'Billy' the stray

[dannyboy]

Five or six weeks ago, a cat started appearing at our house. The cat was obviously somebodys pet as it looked well fed and was not too timid, so he had probably been 'thrown out' or run away. (He had obviously heard that the 'cat lady' lived at our house, (sorry Louisa!)). The cat was there every day, so Louisa started feeding him and he became quite friendly. I said that he was obviously a 'Billy no mates' and the name Billy stuck. About 2 weeks ago Billy started coming into the house through the kitchen window to be fed and ......... just stayed. As we already have 5 cats, I fixed up a way of preventing him leaving the kitchen area - and our cats from accessing the kitchen area, on a night. Billy was now that friendly that he would let us stroke him, but I noticed that he was loosing bits of fur and had what appeared to be scabs about his body. Last night, even though he was not 'our' cat, I took him to the Vets and was asked to bring him back this morning for some tests. I was there when they opened this morning and duly left Billy. A short time ago the Vets rang me and said the tests showed that Billy had the cat equivalent of Aids! This meant that he would be prone to infections and illnesses and should really be kept isolated from the other cats. The Vet then said that it would be kinder to put him to sleep. I now have to go back to the Vets this afternoon and collect an empty cat carrier.  :'( (And pay the bill for a cat that was not really ours).

[Newportnobby]

A generous and very sad story, David

[emjaybee]

That sucks mate. Good on you for looking out for him.

[dannyboy]

Well I have been and paid the Vet. I don't mind paying the money to put the cat out of his misery, what I do object to is having to pay the money because somebody decided they did not want the cat any more, (probably because he was ill!). Actually, I do not know that for a fact, but as I mentioned in the original post, Billy has been well looked after at some stage.  So I now have a bank balance which is €106 lighter, ( ), and a rather upset wife who is also suffering from a chest infection, so it is a bit subdued at home at the moment. 

Now, on a happier note, my new light fittings were delivered today, so I can get some wiring done tomorrow and have a lot more light on Averingcliffe. 

[edwin_m]

We have a FIV cat that we got from the local rescue shelter.  The virus is much less severe than the human version and apart from being a bit wheezy he seems to be able to live a normal cat life comprising much sleeping in warm places, patrolling the house and the occasional bit of manic activity.  There's quite a lot about it on the internet and while some advocate always putting them to sleep that seems a minority view.  It seems to be spread by cats biting each other but I can't imagine our cat doing that and we've never heard the sort of yowling that presages a fight. 

I'm not trying to suggest that you or the vet has done the wrong thing here, just to add some balance so people don't go away thinking FIV is an automatic death sentence.  Apart from the wheezing our cat gives every impression of being healthy and well-groomed (which he does himself) so was probably always in a better state than Billy. 

[exmouthcraig]

Good on you David, a devastating story of which was virtually forced upon you. Its amazing how quickly animals emotionally attach themselves to us.

We had 2 cats and lost one this year to cancer, we have a great relationship with our vet and he is all for the welfare of the animals so we know he will give us the right answer. We did what we could, selfishly to keep her with us but we knew her days were numbered and as hard as it was to accept she would let us know when the time came. And it did and it devastated us. We had her cremated and she lives in a pewter cat casket on the shelf.

In August we clocked a full black cat in one of the fields with the horses hunting, not unusual other then were a bit of a trek from any houses, we have 2 neighbours so a quick phone call to them and they confirmed neither had a black cat.

We had our holiday and weeks went by and this cat was seen all over the fields and carpark. One morning I was out at 5am and this cat shot out of our log store and under the hedge, that afternoon we decided if it was living in there it needed something warm. We have hundreds of 40L gorilla tubs for the horses water buckets and generally to cart junk about in barrows and on the back of the gator and as kindling buckets in our log store. I threw half the kindling out of one, lined it with an old John Deere overall and an old knitted jumper, sure enough this cat lived in this bucket every night!!

One morning I clocked that it was curled up asleep and managed to leave the drive without disturbing it. Talking to Mrs EC that afternoon she said "the worst thing would be seeing it in pain or injured". Sure enough the next day it was on 3 legs and very nervous. Something had attacked it in the night and it would no longer go near the bucket. A few days went by with it getting worse and worse to the point of it barely being able to rest its foot! We hatched a plan and managed to pick it up, get it in a cat box and down to our nearest vet (not our own vet)

He checked HER out, she is 3 years old, spayed and microchipped. She had 3 teeth Mark's on her hind hock and was very tender. A shot of tetanus, worming tablet and steroid injection and she was free to return to our home.

Her owner is registered to our own vets but no one has been able to contact them regarding her. She is a wonderful cat, very loyal, comes to call, loves attention and eating.

We were advised to now claim her as our own, change the chip details and keep her.

That was nearly 3 month ago when we had a random cat that we couldn't get near.

This is her now, on my lap

[dannyboy]

@edwin_m  I did talk to the Vet' this morning and she did say that Billy might be okay with treatment, but he would be more prone to illness and infection and because we have 5 cats of our own, with the possibility of any infection being passed on, plus the fact that the Vet' though he was 'uncomfortable' because of the state of his skin, the decision was reluctantly taken.

@exmouthcraig A lovely looking cat. Funny you should mention a black cat. Word has obviously spread about the 'cat lady', (sorry again Louisa  ). A black cat has been 'visiting' for the last few days - oh no, not again I say. However, this one is extremely timid and if we go near it, it backs off a few feet. But it certainly seems to be in good condition and has a very shiny coat. We will see ...............

[Papyrus]

Great story, @exmouthcraig! I'm sure she will repay your kindness many times over.

Our (all-white) cat is an ex-stray which we rehomed 12 years ago from the Cats Protection League. She was very nervous for many months after we got her - for several days she hid under a wooden chest and would only come out to eat and use the litter tray. She has gradually mellowed over the years and now rules our dogs with a claw of iron, but she has never, ever sat on anybody's lap, which is a great disappointment to us all. But cats will always be cats, which I suppose is the root of their fascination.

And commiserations to you, @dannyboy. Sounds to me like you did the right thing.

All the best,

Chris