Recently Adopted Stray Cat From Kill List

The poor poor boy. You are a true angel. For starters, I would wait for him to feel a bit better before trying to progress too much. Get the diarrhea under control so that he may feel better. The vet might be able to give you some canned food that is for a bland diet.

Here is a great article for dealing with shy kitties. | Best Friends Animal Society have worked with many ferals and all have come to me as adults. It is a process; one that involves one step forward and two steps back. I find it best to just take things day by day. I found out that setting long term goals leads to disappointment. I just try to take things at the cats pace with a few nudges along the way.

Also here is a 3 part video series that deals with the rescue and socialization of feral kittens. I used many of the techniques along with way when working with my adult ferals.
Tough Love Video - UrbanCatLeague

Thanks again for all the help, guys. I'm wondering if maybe the tail injury affected his sphincter muscles and left him incontinent. One day at a time.

God bless you for helping and loving this little guy! I'm sure he is loving his new home with you.

Years ago I had a kitten that got diarrhea all of the time. Someone recommended that I try feeding her only dry food. As soon as I changed her to dry food, no more diarrhea. When she was older, I would still mainly give her only dry...and just a tad bit of moist. She also seemed to prefer the dry food.

You literally saved his life. He will bring so much happiness and and such a sense of accomplishment into your life your soul will be rewarded greatly! I wish you all the best, keep in touch!

Debp said:

God bless you for helping and loving this little guy! I'm sure he is loving his new home with you.

Years ago I had a kitten that got diarrhea all of the time. Someone recommended that I try feeding her only dry food. As soon as I changed her to dry food, no more diarrhea. When she was older, I would still mainly give her only dry...and just a tad bit of moist. She also seemed to prefer the dry food.

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He certainly doesn't seem to be happy. It's still early, I know, only day four, but he only eats when he knows we are either sleeping or gone. Otherwise he sits low and back in his litter box. I have another one diffuser going but I'm not sure it's helping much. He is very strong with eye contact, which is unusual. Most cats I've been around don't maintain eye contact so steadily. I'm torn on the information regarding my eye contact with him. Some say it's appropriate, others that it can be taken as threatening. For now, I look at him when I'm giving him food, and otherwise try to avoid any eye contact.

The stool sample results came back negative for parasites or worms. Hurray for that! The Dr also stated he did test the rectum for paralysis, and it appeared normal. So the next step is the xray and amputation of tail. I'm checking around for prices so I can be sure to afford it.

M Maatawry you and your husband are such wonderful people to help Montana. The fact sheet made me really sad. There are so many misunderstood creatures out there. He is lucky to be taken into a loving home. On Jan 2,we took in feral #3, Aimee, a previously TNR'd female from our neighborhood who we've been feeding for 18 mo.. She's super shy but not overly aggressive. She's eating fine and using the box. She also spends a lot of time under/next to the radiators in the bathroom & adjacent office. I was pretty excited to discover this morning that she'd relocated some toys from the bathroom though! My first feral, Hanna, didn't know what toys were for, but has come a very long way since July 2013.
I wanted to wish you the best of luck with your boy. Once he's all fixed up, then the fun begins of becoming his friend. I have some stories about that, as do many of us on CTS.

So, I just found out the test for FIV at the shelter was inconclusive, which I wasn't aware of. This fact really scares me as not only do I have another cat in the house, we were intending to get a kitten in the summer. The estimate I recieved for the amputation and neuter was just shy of 1000. So I'm starting to feel panicked and overwhelmed. The report didn't mention any of these things and my husband and I were certainly not prepared for it all. I'm going to see if I can pick up some extra shifts at my other job, but we'll need to get him tested before we figure out our next step. I'll keep everyone posted. keep Vlad in your thoughts, please.

M Maatawry : First: sorry for calling Vlad Montana. Whoops!
FIV tests can be false positive. Can they either re-test via the snap test, or do a more involved blood test? I had a false positive FeLV snap test and the re-test 'IFA" came back clear. Your vet can advise on the best course of action.

Some thoughts on the costs: Is there a local rescue who will assist you with letting you piggyback on their vetting discount? Some will help you with that. Your vet knows Vlad came from a kill shelter--would they be willing to give you a break based on that fact? Someone on TCS suggested that it never hurts to ask. =) Personally I have been lucky that the rescue who has trapped my ferals has gotten me her discount at my vet. My vet knows that I am keeping the cats and thus reducing the burden on the shelter, so they seem to have no problem giving me a break.

I hope some of this helps. Money is really tight for us too, but it hurts a little less knowing we're helping our furry friends. Best of luck, please keep us updated.

I work in printing and we do some stuff for the FACE Foundation, they get people Grants for Emergency Medical Care
for Animals. I wonder if there is something like this in your area?

walli said:

I work in printing and we do some stuff for the FACE Foundation, they get people Grants for Emergency Medical Care
for Animals. I wonder if there is something like this in your area?

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W walli : I'm a production manager at an ad agency! =) and a crazy cat lady.

Hey, Cool! Yeah I'm Prepress/Graphics and looks like I''m a crazy cat lady too

No luck so far finding a vet willing to cut me much slack. Ironically, in the state I just moved from, I donated to the emergency fund every visit at my last vet. I'm still trying to price compare.

Thanks for the emotional support everyone I'm really feeling overwhelmed.

Poor Vlad. And poor you. You know that saying, "No good deed goes unpunished".

How urgent is the tail ampuation? Can you do the neuter first, maybe at a low cost clinic, and deal with his tail later? If not, maybe look into starting a "GoFundMe" campaign for him. I know there's hundreds of sad stories out there, but you still might get some response.

So is his loose stool any better?

Ditto what rubysmama said on the tail.

Since the vets “ recommendation “ was tail amputation a rush thing? Guess my question would be is it causing pain or? If nothing health related how about just neuter for now?

Please give this surgery a little more time if you can.

Some low-cost clinics will also do simple one-and-done type surgeries like leg or tail amputations or an eye removal. Keep calling around!

I also wonder if his tail is causing pain or not. If it is not painful, as others suggested, maybe you can hold off on the amputation.

I don't know which State you live in, but here in Los Angeles, there is Sam Simon Foundation. They not only do free spay and neuter, but they do some types of surgeries for free.

Maatawry said:

No luck so far finding a vet willing to cut me much slack. Ironically, in the state I just moved from, I donated to the emergency fund every visit at my last vet. I'm still trying to price compare.

Thanks for the emotional support everyone I'm really feeling overwhelmed.

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M Maatawry you said you adopted from NYC shelter, correct?
Not sure if you live in NYC or MA based on your first post.
I'm in SW CT on the MetroNorth line..do you want me to ask my rescue friends if they have any lower cost vets they recommend? There is one in Cannondale (Wilton, CT) who is used to dealing with ferals, too. Also I have a friend who works at the Nutmeg Spay & Neuter clinic in Stratford, CT, where they do low-cost neuter, microchipping, etc. (TCS administrators-hope it's OK I mentioned a vet clinic by name). The friend is active in rescue as well, so she might know where to go for Vlad's tail surgery.
LMK please and I can try to get you a contact if you're willing/able to come to southern CT.

rubysmama said:

Poor Vlad. And poor you. You know that saying, "No good deed goes unpunished".

How urgent is the tail ampuation? Can you do the neuter first, maybe at a low cost clinic, and deal with his tail later? If not, maybe look into starting a "GoFundMe" campaign for him. I know there's hundreds of sad stories out there, but you still might get some response.

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I started a gofund me, but I feel terrible doing that knowing all my friends are also in financial strains, so I am hesitant to link it to my Facebook page. I set it up but I don't expect much

The concern with his rail is both hygenine, and that left alone it might cause further damage, specifically to his rectal muscles.

houseofnine said:

M Maatawry you said you adopted from NYC shelter, correct?
Not sure if you live in NYC or MA based on your first post.
I'm in SW CT on the MetroNorth line..do you want me to ask my rescue friends if they have any lower cost vets they recommend? There is one in Cannondale (Wilton, CT) who is used to dealing with ferals, too. Also I have a friend who works at the Nutmeg Spay & Neuter clinic in Stratford, CT, where they do low-cost neuter, microchipping, etc. (TCS administrators-hope it's OK I mentioned a vet clinic by name). The friend is active in rescue as well, so she might know where to go for Vlad's tail surgery.
LMK please and I can try to get you a contact if you're willing/able to come to southern CT.

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I live is western Massachusetts. The cat u adopted was thru an organization that helps cats on death row, located in NYC. I met them about an hour and a half away from me to pick him up.

I may be able to travel, but that's two hours away and would require an entire day off of work which isn't really something I can afford with the price of the surgery.