Macavity Update 4
Macavity is... a boy cat. Most definitely a boy cat, in fact, who may have to go under the knife at some point (Nick doesn't like me discussing that, out of male solidarity). He revealed this fact to me earlier this morning, while I was playing with him/attempting to clean his fur, when he rolled over onto his back and requested a tummy-tickle.
He's taken very well to his new 'home' in the office, climbing on everything, including an attempt to scale the spare mattress that's propped up on one wall that ended up with said mattress bent over to make a little 'roof'. Mostly though he likes to sit on the windowsill or lie on the floor where the light comes in through the window and sun himself. Now that he's calmed down, too, he's showing himself to be such a wonderfully friendly cat that Nick and I are going to be heartbroken when he leaves, but unfortunately we're just not in a position to be able to look after two cats and look after them properly, and both Jelli and Mac deserve that.
We tried giving him a clean this morning as well. Now that he's calmed down and is out from behind the cupboards, he's been able to do some of it himself, but his tail is still pretty manky, as is a couple of spots on his lower back and both his back legs. Wet-wipes (to be exact, a couple of gentle-action facial cleaning wipes I got for myself a few months ago) did some good, but we had to cut a few clumps from his fur that were just beyond hope. Thankfully, he was completely unfazed by this (he thought it was all a game). Unfortunatly, we can't do his back legs or a lot of his tail because he won't stay still and gets scared when you touch his paws.
Which leads on to the other issues. For one, it looks like his claws have never been trimmed - they're longer than Jelli's were when she came to live with us, and she'd been on the streets for some time - and he doesn't like it when his paws are touched. He's also very thin, wolfs down any food you give him and looks around the whole time like you're going to take it from him/beat him for it, and his tummy is unusually bald. Couple that with the way he turned up on our doorstep, and you've got me calling the RSPCA's Abuse and Neglect line is a short while. Poor thing. The RSPCA might well ask us to look after him for a while till they or Cats' Protection have a space for him, but I feel I need to ring them at this point just to report what has happened to the poor cat.
At least I got 12 hours' sleep last night.
He's taken very well to his new 'home' in the office, climbing on everything, including an attempt to scale the spare mattress that's propped up on one wall that ended up with said mattress bent over to make a little 'roof'. Mostly though he likes to sit on the windowsill or lie on the floor where the light comes in through the window and sun himself. Now that he's calmed down, too, he's showing himself to be such a wonderfully friendly cat that Nick and I are going to be heartbroken when he leaves, but unfortunately we're just not in a position to be able to look after two cats and look after them properly, and both Jelli and Mac deserve that.
We tried giving him a clean this morning as well. Now that he's calmed down and is out from behind the cupboards, he's been able to do some of it himself, but his tail is still pretty manky, as is a couple of spots on his lower back and both his back legs. Wet-wipes (to be exact, a couple of gentle-action facial cleaning wipes I got for myself a few months ago) did some good, but we had to cut a few clumps from his fur that were just beyond hope. Thankfully, he was completely unfazed by this (he thought it was all a game). Unfortunatly, we can't do his back legs or a lot of his tail because he won't stay still and gets scared when you touch his paws.
Which leads on to the other issues. For one, it looks like his claws have never been trimmed - they're longer than Jelli's were when she came to live with us, and she'd been on the streets for some time - and he doesn't like it when his paws are touched. He's also very thin, wolfs down any food you give him and looks around the whole time like you're going to take it from him/beat him for it, and his tummy is unusually bald. Couple that with the way he turned up on our doorstep, and you've got me calling the RSPCA's Abuse and Neglect line is a short while. Poor thing. The RSPCA might well ask us to look after him for a while till they or Cats' Protection have a space for him, but I feel I need to ring them at this point just to report what has happened to the poor cat.
At least I got 12 hours' sleep last night.