on monday, at Monday Night Drinking Club, we found a street cat.
(aside: MNDC is exactly what it sounds like: a group of my friends get together every monday for drinks and general hanging out, at whoever's house is the current meet-up. it's an excuse to get together often. and also to drink. on monday.)
now this isn't an uncommon occurrence, seeing as how new orleans is overrun with feral cats and dogs. this time was different though - not only did said cat walk up and be extremely friendly, but she was also in really bad shape. in a very apparent starving, listless, matted fur state.
well, here's some pictures.
i know she doesn't look terrible from above, but it's also hard to tell without context. so here's some context. (note: her tail is almost as wide as she is...)
this cat is about as wide as one of our hands. she's sweet and amenable and she wants to be loved, but you can literally count every single bone on her tiny little body. her breast bone (which you really can't feel on any decent-sized kitty) is sharp. you could probably learn cat anatomy by petting her. i'm afraid to pet her too much, because i worry it might hurt her. but she does seem to love the attention.
but look at that adorable face! we named her Harvey, because The Matt remarked that she looked like Two-Face from Batman, and he's right. (that guy's name is Harvey Dent, by the by.)
more context. she is as wide as my foot under that fur. she is also a long kitty, longer than our kitties. and she probably weighs a third as much. if even. oh, and she's lying down in this picture. and you know how cats look much larger when they're all splatted out...
Matt and i agree that we really can't afford to support another cat, sad as that is. on tuesday we went to see if a shelter (no-kill, of course) could take her in. we found a good shelter, but they were so backlogged they have a waiting list. damn. but they did say if we became her foster parents, then they would be able to pay for the medical stuff. because it was very obvious that the poor kitty needed to see a vet, STAT.
Harvey kitty sadface.
we took her to the vet, and learned:
she is hyper-thyroid (which is partly why she's so skinny), and needs meds for that. twice a day.
she's an old lady, probably 13 or 14.
she also has a raging infection, which they determined was in her mouth, because there was no other place it could be without it being obvious. so her teeth are all kinds of bad. it's another reason why she's so small, because it much really hurt to eat/drink when your teeth are killing you.
and she's on antibiotics also now, twice a day.
ha, good luck trying to foist that much medicine on a cat.
on monday we go back to the vet - and they are gonna chat about pulling out her teeth, possibly that day. poor darling. but the vet assures she will feel so much better afterward, so we're really rooting for that.
cute, cute face.
of course, we went to the vet in a spectacular fashion, like we do:
we don't have a cat carrier, so we just brought her in a box. not only did we have by far the saddest-looking animal there, but we just grabbed the first box we saw. so it wasn't until we showed up at the vet that we realized we were not only toting a cat who looks like she was starved and abused, but we brought her in a Tanqueray box.
yeah. we looked like alcoholic pet abusers.
who were there on charity from the shelter.
gah.
at least they didn't accuse us of either alcoholism or animal cruelty.
as soon as she gets better and puts on some weight, hopefully the shelter will be able to take her. and hopefully someone will really want to adopt Geriatric Kitty. who needs daily meds, and who knows how expensive those are. although the vet said it was reasonably common, so hopefully not too expensive?
i have the sneaking suspicion we've just kinda adopted another pet, if she can't find a loving owner. sigh. hello, Harvey. welcome to the menagerie. and for fuck's sake, eat some more food!
5 comments:
Aw, that cat is so freaking cute!!! And sad. :( I hope she ends up feeling better soon. I don't think I could have left her outside if I saw her, either.
That was incredibly kind of you guys to take her in. It looks as if she was literally on her last leg. How lucky of her to have been saved. Happy Weekend!
Good for you doing the right thing! I wish Harvey the best new life imaginable.
What a face! I would not have been able to pass her by, either. I hope Harvey is feeling better soon, and you are able to give her her forever home.
Aw I loves her! /automatic baby talk
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