Being a responsible adult sucks...
For the last six months, we've been feeding a stray who appeared under our front bushes. Sweet-tempered, actually liked being petted and would come when called -just a great cat. Unfortunately he's an unaltered male who sprayed so we couldn't make him an indoor cat.
Today, he showed up with wet, matted fur on his neck that stank to high heaven. My hubby thought there was also an open wound on his throat so we coaxed him into a cat carrier and took him to an emergency vet hospital.
It was an old abscess that had broken open. The vet was going to clean it up, give him an antibiotic injection and send us home with him. But... he tested positive for FIV and being an unaltered male with a tendency to initiate fights, releasing him back to the wild would only spread the disease further. There are no shelters in our area with the necessary isolation spaces and we have two indoor cats that we couldn't chance catching it, so we had to do the responsible thing...
Rest in peace, Burt.
Today, he showed up with wet, matted fur on his neck that stank to high heaven. My hubby thought there was also an open wound on his throat so we coaxed him into a cat carrier and took him to an emergency vet hospital.
It was an old abscess that had broken open. The vet was going to clean it up, give him an antibiotic injection and send us home with him. But... he tested positive for FIV and being an unaltered male with a tendency to initiate fights, releasing him back to the wild would only spread the disease further. There are no shelters in our area with the necessary isolation spaces and we have two indoor cats that we couldn't chance catching it, so we had to do the responsible thing...
Rest in peace, Burt.