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About a week and a half ago, I saw a scroungy black cat skulking on the back deck and shooed it away. I noticed the cat stagger a bit, lean on a bucket, and thought that it looked quite ill. It slunk under the deck to hide. The next evening I saw it again, and this time I noticed that it was more than just sick. It appeared to be starving and, worse, blind. I started putting food out for the kitty and on closer look, saw that the poor thing was also de-clawed. This is clearly a lost pet. With no success combing adverts for lost kitties and posting my own "Found Cat" notices on the internet, I knew I had to either take her in or find her a suitable home or she would likely die and soon. Days of torrential weather and neighborhood gardeners scaring her to death with lawnmowers and leaf blowers delayed our trip to the vet. We finally made it yesterday. We were informed that "Tabitha" is 14-15 years old and is, in fact, blind due to detached retinas as the result of hyperthyroidism and related hypertension and cardiac issues. She is free of all of the bad and communicable kitty cooties, and has now been vaccinated for anything and everything. If we were to treat her hyperthyroid condition, she'll go faster into kidney failure. The vet suggested that no matter what, she'll eventually just poop out. Giving her love, attention and plenty of food will make her last days happy. We're hoping for a lot of days. Because we have two indoor kitties, one of which is a bit of a bully that delights in the whooping of weaker kitties, Tabitha is in the garage studio. She actually seems to love her spot. She's assumed ownership of my work chair and immediately discovered the makeshift litter box (an overpriced service tray from Target with the handle holes taped shut as a regular litter box has sides that are too high for a blind kitty). She's eating like there's no tomorrow, adding a tiny bit of weight so that she now weighs 6.5 lbs. Only 6.5 lbs. I hope that she is just a lost kitty and that she is not here because some horrible pet parent decided to just open the door and be rid of a kitty with medical issues (which the vet reported they see a lot). I can't imagine how terrified she must have been in the dark, lost and starving, not even able to hunt (we saw lizards run past her unnoticed, then saw a gross possum eating her food one night just a few feet away from her, to which she was oblivious) and then terrorized by the sounds of packs of yipping coyotes at night.
I'm happy to have another kitty to love until and unless someone else wants to give her a quiet little indoor home. Studio cats are a good thing.
OK, I know she's not in the studio in the photo, but all the noise in there today scared her. I HAD to make a cover for my Bernina, so she zoomed outside to enjoy the super hot day (following sleet just six days ago?!?) until I got her settled in for the evening. All is well.
