Spirit Cat

I heard back from the MSPCA! The Shelter Operations Coordinator said she did some digging around and found that there was a group of cats that they sent to Dakin in November 2017. She said they were all shy cats from a group of about 60 cats the MSPCA took from a hoarder's house! Crazy!! She said they all got dewormed, got the FVRCP vaccine and were tested for leukemia. Then about 3 or 4 days later were sent to Dakin. I am so grateful that she wrote back - even with such little detail. At least I know a little bit about why he's shy and where he came from. It makes you wonder how much he got beat up or how much he beat up others. Poor kitty. I'm really hoping that the neutering will calm him down with Jabez and that they can co-habitate. Speaking of Jabez, he was insane this morning for playing. I don't think I've ever seen him so wound up. I had to stop playing with him because I thought he might have a heart attack. He was huffing and puffing after his exertio...

Milky Way had his surgery yesterday for his neutering and tooth extraction. He seems to be doing well. He ate when he got home and also this morning, so things are looking good at least there. He is spending a lot of time under the bed right now. He sat on my lap a little bit, but I gave him his pain medicine and he hates that. He is starting to associate me with that probably. I'm hoping he'll forgive me. I will go in and sit with him tonight after work. Maybe all evening and read a book or watch a movie. That works for me since I have a sore throat. The odd thing was that he was dragging his butt along the bed this morning - like cats do sometimes if they have poop stuck in their butts or fur. The vet called this morning and I told the technician that, but she said it is fine - that it probably just feels weird in the area. He had four teeth extracted. The doctor also noted that several of his other teeth had previously fallen out!! Based on the severity of his issues, ...

Last night after work, Milky had his vet appointment to discuss his teeth (which maybe I didn't mention before) and his neuter status. I was pretty relieved to find out that he is in fact an intact male cat! Relieved because I'm not an idiot. Relieved because now there is hope for his aggression to go away without medication. Relieved so much that I nearly cried. The vet thought that he should go in for his neuter as soon as possible, so on Wednesday it will happen along with required dental work - which involves multiple teeth being pulled (poor kitty). I feel pretty bad about his teeth, but I know it will be better in the long run. Plus his breath is awful, so I know that is a bad sign. I emailed the shelter about how his paperwork said "altered" and other stuff to indicate that he had been neutered. I have had no response. I didn't ask for a response, but I'll be surprised if I hear nothing. Anyway, I'm glad to have a plan in place that might sign...

I called the vet yesterday so I could make an appointment for Milky Way to be officially checked out to determine if he is intact or not. They almost wouldn't give me an appointment and all but laughed at me. They said that Dakin would not adopt out an intact cat. This, I believe. I do have doubts about it - especially since he has a microchip, but I've never had a male cat with a visible sack - and I've had five. His appointment is tomorrow. For now, we wait.

Readers (hahaha - no one reads this!), I think I have figured out Milky Way's aggression issues. Last night I was checking him over for mats in his fur and I noticed something odd. He has balls. Like - testicles!! I thought that I had to be mistaken, so I looked it up online to see how to tell. One of the suggestions was to gently squeeze to feel for a ball. I felt firmness, and he didn't seem to like me touching him there, so I stopped. Today I checked again, and he definitely has some lumps going on under his butt hole. I felt them again and this time it felt like a ball inside. I also had my husband feel and he said, "Yep - feels like a ball." So, of course I discovered this on a long weekend, so I can't call the vet yet. BUT, I'm so excited that this is the potential issue for both his aggressiveness and his marking behavior.  How could this happen? Well, I do recall that the shelter had the incorrect picture on its website. Maybe some of the records...