Please say hello to the feral cat who is very likely Ginger's father.

[Heidi]

Here's the deal: This feral cat has been roaming our neighborhood for longer than I've lived in Switzerland. We've never really known who The Wiley and Excellent Boy Cat Named Ginger's father was; his mom is my mother-in-law's gray cat, though. But my sister-in-law has sworn for years that Ginger's father was this certain feral cat who I'd always seen running away -- never saw his face until a couple of years ago.

In mid-December, he showed up, starving to death, at our kitchen window. He's very old (my MIL thinks 13 or so -- Ginger is 10).

Say hello, please, to Little Old Man. He's blind in his right eye and deaf but now looking a lot better after a few days of Amoxicat and good food. Those of you who know Ginger can tell me whether you see a resemblance.

Merry Christmas DU -- and especially to my "how to deal with a feral cat" mentor! :*


Mid December


Christmas afternoon

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Merry Christmas, my dear Heidi!

I'm thinking that Little Old Man is very very lucky to have been taken in by you!

He has had many years, and your second picture shows them resting on him more lightly than in the first one...

As to the resemblance, I'm not sure. But if you think he's Ginger's dad, then he most likely is.

How good of you to rescue him!

:hug:

[Heidi]

3. Thank you, Peggy, and Merry Christmas!

Truthfully, we don't care whether he's Ginger's papi or not. He needed help, and I always have cat food and Amoxicat around, so it would have been wrong to _not_ help him. I'm just amazed at how much his coat has improved after a few good meals and a round of antibiotic. :hug:

[rug]

2. Merry Christmas Heidi, old tomcat, and Wesley!

This story has the makings of a Hallmark movie.

[Heidi]

4. Merry Christmas, my friend, to you and your family!

Are male cats still "Tom cats" if they've been neutered? I do know that Little Old Man was neutered about five years ago; my mother-in-law threw a jacket over him in her yard and delivered him to Erica, the neighborhood "cat lady," who had him neutered, dewormed and vaccinated. (And I'll be the one doing the jacket throwing next week when MIL and I take all of the cats in the family to the vet for their annual checkups and vaccinations. The only time of the year when I'm glad there's a Volvo station wagon in the family!)

So, while Little Old Man in no shape now to make any kittens even if he could, I'm glad he hasn't been a party to creating any orphan kittens for five years. :)

Merry, merry, rug! :hug: :loveya:

[woo me with science]

5. This story just made my Christmas.

Will he be staying with you? He looks like he has had a hard life and deserves a safe and comfortable retirement.

[Heidi]

8. Our rule is: once we start feeding a cat, he's ours.

Last winter, we were feeding "Porkchop" but when the weather got warm, she stopped showing up. :(

Last summer, we started feeding an orange tigger cat for a while but we found out he had a home up in the village and his name is Puma, so after a talk with his human (a really nice Postauto driver) we stopped feeding him, his human put a collar on him and stopped letting him roam.

Merry everything, woo me with science. :pals:


Porkchop, waiting for breakfast


Puma

[woo me with science]

23. Gorgeous cats.

Thank you for posting the pictures. :)

I cannot express how much it means to hear stories like this at Christmas. It just makes the whole world seem a little less cold, knowing that Little Old Man found your love and shelter for the rest of his days.

You are truly one of the good ones. :hug:

[tigereye]

6. he's kinda cute- I remember that cats of ours were

endlessly impregnated by a cat we referred to as "the bruiser" - this was in the 80s before we wised up to the "get all the cats fixed thing" Not sure if he was a feral cat, I don't think so.


Frohliche Weinachten you guys!

[Heidi]

10. To be honest, my mother-in-law took her cat off of birth control so that she could get pregnant.

That's how we got The Wiley and Excellent Boy Cat Named Ginger. After the kittens were weaned, my MIL got Ginger's mom spayed. (Yep, you can get birth control pills for female cats here. :hi: )

[Heidi]

15. Clarification: she = the female cat, NOT my mother-in-law herself.

Edith was way past baby-makin' days when her cat got pregnant. :rofl:

[applegrove]

7. Awwww. You are so sweet to rescue that guy.

[Heidi]

9. Well, I was adopted when I was six years old.

I can't know what it's like to be a starving cat, but I remember what it was like to be a little kid without love, shelter and kindness. :)

Merry Christmas, applegrove! :hug:

[applegrove]

26. All my best to you and yours - Have a Happy New Year Heidi.

[GoCubsGo]

11. Hello, Little Old Man

He looks mighty cozy in that second photo. Thank you for giving him a nice warm, safe place to spend his golden years.

[Heidi]

13. I think his condition has improved a lot, but we'll find out for sure next week

when we take him to Dr. Dürr, along with The Wiley and Excellent Boy Cat Named Ginger; and my mother-in-law's cats Bünz (Ginger's uncle), Minz (Ginger's mom), and Tabitha (Ginger's sister).

Under no circumstances with Little Old Man get the needle -- until we see him suffering. And he's no longer suffering. His presence has been something of an awakening for me, perhaps a learning experience, because Ginger is 10 years old, and I have a lot of difficulty considering his eventual death. Hard to explain.

Merry Christmas, GoCubsGo. :hug:

[lunatica]

12. He sure is a handsome senior cat!

Does he look like he'll take off again, or do you think he'll stay?

[Heidi]

14. He seems to be arthritic and has some difficulty getting in and out of his bed.

If he takes off when the weather warms up (April), I'll respect that. He's a wild cat, and I can't change his nature. But he's always got a warm bed and good food here when he wants it. And we'll make sure he gets vaccinated and checked out by Ginger's doc next week. :)

[hippywife]

16. Have I told you lately

that I luv you? What a pitiful picture mid-December. So sad. I'm glad he's settled in with you and is warm and loved.

I think he could pass as Ginger's dad. Sure. :hi:

:loveya: :*

[Heidi]

17. Love you, my sweet!

And I don't really care whether Little Old Man is Gingi's papi. Anyone who'd let a cat starve, well, I just don't know about that sort of person. :(

Merry Christmas, love! :hug:

:loveya:

:sooch:

[WCGreen]

18. The Tom picked you....

He was ready to settle down...

[Heidi]

19. That may be true.

Or it may be that he found a place with a warm, accessible basement an cats so fat and happy that they're not threatened bx him. In any event, the important thing is that Little Old Man is safe, warm, belly full, getting his shots next week, and -- except for his blind right eye, deafness and arthritis, not suffering.

Merry Christmas, Chris. :hug:

[Flaxbee]

20. Merry Christmas to Little Old Man! He hit the jackpot

:)

Wonderful of you to take him in. I've babied many ferals and it really is amazing how quickly a few solid meals and some antibiotics if needed can make a huge difference.

He's really old for a feral; cats with homes and regular medical care often live to be at least 15, one of ours was 17 when he died of kidney failure. Ginger has a good many years left :hug: and if LOM stays with you (or at least drops in for a meal every now and then) he will, too.

You're a woman after my own heart, Heidi. Merry Christmas to you and CMW and your families.

[Heidi]

21. Merry Christmas, Flaxbee!

The ferals in our neighborhhod live extended lives, thanks to the former local cat lady, Erica, who got most of them spayed/neutered a few years ago vefore she moved away and retired. I'm convinced that, in addition to reducing the number of cats born into rough circumstances, catch/spay/neuter/release reduces th likelihood of territorial fighting and -- thus -- the resulting deaths immediately related to fights, spread of infections, etc. :hi:

[Kali]

22. awww

poor old guy. well lucky old guy now! but that first picture makes me tear up

[Heidi]

30. Happy Christmas +1, Kali!

:hug:

[Curmudgeoness]

24. Wow, a 13 year old feral cat. That is one incredible kitty.

Hope he has a long life with you. He deserves it.

[Skittles]

25. it is indeed

I've got a favorite old man feral I feed - he has has absolutely no interest in people except what food we can give him and he has a never-ending supply of sympathizers in my apt complex - he snacked on chicken legs tonight :D

[Curmudgeoness]

27. Lucky cat. Most ferals have few sympathizers.

If they can't love on them, they don't want them around. But life is really hard on the streets, and a good food source will keep them safer. Good for you.

[Heidi]

31. Ours is a good neighborhood for cats, thanks to the area cat lady,

who for years has made sure that even the wild cats get spayed/neutered and vaccinated. But she moved away, so it's probably been a while since Little Old Man was vaccinated. That'll change next week. :)

[fizzgig]

28. he's a good looking little old man

and i'm glad he found good people like you and yours :loveya:

[Heidi]

32. We're glad he turned up here, fizzgig.

For some reason, Ginger and my mother-in-law's cats just ignore Little Old Man. Maybe because he's not a threat to them; he just sleeps all the time.

Merry post-Christmas, sweets! :hug:

[maddezmom]

29. Hello Little Old Man

and belated Christmas wishes to you and yours :loveya:

[Heidi]

33. And to you, too, maddezmom, and Mr. maddezmom and the two beautiful younguns!

:hug:

:loveya:

[SalmonChantedEvening]

34. Merry Christmas, Heidi!!!

Hi Little Old Man!! :loveya:

A handsome addition to an already lovely family. :*

[Heidi]

35. Thank you, sweets!

He's kind of a grouchy Little Old Man, but he has his tender moments. :)

Merry Christmas +1, SalmonChantedEvening! :loveya:

:*

[xchrom]

36. what a lovely thing for you to do.

i just love that you have extended yourself for that little guy in his senior years. awesome.

[Heidi]

37. Well, we don't want any animal to suffer.

If I took him to the shelter, he'd get the needle. The shelters in our area don't even give elderly cats a chance to be adopted.

The important thing is that Little Old Man isn't suffering anymore now that he's had a round of antibiotic and his belly is kept full. He's a pretty good old guy; just had a hard life. :)

Happy Sunday, dah-ling! :hug:

:loveya:

[xchrom]

38. and to you, dah-ling

:hug:

[Arkansas Granny]

39. How fortunate for the Old Man that he showed up at your place when he decided he needed help.

You've done a very good thing.

[Heidi]

41. He may hate me by the end of the week. CMW discovered last night that Little Old Man

has an abscess on the side of his face, so he'll be going to the vet sooner than we had planned. (I started him on another round of Amoxicat this morning, but I think he needs to be checked out by a doc.) :hi:

[Arkansas Granny]

42. He'll get over being mad. Just open up another can of the good stuff and all will be forgiven.

[blogslut]

40. What a blessing for you!

I realize that what you've done for this cat is kind and generous but when cats choose you, it is a blessing. I'm so glad you've got him. :)

[Heidi]

43. I agree that he's a blessing.

But we're not so kind and generous as you might think. We're selfish in that we could not stand to be responsible, via inaction, for Little Old Man's continued suffering. We're glad he's here. :hug:

[kimi]

44. Aw, that first pic breaks my heart . . .

but the second one warms it. You all are good people to take such good care of the old guy. And I hope his abscess heals well. It might be such a relief to have it drained that he won't hold it against you. Some cats seem to understand that sort of thing - others, not so much. But as long as he's not suffering.

Kudos to you and yours for all you do for the kittehs, and Happy Holidays!

[Heidi]

46. Love to you, kimi.

We're not in any way extraordinarily good people. We're selfish people who cannot, for our own consciences, stand to see another sentient being suffer. Little Old Man is very sweet in his own way and, from our experience with forcing Ginger to get his teeth cleaned, we think LOM will probably forgive us. But, in the meantime, he'll punish me all the way to Dr. Dürr's lab and back. :yoiks:

[stuntcat]

45. oh wow what a lucky Mr. Kitty!

When homeless cats fall into just the right people's hearts I think it's about the nicest thing in the world!! Thank you for watching out for him, he deserves an easy rest of his life :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Heidi]

47. He is a beauty, isn't he?

But we'd love him whether he was ugly or beautiful, whether he was Ginger's papi or not. I agree 100 percent: he has earned rest, tenderness and a warm place with good food, medical care. So sad, though, that these seem to be comforts that a sentient being "earns." It seems they should be givens in this big, hard world. :-(

[WinkyDink]

48. He's an awesome cat!

[Heidi]

53. He's a survivor, for sure!

Hi, WinkyDink! Happy New Year (in advance)! :hug:

[WinkyDink]

60. Happy New Year to you, {Heidi}!

[sazemisery]

49. Merry Christmas Heidi!!!!

Long time I know. Lots has happened to me since I was last here. I don't live in Oklahoma anymore. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas.

P.S. The links are broken to the pics :(

[Heidi]

54. Hi, sazemisery!

Welcome back! You need to send me a PM and update me on all the changes. Do you miss Oklahoma? (You don't have to answer that honestly. :ha: )

Happy New Year! :hug:

[ceile]

50. Look at the change in such a short time!

So glad he found you!

[Heidi]

55. The main chance is that his coat looks healthier, we think.

Little Old Man is still thin as a rail and seems to have an abscess on his face -- so it's off to the vet we go this afternoon. We're glad he found us, too. At least he's not freezing or starving to death anymore. :hug:

[MiddleFingerMom]

51. How sweet of you to take an old tough guy into your home for warmth and comfort and love.

.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
For a brief moment, I considered showing up cold and miserable-looking at
your kitchen window, but THAT reverie was broken by the realization that...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
...within a coupla weeks, someone would be throwing a coat over me and
taking me down for "the operation" and two of my body parts started
looking EXACTLY like this:
.
.
:scared::scared:
.
.
I really liked his face in that first picture -- he's definitely his
own person.
.
But what is that translucent thing on his bottom right?
.
.
.
.
.
It looks like he's being haunted by "The Ghost of Condoms Past".
.
.
.
Very sweet. Very nice story. I got me the warm n fuzzies now.
.
.
.
Thank you for sharing this with us.
.
:hug:
.
.
.
.
.

[Heidi]

52. Hi, MFM! The translucent thing is a candle on our kitchen counter.

The photo was taken through our kitchen window, while Little Old Man was standing on the window ledge howling at us when he first showed up. :hi:

P.S. No neutering awaits Little Old Man when I take him to the vet this afternoon. He was neutered a few years ago, courtesy of our neighborhood's cat lady. :)

[hamsterjill]

56. Yeah, Heidi!!!!

Thanks for taking an interest in this guy! He lucked out, and I am certain that he feels happy and grateful!

As I've not heard of Amoxicat before (I live in Texas), I am sure we can't get it here! It's a bummer that many of the products that are available for pets around the world are not accessible in the States.

In any event, good luck with him and bless your little pink ears for helping him!

[Heidi]

57. Hi hamsterjill. Amoxicat is just a brand name for Amoxicillin.

Little Old Man is having an overnight with the vet tonight. After fasting, he'll be tested for FIV tomorrow morning, and if he's negative, he'll get a haircut, neutered and vaccinated. (We thought he was neutered, but the vet says, "Nope.")

If Little Old Man is positive for FIV, he will be euthanized (that makes me sad, but Dr. Dürr says he's at least 15 years old, and since there's no cure for FIV, the other cats in our neighborhood could be at risk of contracting it).

What I learned from Dr. Dürr today: Little Old Man has chronic elephantitis (from years of fighting in the wild), glaucoma (completely blind in his right eye), no teeth on the right side of his mouth, and may have a kidney problem. LOM peed on Dr. Dürr's examination table today, and it was as colorless as water and had no odor -- Dr. Dürr says this is alarming in itself.

We'll see what tomorrow brings. This has been a long day.

[hamsterjill]

59. Oh, Heidi!!! I know what you are going through!

I figured that Amoxicat was amoxicillin, but we can't get anything like that without a script here in the U.S. Luckily, we have a vet who works with our rescue group who cuts costs for us, etc.

I will be sending good vibes for Little Old Man. We routinely test our rescues for Felv/FIV and heartworm, and it is always very stressful waiting for the results.

I, personally, believe that they find us when they really need us. It may be that Little Old Man has come to a point where his quality of life is compromised, and the kindest thing is to let him go. I will hope against that and hope that he is treatable. Whatever the outcome, I thank you very much for helping him.

[Heidi]

61. You need to get it from a doctor here, too, or have a prescription.

But there are a lot of cats between CMW and me (Ginger and LOM), my mother-in-law (three cats), and my sister-in-law (two cats) in three households, so one of the households always has a stash of Amoxicat.

Thank you for your kindness, hamsterjill. :hug:

[BrklynLiberal]

58. How wonderful that you are giving some TLC for Christmas....

I hope he stays around so you can keep him comfortable and well loved....

He is gorgeous..even in his old age and not so perfect condition.

I hope the report from the vet is such that you can give LOM some warm and comfortable days before his life ends.

Please post the update after you find out all the results...

He seems a bit old for surgery like neutering..and even for vaccinations.

I hope his tests are negative and he can spend some peaceful time with you.

[Heidi]

62. I was worried that he was too old for the stressful ride to the vet.

But he did okay. LOM just doesn't seem to have any fight left in him. We do know, though, that our vet won't neuter LOM if he thinks he's too weak. Thank you for your kind words. Things happen as they happen, and I should know that by now. I just don't want this sweet old guy to suffer. :hug:

[BrklynLiberal]

63. You are an angel...

:hug: :loveya:
and whatever the final outcome, LOM will have now love and comfort in his life...and his spirit will
watch over you long after his physical presence is gone...however far in the future that may be.

[Heidi]

64. I'm not an angel. This day has shown me how very weak I am.

If ever there were a person less suited to be a rescuer of cats, it's probably me. And I think our vet hates me because he was speaking in Swiss-German to my mother-in-law about possible procedures on LOM, and I just had to say: "Please speak to _me_ about Little Old Man. I will be the one paying the bill or burying Little Old Man, and probably both." :(

ETA: I'm ashamed for snarking at a very competent and fine doctor who has taken such good care for Ginger for 10 years.

[hamsterjill]

65. Oh, no - honey! You are perfect for rescue!

I always say that the day that I don't cry when I lose one, is the day that I need to hang up my humane trap! It's the fact that you (and many, many others!!!) care that make animal people the best people.

I'm sure the vet understood you were only concerned about LOM. Please keep us posted, and here's wishing good things for LOM.

[BrklynLiberal]

66. I do not think you were so "bad". Why was he not speaking directly to you?

Your statement was 100% true...and there was no reason to ignore you.

I would think that the vet knows you well enough to know that you were upset..and no offense was meant.

Did you get any final word on what will be done, and what can be done for him??

[Heidi]

71. I'm kinda over it now,

but I'm sure it was because Swiss-German is the first language of both the doctor and my MIL. He didn't mean to offend me, for sure. The doc started the consultation and exam in English and the further he got into looking LOM over, it must have become one of those "everything's moving so fast and this is a serious situation" where it was probably easier for the doc to explain to the procedures and options to my MIL in his own first language. But it sure miffed me for two or three hours because I was the one responsible for LOM's treatment and comfort.

Also, LOM wasn't the only cat in our family getting checked out yesterday. There was also Ginger (our boy cat), and two of my MIL's three cats. We usually do the annual vaccination thing together so that we can help one another -- and she has a huge Volvo station wagon.

[Heidi]

67. Rest in peace, Little Old Man.

Dr. Dürr called a few minutes ago to tell me that Little Old Man is FIV positive and very weak; because of his age (15+) and condition, he would not have survived the anesthesia for neutering. So, he'll cross the rainbow bridge this morning with dignity.

Rest in peace, Little Old Man, and thank you for choosing us. :loveya:

[hamsterjill]

68. I'm sorry...

I'm sorry for LOM, and for you for having to be the one to help him. But you are doing the right thing, and he picked you to help him.

Safe passage, LOM. And comfort, calm and peace to you, Heidi. Thanks for caring about all of them!

[Heidi]

69. Thank you, hamsterjill.

Please don't be sorry for me. I'm okay; I've just never had to help an animal over the rainbow bridge before. Call Me Wesley and I have been discussing Little Old Man's situation for a couple of weeks, and that's why we decided to get him checked out by Ginger's vet. LOM didn't look as though he was suffering, but Dr. Dürr assured us that whatever love and comfort we could give him, arthritis hurts, FIV is suffering, being blind and deaf put LOM in constant fear when he left our basement to do his business, and he was in renal failure, too. :(

I guess what bothers me the most is that there was a human somewhere along the line responsible for LOM -- either for him being born to an un-neutered cat or for abandoning him -- and for his life of fighting, starving and suffering.

Anyway, the Little Old Man is at rest now. Thank you for caring, hamsterjill. :hug:

[MrsMatt]

73. Even though I knew the odds were not in his favor, I was still

hoping for a happier end for LOM.

Thanks for being his friend and helping him die with dignity and comfort.

[Heidi]

74. Thank you, MrsMatt.

My dad has Stage IV pancreatic cancer with liver involvement, and so my mom and I have had a lot of talks about death with dignity. She said when I first told her that LOM had come to us that the most important thing was to just give him the life he should have had and to be ready to give him a painless, dignified death.

P.S. :hug: Thank you for your good thoughts for us.

[Heidi]

70. P.S. You know what was really warm and beautiful?

When LOM was sitting in his cat taxi at the vet's office yesterday, the vet techs were all cooing over how beautiful he was, and (before he peed on the examining table), the doctor and his assistant were also making over the old boy and how strong he must have been to have lived so long on his own. And they were right: he was a beautiful boy, and we were very, very lucky to have seen him get comfortable enough to approach us with his tail up in greeting, to hear him purr when he dug into a big bowl of Almo Nature bio chicken breast or mackerel, to see him curled up in a ball in his warm, safe place.

Having these memories of LOM is a real gift.

[BrklynLiberal]

76. ...

:cry: :hug: You helped to make his life a lot better....in many ways.

[lukasahero]

72. He was very fortunate to have a warm and loving place

to spend his last days. I'm sorry for your loss, Heidi, and grateful for your kind heart. He was a beautiful boy.

[BrklynLiberal]

75. Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I am so very, very sorry.

You did give him some comfort and love at the end..and as you said, allowed him go with dignity.

I am sure his grateful spirit will come by to thank you at some point if you are open to it.

and of course there is the gift of his son, Ginger that you have.....

:cry: :hug: :loveya: