon of tuna fed in small amounts make her ill? We've been giving it to her trying to put some weight on her.
We have trimmed her claws, they were looking more like bird talons than something retractable. Again she took it without fuss. She continues to sleep on my legs at night and is still friendly as can be to everyone she's met. She also still insists upon following me around everywhere I go while purring. Anyone can pick her up and handle her, but within a few minutes she's wiggled out of their arms and is back trying to get in my lap. Why is this cat so fascinated with me when every other cat is utterly terrified of me or despises me? Is it possible this cat has suffered brain trauma?
This cat can't really be a feral can it? Its so friendly. Seems more like a stray that got loose or was discarded.
Where else should I look to see if this cat's owner is looking for it? I've gone door-to-door, made a report with the humane society, checked Craigslist and PetFinder, and have been reading the local printed classifieds to no avail.
How does one tell if a female cat has been neutered? I didn't even think to ask at the humane society, and the clinic said take her to a vet. Is that the only way? I'm not exactly rolling in money here, and of the three vets I've contacted so far, all want at least $200 to have a look at her. What will they do to tell? Any way I could tell at home?
She likes golf balls. We got some stuffed toys and constructed a feather-on-string toy that she also loves to chase, but she found a pair of golf balls that she absolutely adores swatting around the house. Is it safe to let her continue playing with these? We got her a set of those cat balls with little bells in them, but after one or two smacks of those she's back to hunting out the golf balls.
^That's her. We put the harness on her, she didn't come with it.
A recount of what has happened:
On November 5th, I was working on my car in the side yard. I had turned on the engine and was simply allowing it to run for a few minutes to warm up while I sat in the driver's seat with the door open.
And then there was suddenly a striped grey cat in my lap. This rather took me off-guard, as cats and I have never been on speaking terms. A cat's usual reaction to me, regardless of how tame it may be to anyone else, is to usually run as far away as possible, or to lunge and attempt to maul my face. But this cat simply remained in my lap, meowed and rubbed its face against mine (whilst I cringed, waiting for the inevitable biting and clawing - which never came).
I have cared for many stray dogs (and birds, snakes, ferrets, even a goat) in my time, but never a cat. However it is my nature to attempt to help animals, and so I began looking over this grey cat. It was covered in fleas, and had some strange black goo stuck on its back (thankfully it was not motor oil, I know that stuff too well to not be able to identify it) and seemed quite skinny. It purred the entire time, stopping only to meow before continuing the purring.
Is it normal for cats to purr so much?
My boyfriend then came out, spotted me with said cat, and knowing of my previous history with the creatures, had himself a good laugh.
We weighed the cat that night, it came in at barely four pounds (I think the scale was being generous). I can only assume this is underweight for a cat? It had no stomach or any other internal organs to speak of that were easily palpable, the 'belly skin' behind the ribs was only that - skin. We fed it a can of tuna that night, having nothing else suitable for it. Grey cat slept on my legs that night, and we awoke to fleas. I cannot stand fleas, so suiting up in long sleeves, we endeavored to give the cat a bath. I expected there to be some battle wounds for our efforts, but aside from holding a 'spread eagle' post the entire time, the cat took the bath surprisingly well. No screaming, no hissing, no meowing, no clawing. I fear the cat may have lost another half-pound of it's weight in that bath though, so many fleas, dirt, hair and whatever that black stuff was came off of it. I didn't think so much filth could come off of such a small animal.
We walked her around the neighborhood asking anyone we could find going door-to-door if this was their cat, or if they even recognized it. Nothing. Three blocks north and south (I live on an island, east and west is water) and no one recognized the cat. We took her to the humane society and asked if they had any reports of a cat missing by her description. There weren't. They ran a scan for a microchip - nothing there either. I was wanting to leave her there, as I knew nothing of cats, but was told that the shelter was full and being as I said I found her on the streets (she found me, but it's all the same in their books) she would be counted as feral, and euthanized.
I took the cat home again.
Over the next four days we endeavored to gather cat supplies and take her (turned out to be a girl, not that one could tell when I first found her) to one of those portable clinics where we got her vaccinations and purchased dewormers - her feces, when she finally went, was crawling in parasites. However due to the crowd and the un-enthused nature of the workers at the clinic, we really didn't get any concrete answers out of them about caring for cats.
It has been two weeks now, she is up to seven pounds. She has been receiving cooked salmon (extras from our cooking, though none with any spices on it) and tuna from a can to supplement her dry cat food diet. Would salmon of tuna fed in small amounts make her ill? We've been giving it to her trying to put some weight on her.
We have trimmed her claws, they were looking more like bird talons than something retractable. Again she took it without fuss. She continues to sleep on my legs at night and is still friendly as can be to everyone she's met. She also still insists upon following me around everywhere I go while purring. Anyone can pick her up and handle her, but within a few minutes she's wiggled out of their arms and is back trying to get in my lap. Why is this cat so fascinated with me when every other cat is utterly terrified of me or despises me? Is it possible this cat has suffered brain trauma?
This cat can't really be a feral can it? Its so friendly. Seems more like a stray that got loose or was discarded.
Where else should I look to see if this cat's owner is looking for it? I've gone door-to-door, made a report with the humane society, checked Craigslist and PetFinder, and have been reading the local printed classifieds to no avail.
How does one tell if a female cat has been neutered? I didn't even think to ask at the humane society, and the clinic said take her to a vet. Is that the only way? I'm not exactly rolling in money here, and of the three vets I've contacted so far, all want at least $200 to have a look at her. What will they do to tell? Any way I could tell at home?
She likes golf balls. We got some stuffed toys and constructed a feather-on-string toy that she also loves to chase, but she found a pair of golf balls that she absolutely adores swatting around the house. Is it safe to let her continue playing with these? We got her a set of those cat balls with little bells in them, but after one or two smacks of those she's back to hunting out the golf balls.
^That's her. We put the harness on her, she didn't come with it.