Nursing a beautiful cat

On Sunday I had to catch a beautiful neighbourhood stray cat, who is large, ginger and seems very mild tempered but timid. He has been around for as long as I remember and we assumed he must have an owner somewhere, but over time it seemed he may not. We fed him whenever he turned up, as we did worry a bit about him, and had noticed he had a mild cough for a while. It has taken me months to convince him to let me stand next to him, with many very patient times where I ended up sitting the other side of a door so he could get used to my scent/ sitting near him while he ate etc. It is lucky I did this in hindsight, as on Sunday I had to capture him, and that trust helped a massive amount. I dread to think what would have happened if he has not been used to me and I could not get him.

In the morning, you see, I was confronted by this sight:

A very poorly looking kitty indeed! The cough we dismissed as asthma or nothing serious (he seemed a strong and able cat) had developed into something much worse it seemed. It took a lot of effort and some help from a kindly neighbour who loves cats herself, but we managed to wrap him in a blanket and take him into her house (we did not have room with our two cats and no spare space, so luckily she had a place for him), after a little bit of a struggle. All night we were worried about him, but the only advice Cat's Protection could give was to take him to the vet first thing. The problem with this plan- we were both broke and could not afford treatment.


I did not want to part with Ginger, as he has become a lovely companion when I am in the garden and ginger cats really are a favourite of mine, but I knew he was in need of desperate attention. I wanted to know he was getting better and see that he was ok before we decided any other future for him, like maybe having to rehome him. Luckily, after hours of goose chases and 3 charities being involved, I managed to get a reference number from the RSPCA to get him treated. I took him in asap and he was given two strong antibiotic injections and some eyedrops since he was diagnosed with, as we suspected, cat flu.

His breathing was wheezy, he had a fully blocked up and red raw nose (the mucus had literally hardened around the end) and sores by his eyes. The vet let me keep him to give some TLC, but it was hard for that first 24 hours as although he was fairly bright, he was obviously suffering. On Tuesday we began to give him water through a pipette, as he has not eaten since Sunday due to the fact his nose was blocked and tilting his head hurt (according to the vet). We did this several times over the day and the last time he seemed interested in some tuna I had taken around, for the first time in days (and he is a big cat, like I say!). It was such a relief, but he still did not eat and turned his head away when we tried to help feed him. Today though, the effort paid off and his now clearer nose must have been able to pick up the smell and not hurt quite as much, as he wolfed down 3 bowls of food and began drinking independently.


He still has a wheezy chest and sneezes, but seems to be on the mend and it has been decided that he can stay with out neighbour for good, with me visiting as often as I like, and that we will share responsibility for food, to make sure he gets treated like the prince he should be after everything he seems to have gone through. Let's just hope he stays on the mend now!