2 years ago we started putting cat food out on the deck, for the stray cats in our area.
Some of them, we knew, were not strays….just moochers.
About 7 months ago, we saw a little cat almost slither up the stairs and over to
the food dish. His ears were flat on his head and he looked like he was not going to
make it through the night. As soon as we saw him. we fell in love with him.
He looked so sad, and I knew then and there that I had to get him to trust me.
He was in bad shape, and he looked so sad, that Les called him SadSack.
When he would see us, or just our shadows looking out the window, he would scurry
away. He always walked crouched down, close to the ground. For a while we
thought that his little legs were only about an inch long.
Every day he would come up on the deck to eat, and as long as we stayed in the shadows
and he couldn’t see us…..he would eat. We noticed that he was spending a lot of time
at the dish, but didn’t eat very much. We were not sure if his appetite was just not very
big, or if he was having a difficult time eating the hard food. So we bought some soft
can food and left that out for him. He loved the soft food and started showing up
regularly for meals. Soon he would allow us to look out the window at him while he
ate his meal and soon after that, he would come up on the deck as I was putting his
dish out for him. So I started sitting on the opposite end of the deck and talking to
him while he ate. I introduced him to some Temptations Cat Treats and he really
like them and would come over to me and eat them out of my hand. By this time,
we had made him a bed underneath our mini home and he spent a lot of days
sleeping and eating there. On rainy days we would bring his food out to him.
He got very used to being around us, but still would not let us touch him. Finally,
one of his ears straightened up. I noticed a large gash on the side of his face,
where his ear had been turned down, but when I tried to approach him to see if
I could possibly have a closer look he would hiss and growl and run away.
He was very thin and had various scars all over his little body. His rump, just
above his tail was black and leathery looking and his hair was peeling away from
his skin. His left eye was constantly running with big globs of heaven knows what.
SadSack continued to visit us, sometimes three times a day, and somewhere
along the way, found his legs and started walking tall. He began to look a little
healthier and there was a spring in his step. He would look like he was getting
better for a few days and then start looking sick again.
[Writers Note] This does not include the many, many days and nights, that I
walked the floor, waiting for my little buddy to show up, and worrying that he
may have lost his battle, or had gotten hit by a car, or some other horrible end
to his lonely little life.
We bought him de-worming pills from the vet and started giving them to him
once a month, on the vet’s advise….but I am not sure if that helped or not.
Two weeks before I finally took him to the veterinarian we had a real frosty
night, and I could see SadSack all curled up in a little ball on my deck.
I opened my door and invited him in, as I had done many times before, but he
would only stick his head inside and look around and then move away, and
the same thing happened that night. I didn’t want him to be cold, so I took
a sturdy cardboard box and put a big fluffy puff in it, and brought it out to
the deck. I had no sooner laid it on the deck, when SadSack jumped in it and
settled down to go to sleep. So I got another smaller puffy blanket and laid
it over him and tucked him in, and he slept all curled up, with one ear sticking
out from under the blankets, for the rest of the night. He didn’t move all night,
and so I felt the need to check on him several times, just to make sure that he
was OK. When I went out and spoke to him…he would open his eyes and
blink at me and snuggle down tighter into the blankets. What a little sweetheart!
The next morning, he got up late…..and when I went to rearrange the blankets,
I noticed that they were very damp. So I took them indoors and washed and dried
them, so I could use them the following night. The same thing happened the next
night. SadSack snuggled down inside the blankets and went to sleep. I watched
him for about an hour and then decided that tonight was the night. I made a bed
up for him in my bathroom and put in a kitty litter and food and water, and then
went out and picked the box up and carried it into the bathroom. SadSack jumped
out of the box and had a good look around. He didn’t seem afraid at all.
He wasn’t fond of the bed I had made for him, and tried to climb into the lower
shelf where I keep my towels, so I removed all the towels and folded the big puff,
and put that in there. He immediately climbed up and made himself comfortable,
and went to sleep. I took a puffy towel and bunched it around him, because I didn’t
want him to be cold, and turned the heat on in the bathroom. The next morning,
he woke up and had a meal and used the kitty litter and I let him go outside again.
During the day, he slept on the deck and had no desire to come indoors, but that
evening, when I opened my front door, he walked in and went through my kitchen
and living room and into the bathroom, where he had his supper and climbed up
in his bed and went to sleep again. After doing this for three nights in a row,
I knew it was time to call the vet and see if I could bring him in. I knew that he
was sick, but had no idea what to do for him. I had heard so many great stories
about Dr. Bails, that of course I called her clinic and made an appointment for
SadSack for the following week. During that week, SadSack started staying in
the bathroom, for longer periods of time, so I started putting my cat Mopar in the
spare bedroom and letting SadSack have the run of the house. He seemed to really
enjoy that. I didn’t want to let the two cats meet each other, until I was sure that
it was safe to do that. So Mopar ended up in the spare bedroom at least twice a day,
for that week. He didn’t like that, but he got over it.
I finally brought SadSack into the Veterinarian and was told that I should leave him there
and call back the next day…..which I did.
Dr. Bails phoned me and told me that SadSack was an older cat, and did have some
problems. He had fleas and most of his teeth were missing, and the ones he had left
were bad. She told me that he had a tumor on his testicles and another one in his
abdomen. She suggested that I leave SadSack there for a few more days, so that
they could help him and give him good nutritious food. She also wanted to get him
used to being handled. She also told me that SadSack will need to be kept warm at
all times and that he needed to be cuddled. So now I am waiting to call her on Friday,
which will be in two days, to see how he is doing. I can’t wait to see him and I am
looking forward to cuddling him once and for all. This is something I have dreamed
of doing, since I first saw him.
Today is Thursday Oct. 11/07 and I couldn’t wait until tomorrow, so I called Dr. Bails and
asked her how SadSack was doing. She seemed to be in a hurry, but did tell
me that he was eating well and that I could call back at any time. I asked her
if there was a possibility that I could bring SadSack home tomorrow, and she
told me to call back tomorrow and we would speak again. I am guessing that she
will probably want to keep him at the clinic until after the weekend. Even though
I miss him terribly and want him to come home, I trust the doctor’s judgement.
So if she says that he should stay for the weekend, then I guess I won’t be bringing
him home tomorrow. I hope he doesn’t forget me !!!
