There is a cat that roams the neighborhood. He is intact and thin but very very friendly. He comes up to us all the time and hangs outside the door. A few days ago he was wearing a collar but now its gone. There is no identification and he's really thin. (starting to be able to feel individual bumps on the spine) We bought him some food since he's looking so thin. He keeps trying to get into our friend's apartment and he follows us.
My friends are moving in and they really like the cat. They want to adopt him. Ok, well we all do, but I'm afraid that he has an owner. Of course, if he is this thin and running around intact outside than the owner isn't doing a very good job. We hope to make a vet appointment and at least get him tested for feline leukemia and such and get him evaluated to see if he's healthy. He has a bad case of ear mites.
So what would you do? Would you try and find the owner, turn him into a shelter, or keep him? We want to keep him though.
Also, if we were going to keep him, what would be the best QT for him. We have a 2 bedroom so keeping him confined to one room would be fine. What kind of precautions should we take with him? What should we get him tested for?
Any thoughts, suggestions, ideas? While I'd love to do "the right thing" and try and find his owner, I don't think they are doing a very good job and I hate seeing an animal suffer just because "well he belongs to someone else and there's nothing you can do about it." If we don't end up keeping him, I might snag him and take him to get fixed at least.
My friends are moving in and they really like the cat. They want to adopt him. Ok, well we all do, but I'm afraid that he has an owner. Of course, if he is this thin and running around intact outside than the owner isn't doing a very good job. We hope to make a vet appointment and at least get him tested for feline leukemia and such and get him evaluated to see if he's healthy. He has a bad case of ear mites.
So what would you do? Would you try and find the owner, turn him into a shelter, or keep him? We want to keep him though.
Also, if we were going to keep him, what would be the best QT for him. We have a 2 bedroom so keeping him confined to one room would be fine. What kind of precautions should we take with him? What should we get him tested for?
Any thoughts, suggestions, ideas? While I'd love to do "the right thing" and try and find his owner, I don't think they are doing a very good job and I hate seeing an animal suffer just because "well he belongs to someone else and there's nothing you can do about it." If we don't end up keeping him, I might snag him and take him to get fixed at least.