<p>Over a year ago , our dear friend passed away as a result of diabetes. It was a difficult time for our family and also our employees, since he also worked for our family business. His family proved themselves to be aloof and uncaring when it came to making arrangements for services and final plans…still fighting amongst themselves over his assets.
He never married and became somewhat reclusive in the last few years of his life. The one joy he had in his life was his cat. He took better care of him than he did of himself .
The family came up with a pretty off the wall solution to what to do with the cat, which pretty much left the cat the fend for itself in the wild…to us, his close friends it equalled coyote food.
I am feeding another cat at a friend’s house in the neighborhood and when we went there yesterday, and passed the home where our friend lived, kitty was in the driveway.
I was so upset
I jumped out of the car to approach the cat and he was very happy to have someone know his name and give him some love
It really struck a nerve with me because I am an animal lover and I know how much the cat meant to our lost friend</p>
<p>That being said, I cannot bring the cat to my house. I have a quirky old cat that took to spraying around my house when there were strays outside…
Also, my dogs wouldn’t tolerate him and we have a growing coyote problem in the woods behind our house
My dilemma is, do I take him to the no kill shelter to keep him safe , fed and caged, or do I take him to the vet for shots,deworming,shaving ( he is so matted ) and flea treatment and let him continue to live outside…I do think neighbors have provided him with food and water but no shelter
We live in an area that is over run with strays and taking him to a shelter is almost guaranteed to not result in an adoption
Advice needed, from other cat people</p>
<p>Any chance someone else at your work would like to adopt the kitty? Perhaps if you offered the vet treatment, someone would be,willing to adopt kitty.</p>
<p>Most of the people who work for us are college students and not in a position to take in a pet…or other cat people who already commit to other strays ( in quantity )</p>
<p>I am not a cat person so don’t quite understand the whole stray, living outside issue but this does sound very sad and not want your friend would have wanted. I would be inclined to take him to the vet, get him cleaned up before you take him anywhere else. He sounds like he could use some TLC .</p>
<p>Maybe someone else would take him as an office cat. Have any other friends you could ask?</p>
<p>In the meantime, take him to a no kill shelter while you work on this to buy somemore time. You could also post on the craigslist in the volunteer section if someone would want him for either a home or office cat. Make sure to post a picture so someone would see it and hopefully fall in love.</p>
<p>If you can afford it, taking him to the vet to get all the necessary things done to make the kitty’s life easier and then taking him to the no kill shelter until you can find a place for him would be ideal. They can at least keep him safe.</p>
<p>Then I would ask around at local businesses, friends/family, etc to see if anyone could at least foster the kitty until a more permanent place could be found. Not ideal but better than coyote food. </p>
<p>So sorry, but I’m glad he’s got a human looking out for him :)</p>
<p>I volunteer at a no-kill cat shelter. The cats there are very well cared for but of course would be better in their own homes. If you do decide to take this cat to a shelter, one thing you can do would be to write a detailed biography of the cat (age, personality, funny habits, the fact that he was loved dearly by an owner who passed away, etc). We post these biographies outside the cat rooms along with a picture of the cat so that people who come in looking for a cat to adopt can get to know the cats a little more. Cats’ personalities are often very different in a shelter vs in a home, so if this particular cat is shy in the shelter, for example, then a biography telling of his good qualities might help make him more adoptable.</p>
<p>Best wishes in finding this cat a good home.</p>
<p>My cat Ziggy is provided for in my will, so that I know that he will always be taken care of if he survives me. How sad that this poor kitty was just tossed away like this. I hope you are able to find a place for him soon, before his luck runs out.</p>
<p>Take the cat to the vet - that starts the process. The cat obviously needs some help. Talk to the vet: the vet may buy you a couple days - board him while he gets shots and grooming. The vet may know someone willing to foster - our vet works with a rescue organization. He/she may know someone who wants a cat.</p>
<p>Get word of the cat spread as far as you can. The college students should be able to help with that. We rescued a mother cat with four kittens and managed to get mom and two kittens adopted by letting everyone know about them. We kept the other two.</p>
<p>How awful! I’m surprised a pampered pet has managed to survive so long alone. Good for kitty.</p>
<p>If I was in your position, I would take kitty to my vet to get shots and cleaned up. Perhaps the vet would have some helpful suggestions on how to proceed. If the vet doesn’t have a solution, I’d then take her to a no-kill shelter so she’ll be safe and fed. </p>
<p>No pet should be abandoned like that. Shame on your friend’s relatives. And kudos for you to be so caring. </p>
<p>(It’s stories like this that prompted me to have provisions for my cats in my will when I was single.)</p>
