There is this tabby cat who comes to feed on my deck. He has been around for about 2 months. He is very afraid of people, but slowly over time, he will at least eat in front of me, but I can't touch him.
Well, today I opened the deck door to give him some canned food. The moment I opened the door he bum rushed me and followed me around whirling around in circles screaming for food. Strange. He NEVER gets that close to me. I normally make him very nervous, but today he showed no fear what so ever. The moment I laid eyes on him, I realized he was in terrible shape. Face encased w/ discharge, open mouth, very very noisy breathing. He is also emaciated. I put the food down, and he didn't want any. Normally, he scarfs his food down. Yet, he still followed me everywhere with the noisy breathing. So weird. It made me slightly nervous, for a moment I feared he may be rabid. Does that sound crazy? I think he has a severe respiratory infection, possibly distemper? Are there other symptoms of rabies other than aggression, staggering and salivating? The fact that he suddenly wasn't afraid of me & actually kind of pursued me, scared me a bit. I went inside and scrubbed myself and changed my clothes as it is probably contagious to my babies. Right now, this cat is parked by my deck door, and I refuse to go out there.
Will animal control come and take this cat to euthanize the poor thing, or do I need to find a have a heart trap? Also, how would I trap it if he isn't interested in food? BTW, I'm in Northeast Georgia, if someone can lend me a trap.
Well, today I opened the deck door to give him some canned food. The moment I opened the door he bum rushed me and followed me around whirling around in circles screaming for food. Strange. He NEVER gets that close to me. I normally make him very nervous, but today he showed no fear what so ever. The moment I laid eyes on him, I realized he was in terrible shape. Face encased w/ discharge, open mouth, very very noisy breathing. He is also emaciated. I put the food down, and he didn't want any. Normally, he scarfs his food down. Yet, he still followed me everywhere with the noisy breathing. So weird. It made me slightly nervous, for a moment I feared he may be rabid. Does that sound crazy? I think he has a severe respiratory infection, possibly distemper? Are there other symptoms of rabies other than aggression, staggering and salivating? The fact that he suddenly wasn't afraid of me & actually kind of pursued me, scared me a bit. I went inside and scrubbed myself and changed my clothes as it is probably contagious to my babies. Right now, this cat is parked by my deck door, and I refuse to go out there.
Will animal control come and take this cat to euthanize the poor thing, or do I need to find a have a heart trap? Also, how would I trap it if he isn't interested in food? BTW, I'm in Northeast Georgia, if someone can lend me a trap.