Monday, January 19, 2009

Because I am, at heart, an old spinster lady

Here's a blog about my cat.

Ummm... Exclamation Point! (?)

So, yeah, Murray has FIV, or Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, or Kitty Aids. Here's what happened. I went back to Michigan for a week, did Christmasy crap, all Holly and merriment and such, and dumped the cat outside. Middle of winter in Iowa.

HOWEVER, I took the following precautions: I gave the neighbor kid twenty bucks to feed him. My front window was a piece of plastic held on with duct tape (Murray actually knocked it out getting in) and the cat could STILL get in one corner, so I figured he could come and go as he pleased. (As could anyone else, I guess.) I left a bowl and a dustpan full of food out for him as well.
And I figure, worst comes to worst, the neighbors put food out for THEIR cats. I figure he'll be OK.

So I get back from Michigan, cat's gone. Neighbor kid's gone, and I to this day haven't seen him. Landlord, shockingly, came by and fixed my window so the cat can't come and go after all. Neighbors' haven't seen him.

I wait a week.

I get the bright idea to call the animal shelter, and lo and behold, there he is. Not doing so well, either. All sick and sneezy. So I let him out of his cage and he comes and curls up on my lap and doesn't move, so he's not feeling very active, and the shelter peeps say that he's REALLY not happy to be there, and once more he's not eating.

And this cat, he's a freaking EATER. Eat, eat, eat, eat, eat. I've never known a less-picky cat.

But I found 'im. Good news.

The BAD news was shelter plus food plus adoption fee plus whatever-the-hell else they felt like charging me for added up to 115 dollars. PLUS 18 dollars for a rabies shot, which he may or may not have had, but I couldn't find his former owner for confirmation.

Bummer. So as much as I didn't want to leave Murray in his cage overnight I needed me me a few days to get the scratch together, and ANYWAY the animal shelter didn't want to release him 'till he'd had his rabies vaccine, or PROOF that he'd had his rabies vaccine and anyway (again) they didn't want to give him while he was sick (for obvious reascine,ons) and so they kept him overnight, and did a blood test while he was there..

And Kitty Aids.

Which is really, really fucking depressing 'cause I like my cat a lot.

So, current update. Murray is doing a LOT better. He drank all his water the first day home and started eating on the second day and doesn't even really seem sick anymore. The Landlord doesn't want me to have a cat, so I'm moving us at the end of the month. (If anyone knows a cheap, quiet-ish place in the IC area, hook me up.)

Hopefully I'll have the $$$$ to get him to the vet at the end of the month, and we'll see what's up from there. But he's doing alright now, and caught a freaking BAT yesterday. And the animal shelter said he could, if he's lucky, live 2-3 years. So I'm cautiously optimistic for now.