- Joined
- Sep 11, 2020
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I was unsure whether to post this in the Heath forum or here, but this seems more fitting. There are many stray cats near my house, and when my outside cat, Milkshake, died, I told myself to no longer have any outside animals because it is so rough for them. Here we are, almost three months later, and a new stray showed up to my house. I could tell it was hungry, so I gave it food and water. It has now been showing up to my house after 5 pm each day now. I know it is considering my home as it’s home. When it first came, I posted it on Facebook, asking if anyone had lost this cat or wanted a cat because he is so friendly. People shared it, but to no avail because no one reached out to me for him. I’ve asked people in my family if they want a cat, but no one does. My fiancé has asked people, and they don’t either. This is where I’m in a dilemma.
The cat has started to make a coughing/wheezing noise. I am unsure if it’s just a hairball trying to pass, asthma, or something else. There are many mean neighbors around that are pretty vocal about their hate of cats. I have had several strays come, and stay at my house because I am the only friendly one. When I was 11, I was probably feeding about 15 cats or more. Don’t get me wrong, I loved all of them so much, but their lives were hard. Sometimes when I would come home from school, a cat would never show up to be fed. Other times I’d go to bed, and wake up the next morning to feed them, only to see that one was missing. This happened to kittens, and adult and elderly cats. This is why I am so worried about this cat.
I do not have the money to take it to the vet. With coronavirus, my family and I have been in a pinch. My family has called the animal shelter, but they plainly said, “we will take any cats, but if they don’t get adopted quickly, they will be euthanized.” I cannot stand that. The shelter is overfilled. I get sick to my stomach thinking that the majority of those animals get euthanized because they don’t get adopted. There are no other places to turn for this cat. No one will take it, no place is willing to help it, and I don’t have the money to take it to vet.
The cat seems healthy in all other ways besides this coughing/wheezing. However, it seems like it is doing it more often. I am worried about getting my 9 year old inside cat sick. When I got my new kitten, it had an upper respiratory infection and my inside cat ended up catching it as well. It really took a toll on him, and I feared he would not make it. If this stray cat is sick, I cannot risk getting my inside cat sick again. I don’t know what to do. I refuse to let any animal go hungry. A part of me feels like I should have never fed it in the first place because then it wouldn’t have stuck around, but that’s just not me.
Does anyone have any advice on what I could do? I feel like there’s nothing. I just needed to come on here and talk about it.
The cat has started to make a coughing/wheezing noise. I am unsure if it’s just a hairball trying to pass, asthma, or something else. There are many mean neighbors around that are pretty vocal about their hate of cats. I have had several strays come, and stay at my house because I am the only friendly one. When I was 11, I was probably feeding about 15 cats or more. Don’t get me wrong, I loved all of them so much, but their lives were hard. Sometimes when I would come home from school, a cat would never show up to be fed. Other times I’d go to bed, and wake up the next morning to feed them, only to see that one was missing. This happened to kittens, and adult and elderly cats. This is why I am so worried about this cat.
I do not have the money to take it to the vet. With coronavirus, my family and I have been in a pinch. My family has called the animal shelter, but they plainly said, “we will take any cats, but if they don’t get adopted quickly, they will be euthanized.” I cannot stand that. The shelter is overfilled. I get sick to my stomach thinking that the majority of those animals get euthanized because they don’t get adopted. There are no other places to turn for this cat. No one will take it, no place is willing to help it, and I don’t have the money to take it to vet.
The cat seems healthy in all other ways besides this coughing/wheezing. However, it seems like it is doing it more often. I am worried about getting my 9 year old inside cat sick. When I got my new kitten, it had an upper respiratory infection and my inside cat ended up catching it as well. It really took a toll on him, and I feared he would not make it. If this stray cat is sick, I cannot risk getting my inside cat sick again. I don’t know what to do. I refuse to let any animal go hungry. A part of me feels like I should have never fed it in the first place because then it wouldn’t have stuck around, but that’s just not me.
Does anyone have any advice on what I could do? I feel like there’s nothing. I just needed to come on here and talk about it.