This thread got posted inadvertently before I finished writing it, oops.
I wanted to tell this story but have waited until some semblance of normalcy had settled.
Last October, I was out leafleting when this cat ran up to me pretty much begging for cuddles. A bit unusual I thought, then I ran my hand down his back and felt pretty much every single bump in his spine, basically a bag of skin and bones and matted hair all over the shop. As I had been chatting with a person living nearby, I asked about this cat and apparently the cat had been left behind 6 months before following a family divorce. I mentioned the cat's condition and suggested various local charities who could take the cat in; while the lady sounded positive about doing something, I wasn't 100% convinced.
Two weeks later my wife and I thought we'd check on the cat and see if he's still hanging about and in a similar state. Yup. Talk to the neighbour again, and because she had emigrated here she was under the impression that due to her home country that the cat would just get euthanised so she was hesitant about effectively sentencing the cat to death. We came prepared and the cat happily jumped into the box we brought after we fed him. As an afterthought I left my number with the neighbour (not sure what my logic was here, but anyway).
We quarantined the cat in our dining room (which we don't really use, at least not yet) as we weren't sure if he had any diseases that could affect our other cat Angus, took him to the vet, found out he was about 15 years old, no microchip, blood tests came back with nothing contagious but a wicked case of hyperthyroidism (a big contributor to the 'skin and bones' situation; a cat that should be 5kg weighing approximately half that), bad teeth and infested with fleas in a big way.
Then I got a phone call (within a few days of taking the cat in) from a woman asking why we had "taken her cat". I explained the situation as we saw it and were made aware of it, she apparently thought it would be OK for them to just leave the cat behind but come back occasionally to feed him, as they had shut him out of the house before they moved anyway because he shits all over the place (another symptom of hyperthyroidism, urgency to go shit and loose stools). We had already been consulting with a charity or two about possible solutions for this cat, and one thing we learnt in the process is that this woman had a better case for getting the cat back than we had of keeping him, but there would be a possible investigation of animal cruelty on her part.
She wasn't aware that the cat has a hyperactive thyroid. She just thought he was normally that skinny. <facepalm>
She wanted the cat back. After going us a load of guilt-trip about how the kids miss him so much (yuh huh, that's why you left him behind - we didn't say this), she sought permission and received permission from her landlord within 24 hours (fast turnaround for a cat you left behind for more than 6 months that you're obviously concerned about your kids missing the cat), though until she's got the house ready, can she and one of her kids visit because the kid misses him so much.
When she visited, the kid was obviously keen on the cat, cat rolls over for him for all the strokies, the kid remarks on how the patch of hair on his underside is where the fleas normally are (cue my resisting of a judgemental look in her direction), now no longer.
So once she's prepared her home, we let her have the cat back (with a healthy amount of scepticism that this was for the best, though we got her address and dropped the cat off and let her know that the RSCPA would be 'checking in on him') with her having all the medical facts as we're aware of them.
Within 24 hours of him being away, I get a FB message from her saying that the events of the last day or so have been too much, lots of shitting all over the place, an emergency vet visit after he apparently tore out one of his own teeth, and she gave an ultimatum that she would either get the cat put down or we need to take the cat back.
We took the cat back. Some point along the way I named the cat Thundercat. We read up about introducing cats to each other and took it steady. TC has taken the position of Top Cat in the feline hierarchy. As these two aren't big fans of sticking to their own food bowl, trying to get the thyroid meds into him has been fun and we've ended up going for a cream that's absorbed through the skin of his ears (kinda expensive though, but a heck of a lot less stress and guaranteed success).
He's had most of his teeth out too (professionally!). We mush up his food and serve it on a chopping board so it doesn't slide away from him. He hoovers it up in no time.
He's had some further health hiccups along the way to say the least: He stopped eating a few times causing a few vet visits, and frankly because of his age and health problems we were being realistic about his chances and while we wanted him to have a decent end of life with us, there was definitely a question of "is that what he wants though?". A load of tests later, lymphoma is suspected but given his precarious state it was pointless to try and go all the way for a definitive diagnosis. The final attempt to get him healthy again was an injection of steroids, which has done the trick. Every so often he'll need another dose (he's on his second dose since late November I think).
A minor issue is that he didn't have any vaccinations (it turned out he was registered to the same vet as we already use so the records have been changed over and we've had him chipped), so he has feline chlamydia (not an STD) which results in him snorting up snot often, but it appears to be manageable and not causing him any huge grief. It's chronic once they're infected and most cats are vaccinated.
He's been doing well since (late November I think was the end of the 'health hiccups'). He's really come out of his shell and started to act a lot more like a cat. His fur is still in a state (especially the underside), but he's going at it himself and we've recently begun a daily routine of removing a piece of matted hair each day. He's very much an old man, he's not in for playing any kind of stalking/chasing games but he's perfectly mobile and has a healthy appetite as well as steadily gaining weight (I think he was 3.6kg the last time he was weighed by the vet, and his back has filled out). In short, he seems to be enjoying life for however long he has and we're cool with that.
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