Rest in peace, Sammy Kitty
We've put out food and water for all the stray cats in our apartment complex well over a month. It's sad to see these skinny cats run around, frightened, and drinking pool water. On Thursday of this week, we went to run some errands and we were greeted by a very friendly white and grey kitten. We've seen him before and even interacted with him, so we knew he was sweet and not dangerous. It was storming and he was begging, so we brought him inside, locked him in the spare bathroom, and gave him some food and water.
About an hour later, we put him back outside. I mean, we can't just take in a stray kitten, right? Near bedtime, about four hours later, we had this mental image of him still sitting outside, scared. We looked, and, sure enough, he was waiting for us and begged very effectively for help.
We brought him inside, locked him in our bedroom so he wouldn't interact with our other cats, in case he had worms or fleas. He slept with us (right between our heads) and was purring constantly. He ate, drank, used the litter box, and slept very soundly. He really found his way deep into our hearts in just a few hours. We were planning on fostering him for a while if we had to, or trying to get him into a shelter (but we both knew we would probably keep him).
No shelters would take him in as they were all full. We made an appointment at a vet to get him checked out so we could feel safe about having him in the house, get his vaccinations started, look into how much it would cost to neuter him, etc. At the same time, we e-mailed a craigslist ad for someone looking for a cat. Everything was going very well for this kitten.
Today was the vet visit and we found out that he had FIV (kitty AIDS). We couldn't take him home, definitely no shelter would take him now, there's no treatment for it, and we couldn't just stick him in a cage at the vet's office for weeks (or longer) until we found a home for him. And who would adopt an FIV positive kitty anyway? An FIV positive cat is infectious (to cats, not humans), and is going to die a painful death at some point in the future ... 6 months or many years, it's tough to say. We couldn't put him back outside to infect other cats.
We did the only thing we could -- we put him to sleep. It broke our hearts. He was covered in battle scars, and even had a fresh wound on his arm that the vet uncovered. He had no other signs of illness -- he was good tempered, had normal bathroom usage, no vomiting, was eating and drinking well, not scratching, and had no visible fleas or ticks.
We donated some money to a cat shelter in his name. We worked really hard to not name him so it would be easier to give him up once we found decent home. But we kinda liked "Sammy." "In death, a member of project mayhem gets a name."
Rest in peace, Sammy kitty, you died too early. We were the only ones who knew you and we'll remember you and keep you in our hearts. We're so sorry you had to die, and that we had to make that call. We knew you two days and we'll miss you always.
Quikctime video of Sammy being sweet - Quicktime video of Sammy at play
(Sam, your mom was right about me ... and I do a terrible job of hiding it)
About an hour later, we put him back outside. I mean, we can't just take in a stray kitten, right? Near bedtime, about four hours later, we had this mental image of him still sitting outside, scared. We looked, and, sure enough, he was waiting for us and begged very effectively for help.
We brought him inside, locked him in our bedroom so he wouldn't interact with our other cats, in case he had worms or fleas. He slept with us (right between our heads) and was purring constantly. He ate, drank, used the litter box, and slept very soundly. He really found his way deep into our hearts in just a few hours. We were planning on fostering him for a while if we had to, or trying to get him into a shelter (but we both knew we would probably keep him).
No shelters would take him in as they were all full. We made an appointment at a vet to get him checked out so we could feel safe about having him in the house, get his vaccinations started, look into how much it would cost to neuter him, etc. At the same time, we e-mailed a craigslist ad for someone looking for a cat. Everything was going very well for this kitten.
Today was the vet visit and we found out that he had FIV (kitty AIDS). We couldn't take him home, definitely no shelter would take him now, there's no treatment for it, and we couldn't just stick him in a cage at the vet's office for weeks (or longer) until we found a home for him. And who would adopt an FIV positive kitty anyway? An FIV positive cat is infectious (to cats, not humans), and is going to die a painful death at some point in the future ... 6 months or many years, it's tough to say. We couldn't put him back outside to infect other cats.
We did the only thing we could -- we put him to sleep. It broke our hearts. He was covered in battle scars, and even had a fresh wound on his arm that the vet uncovered. He had no other signs of illness -- he was good tempered, had normal bathroom usage, no vomiting, was eating and drinking well, not scratching, and had no visible fleas or ticks.
We donated some money to a cat shelter in his name. We worked really hard to not name him so it would be easier to give him up once we found decent home. But we kinda liked "Sammy." "In death, a member of project mayhem gets a name."
Rest in peace, Sammy kitty, you died too early. We were the only ones who knew you and we'll remember you and keep you in our hearts. We're so sorry you had to die, and that we had to make that call. We knew you two days and we'll miss you always.
Quikctime video of Sammy being sweet - Quicktime video of Sammy at play
(Sam, your mom was right about me ... and I do a terrible job of hiding it)