New Cat Saga Continues
Sep. 26th, 2022 09:16 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lydamorehouse So, there's been some major development in the story of the cat formerly known as "Clover." Let me see if I can recount all of the goings on...
Last Friday night, Shawn was still combing through the various "lost cat" sites on Facebook and came across a listing on a place called PawBoost. There was a picture of a cat in cage with a litter of kittens with the text that read: "Como neighborhood, last seen at Beacon and Shields..." Even though most people call our neighborhood Midway or, more precisely, Union Park, Beacon and Shields is the cross street that is literally on the southwest corner of our block. The post then went on to describe a cat who was two years old (small for her size,) all black, polydactyl, and recently pregnant, who had been lost by the name of Six.
It was that last bit that really struck me.
When we first approached Clover/Six, I noticed really distended nipples, but it was one of those "huh, look at that" thoughts that I kind of filed away, since there was no thought in my mind that this cat could possibly be old enough to have already had a litter of kittens. And, to be fair to me, at the moment, we were not considering whether or not we would keep her, just what we would do to get her out of our backyard and away from all the gentleman attention.
The post was very obviously the cat we have in our house. If not, the possibility was very strong. We'd already paid for a bunch of vet tests, including having checked for a microchip, but, no regrets, because we could not have brought her in off the porch if she had not been tested for feline leukemia, worms, fleas, or anything else she could spread to our two kitties. Shawn contacted the poster immediately. They only provided an email, no phone, but Shawn dropped a very happy, excited message saying, "Hey, we're pretty sure we've picked up your cat. Contact us!" She left my phone number, her email, and let them know that we were happy to keep her safe, warm, and fed until they got back to us.
It's been three days and silence.
Shawn has left increasingly concerned emails.
Still nothing.
We would just continue to act as foster parents, EXCEPT.
Aspameladean predicted, our female cat is having NONE of this upstart in the house. When we tried to introduce the cats, even after several days of exchanging rooms for sniffs, there was a lot of hissing and Clover/Six ended up hiding in the basement. We've had a situation where we had a basement cat in the past and that's really no way for a cat to have to live.
When we first posted about having found Clover/Probably Six, there was a woman in the neighborhood who put out a "Whelp, if no one wants her, I'd take her..." plea. She was worried about communicable diseases, but we have since resolved that issue for her. Since we don't want Clover/Six have to stay isolated forever, Shawn reached out to that person and said, "Hey, the situation is now a LOT more complicated, including the fact that this cat might actually belong to someone, are you still interested?" with the assumption that this person would come back and say, "What? No way." But... turns out she is still interested.
We left a final message with Six's people and basically said, "We are rehoming the cat we found."
We don't know what else to do. Given that a lot of people on the PawBoost site gave Six's owners crap for not having spayed her at two years old, it is possible that they left the site and closed accounts in order not to get harassing messages. With that thought in mind, we did put up actual, handmade signs at Shield's and Beacon with all out contact info. Six's people left no phone number on the site, however, so if our emails aren't getting through, it's possible they are still desperately looking for Six. We did make sure we updated our own separate Facebook neighborhood posts and have asked the online community to help us try to find Six's people.
But there's also only so much a person can do. It seems as though even if Six's people are still looking, they're not desperate enough to return to their original post or check that in-box. This has been tearing us up, but the thing I keep telling myself is that we have not only done our due-diligence, but we have been honest and forthright to everyone involved. This person who is thinking about taking Clover knows that it's possible that this cat is actually someone else's, she knows that we think the cat might be pregnant, and we're going to give her all the medical stuff we were given about Clover/Six, including a final deworming med. We are out of options for reaching out to Six's people. I mean, we could continue to wait, but if this cat could have a happier time in someone else's home, I don't see why we should deny Clover/Six that opportunity.
Ugh, it's so fucking hard to adult.
Image: Clover/Six, a black cat, hanging out on a comfy bright green blanket.
Last Friday night, Shawn was still combing through the various "lost cat" sites on Facebook and came across a listing on a place called PawBoost. There was a picture of a cat in cage with a litter of kittens with the text that read: "Como neighborhood, last seen at Beacon and Shields..." Even though most people call our neighborhood Midway or, more precisely, Union Park, Beacon and Shields is the cross street that is literally on the southwest corner of our block. The post then went on to describe a cat who was two years old (small for her size,) all black, polydactyl, and recently pregnant, who had been lost by the name of Six.
It was that last bit that really struck me.
When we first approached Clover/Six, I noticed really distended nipples, but it was one of those "huh, look at that" thoughts that I kind of filed away, since there was no thought in my mind that this cat could possibly be old enough to have already had a litter of kittens. And, to be fair to me, at the moment, we were not considering whether or not we would keep her, just what we would do to get her out of our backyard and away from all the gentleman attention.
The post was very obviously the cat we have in our house. If not, the possibility was very strong. We'd already paid for a bunch of vet tests, including having checked for a microchip, but, no regrets, because we could not have brought her in off the porch if she had not been tested for feline leukemia, worms, fleas, or anything else she could spread to our two kitties. Shawn contacted the poster immediately. They only provided an email, no phone, but Shawn dropped a very happy, excited message saying, "Hey, we're pretty sure we've picked up your cat. Contact us!" She left my phone number, her email, and let them know that we were happy to keep her safe, warm, and fed until they got back to us.
It's been three days and silence.
Shawn has left increasingly concerned emails.
Still nothing.
We would just continue to act as foster parents, EXCEPT.
As
pameladean predicted, our female cat is having NONE of this upstart in the house. When we tried to introduce the cats, even after several days of exchanging rooms for sniffs, there was a lot of hissing and Clover/Six ended up hiding in the basement. We've had a situation where we had a basement cat in the past and that's really no way for a cat to have to live. When we first posted about having found Clover/Probably Six, there was a woman in the neighborhood who put out a "Whelp, if no one wants her, I'd take her..." plea. She was worried about communicable diseases, but we have since resolved that issue for her. Since we don't want Clover/Six have to stay isolated forever, Shawn reached out to that person and said, "Hey, the situation is now a LOT more complicated, including the fact that this cat might actually belong to someone, are you still interested?" with the assumption that this person would come back and say, "What? No way." But... turns out she is still interested.
We left a final message with Six's people and basically said, "We are rehoming the cat we found."
We don't know what else to do. Given that a lot of people on the PawBoost site gave Six's owners crap for not having spayed her at two years old, it is possible that they left the site and closed accounts in order not to get harassing messages. With that thought in mind, we did put up actual, handmade signs at Shield's and Beacon with all out contact info. Six's people left no phone number on the site, however, so if our emails aren't getting through, it's possible they are still desperately looking for Six. We did make sure we updated our own separate Facebook neighborhood posts and have asked the online community to help us try to find Six's people.
But there's also only so much a person can do. It seems as though even if Six's people are still looking, they're not desperate enough to return to their original post or check that in-box. This has been tearing us up, but the thing I keep telling myself is that we have not only done our due-diligence, but we have been honest and forthright to everyone involved. This person who is thinking about taking Clover knows that it's possible that this cat is actually someone else's, she knows that we think the cat might be pregnant, and we're going to give her all the medical stuff we were given about Clover/Six, including a final deworming med. We are out of options for reaching out to Six's people. I mean, we could continue to wait, but if this cat could have a happier time in someone else's home, I don't see why we should deny Clover/Six that opportunity.
Ugh, it's so fucking hard to adult.
Image: Clover/Six, a black cat, hanging out on a comfy bright green blanket.
no subject
Date: 2022-09-26 02:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-09-26 09:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-09-28 12:00 pm (UTC)It's also possible that they just have an attitude about pets that's baffling and frustrating to you and me; I've seen a lot of things around fostering and working at shelters that just baffle me.
In any case, you've done what you can, the person taking her is doing what she can, and everything's coming up Clover/Six regardless.
I guess the only remaining question is whether there's a point where the cat can ethically be spayed if the owners haven't gotten in touch.
no subject
Date: 2022-09-26 02:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-09-26 09:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-09-26 03:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-09-26 09:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-09-26 07:45 pm (UTC)Poor silly kitten, I hope she isn't pregnant after all. Ugh. Really, handing her over to somebody with some vague sense of responsibility is better for her if she can't live happily with you.
P.
no subject
Date: 2022-09-26 09:16 pm (UTC)And, you know, it's not your FAULT, you just guessed right about the dynamics. I am very sad she can't stay with us, but I do think this other person will offer a loving and responsible home.
no subject
Date: 2022-09-26 08:34 pm (UTC)What happened to the kittens though???
no subject
Date: 2022-09-26 09:19 pm (UTC)People often baffle and confuse me, however, so really this is nothing new. :-P
And, yeah, she seems happier here, though as I said above, she is getting a bit more snappish, which makes me wonder if Clover is feeling broody.
Fun times!
no subject
Date: 2022-09-27 01:17 am (UTC)