Homeless Cat -- Now Spotacus' Legacy

[Wanderlost]

On 18 Dec, a very large cat showed up at our house. It was late and cold, and he looked in the door and made it clear he wanted inside. Well, since we have two cats already and he was a stranger, we could not let him in the house. WLToo walked out and the cat ran to him, so he walked the cat into the garage and into the climate controlled room out there.

He was extremely hungry and thirsty, but in otherwise good condition and very clean. We fixed up a bed for him, set up the feeding and elimination stations, and went to bed.

Next day, we worked in the garage all day, while the big guy slept or supervised. We found him to be an intact male, no sign he's ever worn a collar, and he has a strong need to be in the general vicinity of humans. For an intact male, he's remarkably mellow - I don't think he was the alpha cat in his previous home.

Have had zero responses to the "found cat" notices around the area and online, so we'll be working with the local rescues to get him neutered and all his shots, then find him a home. We can't keep him because he's just too big for our two cats to share our small house. Alex would have another emotional meltdown, and I don't want to go through that mess again (long, ugly story).

For now, we're calling him Spot, not that he answers to it (does answer to "Kitty, Kitty"). No idea how he travels; we'll find out when we take him to the vet on Tuesday.

If anyone knows of someone who would like a large (about 15-18 pounds) cat who needs to be with people, please let me know. No cat novices, please; this cat needs someone who knows exactly how to handle an adult cat of this size, especially when he's feeling frisky.





We're at Canyon Lake, TX, so if there are any Winter Texans nearby who would like to meet him and maybe give him a home, that would be great.

[Wanderlost]

After losing Czarny, and then Spousal Unit having one medical issue after another, we were not planning on adopting another cat(s) until after his hip replacement. The cat distribution system had other plans.

While working at the library on 17 Oct, a librarian asked if anyone within hearing range wanted a cat. Seems a cat was in the butterfly garden, approaching humans and being very, very friendly. The librarians, having experienced this often, figured the cat had been abandoned in the library vicinity. No one took her up on the offer, but several offered to feed the cat and put up adoption/foster notices on social media.

At library close, I headed out to my pickup. I heard a cat talking long before I got there. Sure enough, a ginger kitten of about 8 months was sitting under a tree near my pickup. And I made an enormous mistake.

I opened a passenger side door to put some stuff inside, then turned and found kitty close enough to touch. He insisted on being petted, rolling on my feet and talking incessantly. I got distracted and didn’t close the door. After a bit of quality kitty time, I turned back to the truck, and now there was a cat inside. Okay, then — looks like I've been adopted.

When I closed the door, he looked like he might have regretted being in the pickup. He panicked and started zooming all around the inside. I gave him a few minutes, until he slowed down, then quickly got inside. Soon as I started the engine, he stopped zooming and parked on the back seat. He stayed there, yakking all the way home.

I called Spousal Unit to advise him we’ve been adopted. He had the front door open, ready to quickly close it as soon as I got Kitty inside. I pulled up right beside the porch, so there would be as little transfer time as possible. I slipped out the door and went around to the passenger side, but Kitty decided to decamp to the driver’s side, under the pedals. Sigh.

A few treats and pleasant talk, and I finally got a good grip. Upon being released in the house, Kitty dashed behind the love seat, still talking. He eagerly came out for an entire can of wet food, then discovered the dry food. He talked to us off and on (mostly on) until we went to bed, first from behind the love seat, then from under our bed.

He showed absolutely no interest in the outside world. He would not go near an outside door, staying pretty much in the center of the house.

He does like to talk, and loves him some pettins. Not real big on being held and doesn’t quite understand being in a lap, although he’s showing a lot of interest there.

So one kitty makes himself home with us on 16 Oct. He named himself Ian, after he perked up and answered when we mentioned a friend by name.

On 28 Oct, I headed to Petsmart for kitten food, a toy or two, and some litter. Came home with all that, a new carrier and a kitten.

Yep, the cat distribution system thought we needed yet another ginger kitten. The 8-week-old little thing got washed out of a pickup’s under carriage in a car wash. The employees caught the terrified little bit, wrapped him in a tee shirt, then didn’t know what to do. They needed to get back to work, and so were going to release him in the field next to the car wash.

A customer said give him to her, and she promptly went to Petsmart. The vet clinic there checked him out, and other than covered in fleas and car wash muck, he was okay. Lee Ann (pretty name) walked around the store, getting a few folks interested in either fostering or adopting the kitten.

Then I wheeled my cart by and the kitten made its decision. Well, crap, I’m going home with another one. Bought a smaller carrier for a one-pound kitten and brought him home. Even though he’d chosen, he was still right spicy and hissy.

Drowning fleas on a wiggly little acrobat was interesting, but I managed. Then we put him into a big cage in the great room. Ian noticed him a couple hours later. They sniffed each other pretty thoroughly, silently, and Ian gently reached through the bars to touch Baby on the head. Then Ian laid beside the cage for several hours. No issues at all.

Next day, Baby got his first shots and a drop of flea/tick/mosquito killer. He spent several days in the cage, where he could safely watch us and Ian, and get over being all hissy with the humans. When we finally let him out, he proved to be a real gymnast, so that became his name, Gym.

He’s nearly trebled his weight since arrival, climbed all over everything he can reach, and shredded the dryer vent hose connection to the outside vent. I’ll need help moving the dryer out to fix that, so I’m drying the laundry outside.  He adores Ian, who is the most patient cat I've ever had.  He tolerates everything Gym tries with him.

At the moment, Gym is trying to nap on my arm. Makes typing a challenge.

Here they are, Ian on the left and Gym on the right:

Ian and GymIan and Gym

[Wanderlost]

Spousal Unit now has GP clearance for the tooth extraction.  Just waiting on that office to get back to us.  When that's complete, he'll still need regular cleaning.  Only then can we get back to the hip surgeon.  Looks like this surgery may not occur this year.  Sheesh.

Meanwhile, no movement on the Simon front.  Because SU is still in limbo, I really do not want to add a cat to the household.  It would be alone a lot when he finally goes in for the surgery, and that doesn't feel right to me.  Simon is being cared for, if not the way he was previously, so I feel no particular urgency in bringing him to our place.  When we're both here more often than not, then I think he could adapt more readily to a new home.

The barn swallows are long gone.  Haven't seen hummingbirds in a couple weeks, so I'll be taking down the feeder today.  Guess I'll make sweet tea with the leftover nectar -- not my favorite, but SU likes it.

It's rut time, so the deer are really moving about.  None show any inclination to adopt us humans the way Lassie and her progeny did.  I'm not even sure if any of her descendants have survived.

Our fox family has stopped transiting the property right around the house.  When I see one nowadays, it's down near the gate.  I miss them hanging around us.  However, now that rabies has made another incursion into the county, it's best they don't come around the house anymore.

Time to get back to crocheting Christmas presents.  This year is embarrass the nephews.  The Army pilot gets mesh shorts in desert camouflage (his wife is in on the gag).  The college boy gets a willy warmer in a yet-to-be-determined color.  His mom is really looking forward to seeing his face when he opens that package.

Best get to crocheting.  Later, y'all.

[Wanderlost]

The good news is Spousal Unit does not have cancer in his bones.  He does need a right hip replacement, though, as the femur top and hip socket are severely deformed now.  He'll come home from rehab by the end of the month, as they've done all they can to help him function while not putting weight on that leg.

He has a stress test scheduled, then a dentist visit, and then they'll schedule the hip replacement.  Back to rehab after the surgery for a bit, to get him used to walking without pain.  Back on his walker and later a cane after 3-4 months of healing and outpatient physical therapy, and then he should be fine.

While I'm still not in the mood to get a new cat, I did meet Simon, the large ten-year-old ginger kitty whose person has utterly forgotten he's hers.  She knows his name, but thinks she's just feeding a stray, so I approached her as though I'm thinking about adopting a stray.  She's all excited now about rehoming Simon.

Simon himself allowed me to be sniffed, then I could lightly pet him.  Short Friend says that's a major indicator that Simon might accept me, as he's never done that with any other stranger.  I did commit to going over often enough that Simon can get used to my scent and then we'll see if he'll accept me as part of his normal life.  He's very schedule oriented and territorial about his home, which makes it even harder for him to understand why his person has pushed him out of his house.

He's a lovely cat.  If he does accept me, I will bring him home, but not until Spousal Unit's situation is a bit more stable.  Simon will need a lot of time to get used to being in another home with other people, and if we're there more often than not, it will be easier for him.

[Wanderlost]

Spousal Unit went to the hospital on 19 Aug.  There they found a small hip fracture due to tumors in both hip and right femur.  He's currently in rehab so he can do things on one leg.  We'll see an orthopedic oncologist next week to determine what needs to be done.

I'm hoping his awesome immune system will fight off bone cancer the way it fought off prostate cancer.

That said, it's a good thing we decided to not get another cat until October.  Might be a bit later than that, considering how intensive cancer treatments can be.

[Wanderlost]

Saran didn't make it.  Her little body just couldn't overcome all the challenges of starvation and illness.  She went to the. Rainbow Bridge this afternoon, just short of two weeks after we brought her home.

Saran

Losing two cats in a month really stinks.

We won't be looking for another cat until October.  We should know by then if Spousal Unit's health issues will improve or if we need to put him on a wait list for assisted living.  If so, we won't be getting a pair of kittens like he wants.  He can't have pets in assisted living, and I don't want to care for more than one cat at a time by myself.

On the wildlife side, we seem to be down to only one hummingbird, and the barn swallows have either departed or decamped to lakeside.  The deer continue to wander past the house once or twice a day.  Otherwise, it's quiet around here.

Today wasn't a good day, so I'll just leave it here.  Later, y'all.

[Wanderlost]

Well, Saran (as in Saran Wrap) is not a kitten, just an extremely tiny (and starved) adult about 7-8 years old.  I believe she was a mostly outside cat, because she has no clue what a litter box is for.  She follows every human who comes into the house.  She's silent, like a feral, but wants to be with humans, like a tame cat.  We have her on antibiotics for possible hemoplasma and will redo the blood test in 3 weeks.  Her other bloodwork was normal.  Since we got her, I've been knocking myself out finding grain-free cat food with zero poultry products.  If there's the slightest hint of poultry in it, she'll walk away hungry.  Fortunately, I know she likes salmon, ocean whitefish and tuna, and beef -- all pate.  She won't touch dry food or dry treats.

Not wanting anything to chew could be because there's a fair amount of tartar on her teeth.  Can't do anything about that until her weight is back up to normal.  Last Thursday, she weighed 5 lbs, 2 oz.  Today, she weighs 6 lbs even, so the multiple daily feedings are working.

I've not seen her drink a single drop of water.  All her liquids seem to come from the pate.  I might add a teaspoon or two of water to the pate and see if she'll consume it.  Might not, because when she pees every other day, it's ¼ to ⅓ cup liquid.  Spousal Unit says her insides must consist of a huge bladder and colon, because her eliminations are the size of a good size dog. At least she's polite enough to pee and poop on the tile floor...

Speaking of, time to feed her again.  I'm trying to slowly back off from every two hours to less often.  We're in the every four hours stage.  Eventually we'll get to 2-3 times a day, as her weight comes up.

Anyhoo, later, y'all.

[Wanderlost]

While we're still working on a visit to see if the 10-year-old cat will consent to coming home with us, a sudden change in our home life occurred.  Seems a starving 8-9 month old kitten rescued itself by following some kids and their dogs home.  As dog people, they couldn't properly care for the kitten, so now she's here with us.

It's been a long, long time since we had to deal with starvation and complete ignorance of what a litter box is.  I'm feeding her about a tablespoon of wet food every few hours, and she's not even eating all of that.  Dry food is readily available, but while she sniffs it, she's not tried to eat it yet.  We'll find out at the vet if her teeth, gums, jaws, etc. are too fragile for dry food.  The retired vet tech who saw to kitty's rescue bathed, defleaed, dewormed, and provided a week's worth of a general antibiotic.  Also verified kitty is not chipped.  We'll get her chipped when we get her into the vet's office for a thorough once-over.

But now, it's time to feed her again.  Later, y'all.

Meanwhile, she follows one of us wherever we go.  I'm thinking of looking up various languages for the word "clingy."  Spousal Unit suggested Saran as a name (Saran Wrap)...

[Wanderlost]

We're still working on a meetup with Short Friend's neighbor's cat.  meanwhile, people are posting photos on local boards of dead cats and asking if it's Czarny.  Considering all the photos so far are of dead cats over 20 miles away, no, none are Czarny.  Hopefully, someone will recognize their own cat(s) and at least know what happened.

Spousal Unit insisted on going into the swimming pool yesterday.  He paddled around for a while, then the big test came, where he had to climb out via the swim ladder, without assistance.  I had my cell phone nearby, in case I needed to call the EMTs for assistance again.  But he did it all by himself!  Then he came back into the house and fell asleep in his chair.

Home heath is visiting now, and they're sending physical therapists starting this week.  We should know in 60 days if this form of PT will help him, or if he needs something more.

We actually heard a mosquito buzz us in the pool yesterday.  The barn swallows had not returned for the night from wherever they go during the day.  I see a few out there this morning, so hopefully they'll take care of the mosquitoes before heading out.  A person about 20 miles from here came down with West Nile virus, so folks are wary.  With all the barn swallows on our place, I'm surprised there was a mosquito at all.

Brunch time.  Later, y'all.

[Wanderlost]

While I'm still not giving up on the possibility of Czarny coming home, a friend reached out.  Her neighbor has dementia and after 10 years of loving her cat, suddenly no longer recognizes him.  She thinks he's an interloper bothering her two long-dead cats that preceded him, so she keeps chasing him outside.  Husband is still feeding and caring for the cat, but cat is grieving over his human no longer loving him.  We discussed it, and if the cat seems to accept us, we'll take him in, knowing he'll be grieving for a long time.

If Czarny comes home, he might throw a fit, too, but it appears this cat doesn't mind other cats and will just ignore him.  When he visits neighbor, her cat Millie throws a fit through the glass, and he just sits there calmly, looking at Millie.

We are trying to not bring a cat onboard before the end of September, as by then we should know if SU needs to be in rehab hospital or assisted living, and the possible upheaval wouldn't be good for an already grieving cat.  But if necessary, we'll bring him home sooner, if he allows us to.

A huge black-headed vulture swooped low over the pool just now, then rode the currents over to the next hill.  They are amazingly graceful in flight.  The three red-headed vultures that landed on the ground next to our livestock water trough was quite a sight, too.  They actually sniffed the stale trail mix I'd tossed out there for whatever critter(s) might want it, then got a drink and flew on.

All the baby birds have fully fledged and moved away from the house.  We only hear/see them occasionally during the day, and a little as they settle in for the night.  All survived this hatching; none got pushed out of the nest.  They all look quite healthy.

It rained 1.44" this week.  Pool's full, water trough is full.  Lots of rain upriver, but it won't really raise the lake level much.  We'll need much, much more rain upriver -- hopefully not all at once...

Time to gather materials for our writers' group this afternoon.  Later, y'all.

[Wanderlost]

My beloved Czarny disappeared last Wednesday.  We're still hoping he can make it home, but with a huge owl, a hawk, and a couple of coyotes being in the general vicinity, our hopes are waning.  Neighbors haven't seen him, not even the one neighbor Czarny visited frequently, and it doesn't appear he got locked into anyone's garage or shed.  He's chipped, so if someone does find him, we might get him back.

Czarny's brother, Rudy, disappeared suddenly the same way five years ago.  Absolutely the worst way to lose a pet is to never know what happened.

Given all of Spousal Unit's health issues, I'm not prepared to immediately adopt another cat or two.  I want to wait until I'm absolutely positive Czarny won't be coming home.  By then, we should know if SU will be just in a rehab hospital for a while, or if he'll need to move to assisted living.  If the latter, I would only want one cat.  If SU will be able to come home, we'd like a pair, one for each lap.  Either way, it/they will be strictly indoors, only going outside on a harness/leash, and never unattended.  Those days are over here, now that so much development has driven the predators out of their former territories and into ours.

Our barn swallows and another small bird have fledged and the house is surrounded by tiny birds flying everywhere.  The constant swooping and occasional bang when one hits a window is both distracting and entertaining.  So far, the littles are not damaged by whacking the glass.  They are starting to annoy the hummingbirds trying to reach the feeder, though.

Speaking of hummingbirds, time to refill the feeder.  Later, y'all.

P.S.  I cancelled my Photobucket account, so none of the older photos will appear anymore.  Can't edit older posts, either, so I can't add the photos from GS' internal ability.

[Wanderlost]

Hope all your Independence Day events were safe and happy.  I got up early to be on the county seat's bandstand, where the community band performed appropriate music while the parade went by.  Then we came home and relaxed by the pool or inside in the air conditioning until fireworks time.  This year's fireworks were far more subdued than in previous years - could be the cost was finally out of folks' budgets.

Spousal Unit had a snootful of bloodwork done yesterday, and gets an MRI and ultrasound tomorrow.  We're in step one of figuring out why he went from tooling around just fine with occasional walker use to suddenly barely able to walk at all.  When we get it figured out and fixed/mediated, we'll get him into the local rehab hospital to whip him back into some kind of shape.

Czarny wants to be outside, but it's too hot/humid, the birdies keep swooping him, a fox is looking at him or simply strolling by, and I'm not right there with him.  So he's spending most of the time inside now, and I'm fine with that.  He did want out a particular door day before yesterday, but a doe was eating carrots just outside it, and made it clear she didn't want him out there.  Mutual glaring through the glass ensued.

Finished a crocheted baby blanket for a friend.  Now starting the biggest project I've ever tried:  queen size bedspread for Sister.  I'm making about 20 12" squares, then will put them together into  a light and lacy bedspread.  It will also use up an entire tub of yarn.  Decreasing the stash is always good.

Lunch time.  Later, y'all.

[Wanderlost]

Unrelenting heat and humidity.  You'd think we suddenly lived in southern Louisiana...  The new mini-split in Spousal Unit's model train shed went belly up one week after installation.  Today, they installed a new one.  Hope it works longer than the previous one did.

We've almost finished installing the floor, and now that it's not so hot in there, we should be able to finish it up, and he can start moving his modules inside.  That means we'll be able to safely navigate inside the garage without getting battered by stuff and tools.

Czarny continues to prefer hanging out with me inside, especially now that the fox parents are bringing the kits up onto the deck to play.  Mama Fox also likes the occasional nap in a deck chair, away from the kits.

SU got a big shot in his right knee and it appears to be helping, but he's still having a lot of trouble walking.  Meanwhile, his neurologist told him to walk, as it's the only Parkinson's treatment that works all the time.  Very frustrating to not know why his legs suddenly decided they don't want to function properly.

Czarny wants to play now.  Later, y'all.

[Wanderlost]

Got most of the flooring into Spousal Unit's train building; just a few finish items to go.  But SU can't use his lovely new building; he can barely walk now, and we have no idea what happened.

Now add the unbelievably nasty humidity and heat, and we're just staying inside the house.  Even Czarny prefers being inside these days.  I pretty much only go out to swim.  We put a swim ladder in so SU could more easily get in and out, but he can't use it now.  Very frustrating, not knowing what happened and how to fix his inability to walk without great pain.

Not much else going on.  I'm taking care of him; he's writing more books; Czarny is sticking very close to me.  No fawns in the meadow yet, although there are lots in the area already.  The barn swallows are only using one nest on our north porch; they destroyed the south porch nest.  Fireflys are in profusion, and they're always fun to watch.

Hope y'all are not in the way of all those storms.

[Wanderlost]

After a good two weeks of icky humidity and little rain, yesterday was lovely.  Low humidity, breezy, partly sunny and a high of 83.  Sister and I took Mom to an early Mother's Day lunch, then shopping.  They both got some new clothes after a long, hard search for things that were not covered in ruffles.  I do most of my shopping at Tractor Supply, so wasn't aware of all the ruffles and garish color combinations currently in fashion.  I will admit the shirts that looked like Victorian wallpaper didn't totally suck, except for the ruffles...

The mini split gets installed into Spousal Unit's train shed on Monday.  We still need to finish plopping down the interlocking floor mats, but it will be fully functional by Monday evening.  I'm so looking forward to the last of his model railroad stuff no longer cluttering up the office/library/sewing room.

Czarny has a new pastime.  When he sees one of the foxes passing by the house, he runs from window to window, watching closely, but silently.  However, when he sees a cat pass by, he does the same while shrieking in outrage.  Seems he's pretty much okay with the foxes, who seem to be pretty okay with him (and us humans).  Other cats, however...

We're back to humid today, but a high of only 80, so it'll be tolerable.  Guess I'd best be heading out to clean the pool filter.  Later, y'all.