08-07-2025, 02:52 PM
I haven't had a pet that I have chosen to own for at least ten plus years. The last cat I had, which I brought home, was a male cat that I had neutered. It wasn't a few years later when he got a urinary tract infection that would have killed him after intense suffering. Apparently, that happens to cats that are neutered. The operation to save him cost over $300; it was only a year later when he was in the same shape, and not having the cash, I had to take him out back. That was devastating for me, esp. since my mother had just passed recently. Afterward, I vowed never to have another pet that wasn't small enough to flush down the toilet when it died.
Well, one lone kitten showed up in a rainstorm, so I took him in. However, I was reluctant to have him neutered because of the last cat. He grew up and would do as male cats do when they have the goods intact. He'd go off and fight other cats to breed. Many times he'd be gone for days, and one day he had a little kitten with him when he came home. We tried to coax it into the house, but it got spooked when the screen door hit it on its rear and we could never get too close again.
Well, we fed the cats outside and sure enough, once that new female grew up, it was having litters out under logs and in the briar bushes. That began a problem I'm still trying to deal with today. Those two cats are long gone, but the feral cat colony is large and growing. As much as I feed and water them, help them with worm meds, flea and tick treatments, and try to gain their trust, there are only a few that would be worthy as house pets.
Now, I have some money to deal with this by using a method of cat control where you catch, neuter/spay, and then release. Basically, the only alternative is to euthanize the whole lot. Other than taking them out back to the pet cemetery, this is the least cruel thing to do for them. I have seen some horrific things these cats go through, many never make it to adulthood, some eventually disappear do to various reasons like predators, and wounds from the cats that are fighting all the time.
There is one cat that was the runt of the litter and it became attached to me. I took good care of him and he bulked out to become battle cat to the extreme. He has gotten so badly injured during his mating and territory fights, that if I hadn't patched him up and gave him antibiotics, he would had died a horrible death on a few occasions. So, we tried a vet service that offer cheap rates for feral cats as long as you brought them in inside a live trap (the only one within a hour's drive). We were going to trap two cats and had an appointment to have them fixed. We had already taken four cats in to this place that became house cats and got a reduced rate for fixing pets. But when we couldn't get the feral cats to go into the trap, one cat bit my girlfriend. It was the day of the appointment and she left a message about the situation, sobbing as she did so. They never answered or return our calls. At least we still have the live trap, I guess that is mine now.
Given the situation, I called every vet within a 20 mile radius and made an appointment for battle cat to get neutered at the closest vet that had the cheapest rates, just to see if I wanted to do more cats there. They gave him his initial checkup with blood work and a rabies shot, but because they only did surgeries on Thursdays, I had to wait another 3 weeks to get him snipped. Today was the day, and he couldn't be fed after midnight (9 hours basically). I had not fed him for 27 hours, because he is an outdoor cat, and that was how it happened to work out.
I let them know how he had been doing, and I told them he was under the weather for around a week after his visit, but was back to normal now. The lady at the desk and I determined it was the flea, tick, and ear mite meds I put between his shoulder blades, apparently, that caused his illness, they never told me that I needed to place the medicine up higher, where his neck and head meet, until now. OK, moving along, I told them his food was withheld for more than 24 hours, but since he was outdoors until 5 am this morning, the lady at the desk thought he may have eaten a mouse or something. She talked to the vet and came back and said that we will have to reschedule for another week (a month since his first visit), and keep him indoors when we withhold his food, and then he could get fixed.
I got upset and said that they don't understand, that this cat is out of control, and if I can't get him fixed soon, I'll have to take him out. "Take him out? What do mean?" Well, I told her and she didn't like being spoken to that way, apparently, so I told her I'm 61 years old and I feel I can say whatever I want to. Guess what? Now I need a new vet, but considering it was a vet office in a shed on a family farm where I had to park next to the chicken coop, maybe this was for the best. Now, I have an appointment on Monday with the new vet, who, although a little farther away, is cheaper overall. The farm vet better send his files over by tomorrow, or I'm going down to their office and share some language with them that they will not like in the least.
This new vet does procedures every day in an office in town, they are cheaper, and they got him in right away due to a cancellation, something I'm sure the farm vet wouldn't do as they only do procedures once a week. I'll get the best of the lot fixed, at least the ones I can catch and deal with, otherwise, I have to man up and solve this problem like the real farmers do, out back. I want to have them around, but not the constant litters, cat fights, and kitty cologne spray. The horrible things I've seen with these feral cats would give that lady at the desk nightmares for months, if not years, if she saw the things I have. I'm sure it'll be good for my fictional stories, but that might be the best I can say about that.
Thanks for reading all this; it helps me because I wanted to punch that bitch. Then afterward, I had a doctor's appointment, and my BP was sky high as I was so pissed off. Anyway, if you have suggestions, lay them on me; otherwise, I'm just letting off some steam before my cat overlords return and demand more tribute.
Well, one lone kitten showed up in a rainstorm, so I took him in. However, I was reluctant to have him neutered because of the last cat. He grew up and would do as male cats do when they have the goods intact. He'd go off and fight other cats to breed. Many times he'd be gone for days, and one day he had a little kitten with him when he came home. We tried to coax it into the house, but it got spooked when the screen door hit it on its rear and we could never get too close again.
Well, we fed the cats outside and sure enough, once that new female grew up, it was having litters out under logs and in the briar bushes. That began a problem I'm still trying to deal with today. Those two cats are long gone, but the feral cat colony is large and growing. As much as I feed and water them, help them with worm meds, flea and tick treatments, and try to gain their trust, there are only a few that would be worthy as house pets.
Now, I have some money to deal with this by using a method of cat control where you catch, neuter/spay, and then release. Basically, the only alternative is to euthanize the whole lot. Other than taking them out back to the pet cemetery, this is the least cruel thing to do for them. I have seen some horrific things these cats go through, many never make it to adulthood, some eventually disappear do to various reasons like predators, and wounds from the cats that are fighting all the time.
There is one cat that was the runt of the litter and it became attached to me. I took good care of him and he bulked out to become battle cat to the extreme. He has gotten so badly injured during his mating and territory fights, that if I hadn't patched him up and gave him antibiotics, he would had died a horrible death on a few occasions. So, we tried a vet service that offer cheap rates for feral cats as long as you brought them in inside a live trap (the only one within a hour's drive). We were going to trap two cats and had an appointment to have them fixed. We had already taken four cats in to this place that became house cats and got a reduced rate for fixing pets. But when we couldn't get the feral cats to go into the trap, one cat bit my girlfriend. It was the day of the appointment and she left a message about the situation, sobbing as she did so. They never answered or return our calls. At least we still have the live trap, I guess that is mine now.
Given the situation, I called every vet within a 20 mile radius and made an appointment for battle cat to get neutered at the closest vet that had the cheapest rates, just to see if I wanted to do more cats there. They gave him his initial checkup with blood work and a rabies shot, but because they only did surgeries on Thursdays, I had to wait another 3 weeks to get him snipped. Today was the day, and he couldn't be fed after midnight (9 hours basically). I had not fed him for 27 hours, because he is an outdoor cat, and that was how it happened to work out.
I let them know how he had been doing, and I told them he was under the weather for around a week after his visit, but was back to normal now. The lady at the desk and I determined it was the flea, tick, and ear mite meds I put between his shoulder blades, apparently, that caused his illness, they never told me that I needed to place the medicine up higher, where his neck and head meet, until now. OK, moving along, I told them his food was withheld for more than 24 hours, but since he was outdoors until 5 am this morning, the lady at the desk thought he may have eaten a mouse or something. She talked to the vet and came back and said that we will have to reschedule for another week (a month since his first visit), and keep him indoors when we withhold his food, and then he could get fixed.
I got upset and said that they don't understand, that this cat is out of control, and if I can't get him fixed soon, I'll have to take him out. "Take him out? What do mean?" Well, I told her and she didn't like being spoken to that way, apparently, so I told her I'm 61 years old and I feel I can say whatever I want to. Guess what? Now I need a new vet, but considering it was a vet office in a shed on a family farm where I had to park next to the chicken coop, maybe this was for the best. Now, I have an appointment on Monday with the new vet, who, although a little farther away, is cheaper overall. The farm vet better send his files over by tomorrow, or I'm going down to their office and share some language with them that they will not like in the least.
This new vet does procedures every day in an office in town, they are cheaper, and they got him in right away due to a cancellation, something I'm sure the farm vet wouldn't do as they only do procedures once a week. I'll get the best of the lot fixed, at least the ones I can catch and deal with, otherwise, I have to man up and solve this problem like the real farmers do, out back. I want to have them around, but not the constant litters, cat fights, and kitty cologne spray. The horrible things I've seen with these feral cats would give that lady at the desk nightmares for months, if not years, if she saw the things I have. I'm sure it'll be good for my fictional stories, but that might be the best I can say about that.
Thanks for reading all this; it helps me because I wanted to punch that bitch. Then afterward, I had a doctor's appointment, and my BP was sky high as I was so pissed off. Anyway, if you have suggestions, lay them on me; otherwise, I'm just letting off some steam before my cat overlords return and demand more tribute.
