I got home and unloaded all the goodies for the kitties...decided since it was warm enough I'd rake the yard a little. (the mud pit) and get some of the tire ruts gone....Hercules showed up. I looked at the time...it was 3 p.m. or so..."Hmm" I said....and decided to shove his butt into the carrier. While he was crying at me I called the vet clinic. Asked if they had time to get blood test done and a rabies shot done for a stray cat. I'd make other appointments as needed-but those two things I had to have done asap. (Especially since he likes not showing up at appropriate times-like when the vet is open!)
They got him in and he did *very* well in the car. He did very well while we waited for the vet. A tech came in to take him and get him prepped for his bloodwork. She came back in and said I had a neutered male...initially it sparked some excitement. Yes! I was right! His balls did look small! However, the vet came in with some bad news. Hercules tested positive for FIV...he was fine for FeLV...she went over with how it isn't super easy to transmit FIV from cat to cat, however, I would likely not have an easy time finding him a home. If he was an only cat OR if he went to a home with other FIV positive cats. The vet said the test she did would've shown if it was a positive result from a vaccine or not. (I hope that was true).
Anyway, she said that it wouldn't be the wisest decision to put him back outside if he was FIV positive. Even if he's neutered, he could still get into a fight with another cat. There are a lot of strays and ferals in town....and I know about a block away someone has indoor/outdoor cats. Anyways...being he was neutered and had a notch, it's likely he was a TNR cat. The vet said that DVC and Critters don't do vaccines for FIV and FeLV for TNR cats...so it's likely that this cat was infected at some point before or after his neuter and it was never caught. (My guess)
I got watery eyed....I asked if I could call Bill first since he was the one most attached to Hercules. Thankfully he got the idea that if I called him back-to-back it was pretty important. We made the decision together...and it wasn't easy. I told the vet I could pay for it right now, but she said it was an emotional decision either way-they would mail me the bill. I walked out quickly and went to my car and cried. It just really flippn' sucked, the idea that I'd do something right for the cat, the community, and "Be the Change"....all to have a cat euthanized because I didn't have space to have a special needs cat. Nor a shelter to take him to. If I had a place to keep him...a bigger house...an upstairs or downstairs...SOMETHING.
Then I do that thing I always do...go online and research...reading all the stuff about false positives...how the tests at the vet clinic suck...how I shouldn't have had him euthinized...just let him live his life, etc. Then Doubt settled in...and I felt worse. (This was all after my Spring Grove Soda pop and chocolate cake splurge.)
I hate doubt. I hate the internet...I hate what can be written to make someone feel like crap. He already had some kind of parasitic issue...his fur was breaking off (or had broken off/fallen out) all over his belly and lower back (suggestion of fleas or some other kind of parasite)
Blah blah.
Then I get a call from a foster volunteer-a girl called her. She had left her ex due to abusive issues, and I guess had to leave her cats. The younger of the two is a thorn in the ex's side and he wants it gone "one way or another"...and was more than willing to kill it himself. So much for my hoping to get a stray into foster care. Joy.
The cat should be transported to foster care tonight and hopefully to his actual foster home tomorrow or sometime soon this week. (or the foster person will freak)
I guess it's good I have a week off. Seems like it's going to be one hell of a week.
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