The Cat Thread

Long form - As if Sunday hadn’t been long enough.

I ‘slept’ in a van for two hours that morning, awaking at four on Dunwich beach to prepare the mother of all bucket fires for incoming riders.

Drive a gang back to London; wait in the pub and former Red Bike Shop for bikes to return via trailer and them to be collected.

19:30 and making a few trips to load the van for home, food and sleep; pop the sliding side door and hear a tiny ‘meow’ from underneath the front kerbside wheel arch.
Looking down I see this pathetic, dirty little kitten; clearly out of place on this quick and busy road (I don’t even like riding or walking down it).

After a short, universal hello in human-cat (ie that kiss-kiss noise you make to get their attention), the kitten half leapt, half limped into the van. Righto, shut the door and went to get Kris, the last of the stuff and close down the shop.

After Kris and I had a good look at the feeble beast we knew we couldn’t leave it back on the street.

Drive home and bag up the cat for the 100 meter walk back to the house (you try parking a 14 seater out front your house on a Sunday night round here..).

It was immediately clear the cat (a little boy) was in an appalling state:

• Featherweight, emaciated
  
• Filthy, dirty (Kris and I’s hands/shirts were black like after a shift down t'pit)
  
• Flea infested, things literally jumping off his fur
  
• Fucked-up physically; ear cut from a fight and an injured rear leg, damaged back and matted fur
  
  

Cue one horrendous one and one half hours while we washed (like an MMA cage fight controlling this thing in the bath), wormed, flea-ed and cut away matted fur. Imagine the shower room after Paris-Roubaix if you want an idea how dirty the water ran.

So after drying this poor, sad, shivering creature we made a little run with litter and food in our bathroom and locked him away for the night.

To the massive appreciation of our other cats we also spent a while treating them for fleas and administering worm tablets (the bastards are experts at spitting these out).

All done, order pizza, pass out.

Over the next few days the little guy rebounded and spoke to us (a very talkative kitty) with an increasingly stronger voice. Still limping and unsure on his feet but slowly gaining confidence in his leaps; he even reached the counter-top (and learnt not to jump up there again).

Currently living in the kitchen and looking better each day. My routine is to let him hang out there during the day to convalesce (lots of toys and climby-scratchie stuffs) and come out in the evening for plays. I also wake up a few hours each morning and take him with me for snoozes on the couch, either cradled in my arms or resting my chest.

Kris took him to the vet to discover that he was unsexed and un-chipped but after our interventions fundamentally sound.

Next days we will decide what to do with him but I personally think the more the merrier around here..

One last thing, as he was found under a Ford, I have named him Harrison. Think it suits.

A week later.

Totally not the cat i was expecting to see after reading your story! What a pretty fluff. Good work.

Hero!

Great work!! harrison is ace.

My Condolences. Never easy to say good bye.

One determined looking cat right there.

Cheers Rich.

Vet thinks it could be idiopathic epilepsy, or a brain tumour. Only silly expensive tests would condition either way, so we're going to treat the symptoms for the moment, and take it from there.

She's happy enough otherwise.

Sad to read about your old boy.

Weighing up the risk to benefit, it doesn't make financial sense.

Top work!

Looks a little more moustachioed than Harrison Ford, but he looks like he's shaping up to be a fine kitteh!

Mask - is it worth flyering the area where Harrison found you or are you certain he's just been ditched by someone?

Kudos for saving the little dudes life!!!

Harrison seems more expressive than his namesake.

I put up mandatory posters around the neighbourhood and searched on-road and on-line for missing ads.

I would be very wary of returning him.

It breaks my heart to think of this sweet little guy being neglected for so long; not chipped or neutered, basic animal care that should have been sorted before he even had the chance to stray.

Such a wonderful loving temperament, he will either stay with us or go to people I know who would give him a caring home.

No chip, no posters, finders-keepers.
(Paraphrasing vet..)

Wow, what a great rescue story. Harrison looks like an amazing cat.

@Well_is_it so sorry to hear about your guy. 21 is good for a cat and he looks really happy and loved in that picture.

@TW fingers crossed for the best for your moggy

cat pic, for cat thread

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GF's cat is a bit of a dick. He is pretty much asleep now.

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We're hoping to re-home a pair of kittens. What's the best way to go about it? Battersea?

Put a picture in this thread, wait 30 seconds?

Sorry, I meant we are hoping to give them the home!

DO NOT go to Battersea. They treated me like some scambag and couldn't wait to ship my cat to me, when neither of us were quite ready... I was still buying things and filling the odd holes and gaps in the flat and she was waiting to be neutered and the 2nd part of her jab...

When I first went to visit, she was nowhere near ready as she'd just given birth few weeks ago, like she was upstairs in those special rooms where you have to put a shower cap on your haed and shoe covers before you are allowed in... she was that not ready... they told me if I want her, I'd have to wait for another 2 weeks at least, I was OK with that, being a first time cat person, I was grateful for the 2 weeks+ time to get things ready... 5 days later, they called me and told me to go pick her up the next day, which was a Friday, I said no, I wasn't ready and I couldn't take time off work in such short notice for non-urgent matters... Saturday? No still working, I said the earliest would have to be Sunday. Thats when they turned pushy and a bit nasty...

Long story short, when I registered with my local vet, told them my story and there were like, yap, that's Battersea for you.

Have friends who have also expressed concerns about how Battersea handles people. I am sure they look after their animals just fine, but please don't piss of potential owners... if Patch wasn't cute and lovely and I had already made a comittment towards her (not that she knew any better), I might have walked away... I stuck with them because Patch was the innocent party in it all.

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And... patch is the bossest bosss!

Patch looks well worth it.