On Thu, 04 Sep 2003 22:45:57 GMT, "RTR" <rtr@here.com> dijo:
>OK. I see the dilema about the vet. And I can understand any concern that you >may lose him if you freak him out while just at the beginning of trust >development.
>He does no doubt need a vet in general though (I know you know that). My advice >is almost always to insist on vet care immediately on this NG. But, this is a >special circumstance, IMO.
Actually, other than the broken meower, matting hair and defensive
behavior issues, he seems in pretty good health. The arthritis is
because he's old, and I'm not sure a vet could really do a lot about
it anyway. He's not in imminent danger of dying, so I have decided to
wait on the vet for the time being.
>He comes running with his tail high to greet you? That's love and companionship >emotion. He's yours.
When I wrote my initial post I had been feeding him at a house on the
corner down the street, five houses from mine. There is an older lady
who lives there and she had been giving him table scraps out of pity.
It was the all he had for "home." But she kept insisting that he was
not her cat. Also, she wouldn't let him inside, as her real cat
(female) has a fit whenever she's forced to be next to him. They fight
fiercely.
She's really a very kind and pleasant lady. At first I brought just
chicken bones and such, then graduated to real cat food. Eventually
she decided she should stop feeding him because of the progress I was
making with him and she realized that it was important for him to
associate me exclusively with food. That was also good because what
she was feeding him was barely edible for cats -- leftover macaroni
and cheese, for example. At least I fed him real cat food, and the
cans marked "senior" or "special diet" mostly.
For the past month I've been walking down the street to feed him two
or three times a day. (Morning and evening, sometimes a lunch snack.)
I lay down on her lawn next to the sidewalk and stay there while he
eats. After the first few days I started insisting on keeping my hand
on the food dish as he ate. At first he wouldn't come near it with my
hand there, but after a couple days he relented. A few days later I
moved my hand up and touched him. At first he hissed and backed away.
But after repeated attempts over several days, he finally decided to
let me touch him. After a couple weeks I actually got him to let me
pet him, at least on his head. The lady living there couldn't believe
it. He's famous in the neighborhood for being virtually feral.
Last night I had another breakthrough. I finally got him to let me put
both hands on him at the same time. I was petting him rubbing his ears
with both hands, and he was enjoying every moment of it, as he always
does when I pet him.
This morning I had the greatest success of all. I walked down to the
corner with cat food in hand. He came running and seemed hungrier than
usual. I've been wondering how I was going to get him up the street to
my house. So I decided this morning that it was time. Instead of lying
down next to the sidewalk and feeding him at the corner house, I
slowly started walking back to my house, calling him and encouraging
him. He followed me! He followed me all the way to my house! Then I
lay down on my grass and gave him his breakfast. After he was finished
I petted him for a couple minutes, and while I was doing it he decided
he wanted a bit more. He nibbled at the food some more for a few
minutes. And then he suddenly stood up, turned around, and walked back
to the house on the corner. I called after him, and he turned around
to look, but he was intent on returning "home."
At about 3 pm I repeated the process. Again he was happy to follow me
to my house to eat, but afterwards wanted to go back to the corner
house. He stayed a bit longer, though. I'm sure now it's just a
question of time before my house becomes "home." I've been worried
about how to transplant him, and I'm glad to see I won't have to trap
him and bring him to my house by force.
>Don't know about his voice. Hmm....could be a symptom, but not necessarily.
>Any negative health conditions he may have can only be discovered by the
>vet unfortunately.
If no one here has ever heard of a cat that never meows, then I doubt
that a vet has heard of it either. It doesn't seem to be a health
issue, so I'm not going to worry about it for the time being. FWIW,
his hearing is fine. If he were deaf that would explain the lack of
speech, but he's perfectly normal in the ears department.
>His eating to one side? One of mine does that too. He has a broken tooth with the nerve exposed (just found out) so he'll be having that fixed soon. Probably a teeth thing is why but again, only a vet can make that distinction.
He eats to one side and then to the other. He starts with his head in
a normal forward position and as he chews he moves his head
progressively to one side, to the point where eventually his head is
perpendicular to the ground. For the next bite he does it to the other
side. I don't think it's a tooth sensitivity thing. He eats kind of
odd compared to most cats. I mean, the typical cat grabs a chunk of
food and shakes it a bit before chewing it up and eating it. He never
shakes his food. I've gotten a couple good looks in his mouth as he
was eating and he seems to have all his teeth. I didn't notice any
gaps. That's not to say he doesn't have a tooth problem, but if the
strange eating is caused by a sensitive tooth, then he has one on each
side at the same time. At this point I think it's probably just a
habit; it's just the way George eats.
>His eyes? He's been outside for years it sounds, so he could have allergies (mine does in the summer) or something worse.
As I have been observing him I've noticed that the fluid that comes
out of his eyes is clear, exactly like tears. A couple times a drop
has run down his nose and fallen on the ground. Since he doesn't wash
himself very well, it tends to dry into goop. I think if it were
caused by an infection it would be goopy to begin with. At this time I
favor your allergy theory.
By the way, over the course of the past month I've been cutting at his
matted fur while feeding him. He sort of tolerates it as long as I
don't go too fast. He has decided he likes to be combed too, although
not in every location yet. As a result I've got him looking almost
like a respectable cat.
I think in a couple weeks he'll be living with me full time. Not sure
yet if I'll have him indoors all the time. I've seen him poop and pee
a few times, and he makes zero effort to cover it up. My house does
still have a cat flap from when I had a cat before. It remains to be
seen whether he can be taught to use it. But one step at a time. I'm
in no hurry, and George doesn't seem to be either.
Thanks for your comments.
--
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