Pet Adoption: A Rewarding Experience

One cold November day when I went out to put some plastic bottles in the recycling crate I realised that there was a ginger cat curled up in the paper recycling crate. When I took a closer look he growled and spat but he didn’t run away, I could see that he looked very thin and dirty so I went in and fetched him a bowl of water and a bowl of cat food. He was still afraid but he was very hungry soon as I walked away he ate the food and settled back into the crate to sleep.  I worried about the cat and over the next couple of days I was able to get close enough to touch him. I could see that he had a wound on the side of his head, he smelled terrible and he seemed to have open wounds on his feet. He wouldn’t let me pick him up so I took the whole crate with him in it into the house and shut him in the kitchen, because I was afraid that if he had something contagious he could pass it on to my cat.

I really didn’t know what to do with him, he looked very sad and I didn’t have much hope for his survival. I telephoned the RSPCA and they arranged for me to take him to see a vet, because the kindest thing may well be to put him to sleep.  The cat swore loudly when I put him in the cat carrier and when we got to the waiting room he growled so loudly that none of the dogs would go anywhere near us. When I put him on the counter top for the vet to examine him he stopped growling and purred loudly and it was the purring that saved his life. The vet said that he was in a bad way, seriously underweight, ulcerated and badly infected feet and an assortment of more minor problems, but his heart was strong and he had a nice nature so she wanted to give him a chance. He stayed at the vet to be cleaned up and treated under anesthetic and the RSPCA agreed that the cat could stay with me for a week while being treated with antibiotics.  At the end of the week his health had improved, but it was the start of a long journey and I had to decide if I was willing to adopt him and take on the cost of his treatment. By then he had won my heart and I was determined to give him a chance to enjoy life, I was approved to adopt him and the cat became a member of the family.

It took a couple of weeks for the cat, now called George to accept our cat Oreo and dog Megan, but we fed them together and his natural greed was stronger than his distrust of the others, so within a couple of weeks they were mixing happily.  Many more visits to the vet followed, he had a condition called pododermatitis that made the paw pads very spongy and inflamed, this combined with living rough had led to ulcerated feet. Initially he was treated with antibiotics and steroids but one paw refused to heal so after weeks of treatment he had a procedure to freeze the pad, this killed the damaged tissue and eventually the paw healed.  While he had open sores on his feet they had to be dressed and he wore baby socks tied on with ribbon, he was not impressed, but despite growling he let me treat and dress his feet.  Once his feet were better we were able to focus on his other problems, his teeth were badly damaged and infected so on the advice of the vet they were all removed. I was doubtful about how he would cope, but he has been a much happier cat since it was done and he can still steal and eat a whole sausage with very little difficulty.

Old habits are hard to break and given the chance he will steal food or raid the bin, but he is clean, loving and bursting with personality. He and Oreo are good friends, but George is like my shadow, as soon as I sit down, he is there next to me purring. The vet estimated his age as between 9 and 14, he has been with us for two years now, he is full of life and very active so I hope he will have a long and happy life with us. I am so glad that he adopted us, I can’t imagine life without him.