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Sorry, another novel of mine. But hopefully I may hit a nerve here for someone that owns a pet and that does not takes the ownership or the adoption of their pet, as a serious commitment on to themselves.
The stray cat problem is really bad in my town now. I do not understand how people can just toss a cat or a dog, on the street after adopting them. It is being done every day now in some city, because people are just moving off and leaving them. Due to not having the money any longer to care for them, or their new housing does not allow pets. Or maybe a newborn has changed the pet owners mind about keeping a pet in the home. Its sad, regardless of the reasonings.
My wife is the cat lover and now after 28 years with me being a dog lover, she has got me sort of liking them too. We have had two indoor cats now for 3 years that she adopted, a Bombay and a Siamese Snowshoe in the pic attached.
Almost two years ago while mowing, I found a starving kitten living in the drain pipe that runs under our driveway.
When I told my wife about it, she starts putting out food and water for it on the back porch. After she spent a month feeding and "socializing" the kitten, it finally allowed her to touch it. My wife not being one to confuse a cat, she named it Kitten. She found the kitten was a male and had been neutered. So someone had owned the kitten and put it out on the street to forage for its own.
The rest of the story unfolds as now Kitten, is not starving any longer as the pic of him on the bed pad, shows now.
Now two months ago another male cat has shown up at our back door, stray and scared to death of people and VERY hungry. I named the cat Marley, and he is the un-neutered male cat sitting on our porch in the pic waiting on his breakfast that is being readied for him.
I should have named him " Grumpy" as what a face he has on him. He has a lot to be grumpy about I guess, while fighting other tomcats and trying to find food daily.
We agreed that 4 cats in our small home is too many. So while knowing that Marley is out here making more homeless kittens and he now has a injured back leg probably from fighting tomcats, we went and talked to our shelter.
They told us we had two choices to make for Marley. Have animal control trap him and bring him to the shelter. They would then treat his hurt leg, neuter him and then notch his ear to prove of such and then release him as a feral cat or give him away as a barn cat.
Or, they would neuter him, treat his leg and not notch his ear, and give him his rabies shot. But only IF we agreed to allow him to be released back to us, as our "outdoor" cat.
So...., ... Animal control trapped Marley yesterday and next week it looks like we are going to have a outdoor cat. Which is fine, as he will keep down our mice, moles, big garter snake population . And my wife will socialize Marley enough to get a collar on him (breakaway type) so the neighbor's will know he has a human.
And he will get a cat house with straw and bedding on the porch for the cold days, if he chooses to come back to our home after we had him trapped. He may not, as cats are not very forgiving when they get betrayed. Especially when the betrayal means a male lost his jewels.
Seriously, I really wish that people would not just toss away their animals, because the shelters will take them now as most have outdoor cages for OGU's (owner give ups) Just so the pet owner does not have to even ID even themselves, they can just leave their pet in the drop off cage and then drive off.
It really P's me off, to keep seeing these stray and homeless pets show up in my neighborhood so often now. All while someone has pushed their pet owning responsibities off on to others that do give a damn, about an animals well being. JMO
Last edited by greglovesoldtrucks; 03-22-2019 at 05:58 PM..
I'm very happy to hear that you're getting this guy neutered and fixed up!
I hear you about people dumping cats. It's just cruel and irresponsible. I am fighting an uphill battle with three cats who were tossed away a few years ago. One is our Lucy, who had one litter of kittens before I could trap (and then adopt) her. The two adults were caught/neutered. I have only been able to TNR one of her kittens.
I now know where (most of?) them live and the property owners are not cooperative. If any come onto our property I will TNR those but they are elusive and I've been unable to get any more. Sigh. I wish people understood that dumping even ONE unaltered cat will cause problems for decades if not addressed.
Our town is the same, cats around everywhere. Some of them look rough from a hard life and some of them just look cold and hungry. They have enough dumpsters not to come around begging, but even supposed pet cats, some people never allow them in. It really irks the heck out of me as I can too often drive past a poor cat dead on the side of the road. You're a good person to take care of Marley and I wish there was something I could get people to do around here. Even with a catio, I don't feel comfortable letting my cat out. I have a kind of plan for the front porch so we can be out together, but unsupervised time is off.
Sorry, another novel of mine. But hopefully I may hit a nerve here for someone that owns a pet and that does not takes the ownership or the adoption of their pet, as a serious commitment on to themselves.
The stray cat problem is really bad in my town now. I do not understand how people can just toss a cat or a dog, on the street after adopting them. It is being done every day now in some city, because people are just moving off and leaving them. Due to not having the money any longer to care for them, or their new housing does not allow pets. Or maybe a newborn has changed the pet owners mind about keeping a pet in the home. Its sad, regardless of the reasonings.
My wife is the cat lover and now after 28 years with me being a dog lover, she has got me sort of liking them too. We have had two indoor cats now for 3 years that she adopted, a Bombay and a Siamese Snowshoe in the pic attached.
Almost two years ago while mowing, I found a starving kitten living in the drain pipe that runs under our driveway.
When I told my wife about it, she starts putting out food and water for it on the back porch. After she spent a month feeding and "socializing" the kitten, it finally allowed her to touch it. My wife not being one to confuse a cat, she named it Kitten. She found the kitten was a male and had been neutered. So someone had owned the kitten and put it out on the street to forage for its own.
The rest of the story unfolds as now Kitten, is not starving any longer as the pic of him on the bed pad, shows now.
Now two months ago another male cat has shown up at our back door, stray and scared to death of people and VERY hungry. I named the cat Marley, and he is the un-neutered male cat sitting on our porch in the pic waiting on his breakfast that is being readied for him.
I should have named him " Grumpy" as what a face he has on him. He has a lot to be grumpy about I guess, while fighting other tomcats and trying to find food daily.
We agreed that 4 cats in our small home is too many. So while knowing that Marley is out here making more homeless kittens and he now has a injured back leg probably from fighting tomcats, we went and talked to our shelter.
They told us we had two choices to make for Marley. Have animal control trap him and bring him to the shelter. They would then treat his hurt leg, neuter him and then notch his ear to prove of such and then release him as a feral cat or give him away as a barn cat.
Or, they would neuter him, treat his leg and not notch his ear, and give him his rabies shot. But only IF we agreed to allow him to be released back to us, as our "outdoor" cat.
So...., ... Animal control trapped Marley yesterday and next week it looks like we are going to have a outdoor cat. Which is fine, as he will keep down our mice, moles, big garter snake population . And my wife will socialize Marley enough to get a collar on him (breakaway type) so the neighbor's will know he has a human.
And he will get a cat house with straw and bedding on the porch for the cold days, if he chooses to come back to our home after we had him trapped. He may not, as cats are not very forgiving when they get betrayed. Especially when the betrayal means a male lost his jewels.
Seriously, I really wish that people would not just toss away their animals, because the shelters will take them now as most have outdoor cages for OGU's (owner give ups) Just so the pet owner does not have to even ID even themselves, they can just leave their pet in the drop off cage and then drive off.
It really P's me off, to keep seeing these stray and homeless pets show up in my neighborhood so often now. All while someone has pushed their pet owning responsibities off on to others that do give a damn, about an animals well being. JMO
Wonderful you're so caring about the cats.
None of our cats were sought or purchased. They were all very sweet when we took them in. We found them left behind at peoples homes when the humans moved or they appeared from the neighborhood, liking our higher porch in the sun and safety for a while and then one day deciding to come inside and then one day deciding to stay. We knew from the neighbors they were without homes but comfortable in the neighborhood on all those old porches with a few people that fed them here and there. The thing seemed to be if the cat and human were okay with each other the human would start to feed the cat. If it didn't work out the cat would move on. If the cat was in favor, the cat would stay. It was all up to the cat in that neighborhood.
I wonder if your recent cat will decide he wants to come in sometimes after a while.
Update: We thought after animal control took Marley to the shelter on 3/20/2019 and they got his leg cured and did his neutering and shots, that we would get him back in around 3-5 days. The animal shelter has had Marley for over 12 days now, while trying to cure the infection is in back leg.
Something had cut him between his toes on his back left leg and his whole foot was badly infected. Even with the antibiotics the shelter's vet was giving him, they could not get it under control and the infection went up in to his hip.
The woman at the shelter that was handling Marley's care called us this afternoon. She went to feed Marley early this morning and found him lying dead in his cage.
With him being almost feral and had never been held captive, along with the neutering and anti-biotic shots he was getting.... I think his heart just gave out from anxiety probably more so, than the infection killing him. The vet said Marley was no more than two years old.
P.S. And for the people out here that allow their pets to go stray to live in the streets. Or that do not get them spayed or neutered, so they cannot produce more homeless cats and dogs.
I hope in their next life they come back as a homeless cat or dog, just so they will know what it feels like, to be homeless
We are so sorry Marley, we were just trying to help you get well. My wife and I were looking forward to you being our yard cat, with your food, water and shelter being provided to you. RIP handsome boy,
Last edited by greglovesoldtrucks; 04-04-2019 at 04:27 AM..
I am so very very sorry to hear of Marley's passing. You and your wife did your very best...a wonderful thing.
Thank you kindly. My wife and I are having a hard time with it right now. Second guessing ourselves, why we even called AC and then having him pinned up in a cage scared, given shots, neutered, and forcibly handled for 12 days. I would probably have had a heart attack, if I was done that way.
She and I discussed that a lot of animals cure their own wounds by licking them. But after a week of seeing him limping about he was not getting any better, but worse.
We lived through putting two of our very beloved dogs down 10 years apart, a Golden and a Chow. Marley's death is just a shock to us, as we thought it was a simple process to get him back to us.
It happens, and I am also very sorry for your loss Greg. Perhaps you can help another stray since poor Marley is gone. It sounds like you and your wife have your heart in the right place.
Just so you know you're not alone in this kind of grief, a few years back my wife fell in love with a lean but sweet gray stray. She noticed him one evening actually trying to eat bird seed that had fallen from the bird feeder. It freaked her out he could be so hungry, so I had strict orders he was to be welcomed and fed.
After a few weeks, we fell in love and named him Constantine. He was such a love-bug, but beaten up like your Marley, from being a male and not neutered.
He became so tame she was able to pick him up about a month later, and I drove him to the vet for the checkup and neuter.
Unbeknownst to me, on the drive back home, the Vet office called her, and told her the cat had feline leukemia. She asked if anything could be done. They said yes, but they knew he would always be an outdoor cat, and knowing this, they told her he would always be a risk to other cats living outside. She asked them what would the Vet recommend.
Vet told her if it was him, he'd put him down. She told me she cried, but agreed. (there were other cats on our property that lived outside too)
So the sweet little gray Constantine was put to sleep after going though all of that. I turned around and drove back up to retrieve his body and pay for the service. He is buried under a palm in our back yard.
I'm so sorry that Marley's story ended the way it did. Try not to beat yourself up over it. You did what you could for him, so take some comfort in that.
My heart goes out to you & your wife. Peace be with you.
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She found the kitten was a male and had been neutered. So someone had owned the kitten and put it out on the street to forage for its own. 
... Animal control trapped Marley yesterday and next week it looks like we are going to have a outdoor cat. Which is fine, as he will keep down our mice, moles, big garter snake population . And my wife will socialize Marley enough to get a collar on him (breakaway type) so the neighbor's will know he has a human. 
