Adopting a feral - Can I trouble you folks with a couple ofquestions?

in article , Nomen Nescio at
] wrote on 3/10/04 4:20 AM:

Well, the plot thickens.
Monday morning at 6:00, my wife was making coffee and the cat was sitting
outside the window. Since she was working at home that day (she's a self
employed quality consultant), she lit the cat in and he had breakfast and
napped in the living room as my wife did paperwork.
At about 3:00 in the afternoon, he started to give himself a cleaning. Then
he started to pull some hair around his hind end which revealed a small
scabbed over area. Then he started to pull at the scab and started it
bleeding.
I was working up in my den at the time and heard my wife call me "we've
got a problem". I came down and the cat was leaking a few spots of blood
on the carpet. Got a flashlight, looked at the wound, tried to clean it up
with some peroxide and got the bleeding to subside.
Well, that was it. We decided that it was time for a visit to the vet. Got
a 6:30 appt. Tempted the cat into the carrier with a piece of ham, closed the
door and he went nuts. Banging around, crying, and he peed on the towel
that we had put in (good thing we had a towel). We grabbed another towel and
headed off to the vet for a 20 min. ride with a very upset cat. So I carry the
cat into
the vets, towel over the top of the carrier, I'm wearing oven mits to avoid
getting scratched, and an unhappy cat.
Talked to the vet and explained the situation. The first thing she did was
go get a sheet with the health dept. protocol for "animal bites of unknown
origin
in unvaccinated pets". Step one...."euthanize".
Needless to say, our hearts shattered.
Step two...."if the owner is unwilling to euthanize...the pet should be
quarrantined
for 6 months". "A rabies vaccination should not be given until 5 months into
the
quarrentine period".
Ok, that looks better.
The vet explained the health issues and dangers we would face with a
potentially rabid cat. There have been a few sporadic cases of rabies
in the area with a major outbreak several years ago.
I asked her to check out the wound and we'd go from there. So she took
the cat out back for what seemed like an eternity and came back with,
"it's definitely a bite....and there's an abscess". According to the vet,
he was a real good boy during the exam.
Anyway, we now have a potentially rabid cat, with a seeping abscess, living
in our basement, getting 2 pills a day (thank God for little cheese balls),
and having a warm washcloth on the wound 3 times a day.
Prognosis for the cat....for the abscess, good....rabies, questionable......
new
home in the basement, not a rough as I expected.
Prognosis for us......It's been a tough day and a half, not much sleep,
concerned
about the health risks, gotta go get a rabies shot, so far so good.
It's been over a day since the cat peed in the carrier and he's yet to use the
box. He's been in it a few times, but has not used it. I'm a little worried
about that. But he knows it's there, at least. Other than that, he's eating
Ok,
light, but OK. He's had some cream, but does not seem to want any water.
I'm not going to worry too much about it, right now, "cause he's still
settling
in.
Sure hope we can get through this, OK. We realized at the vets that we
are VERY fond of that cat. I do wonder, though, if our hearts are in the right
place but our heads are up our....
So right now, I'm kinda hoping that some "lost cat" posters are going to
appear and we'll find that he does have a home and has had his shots, but
I wouldn't bet on it. And, honestly, I can't say that we'd return their cat
if we did find that out.
The FLV and FIV tests were negative, I sure wish they could test for rabies
as easily. Of course, those tests don't show whether he was infected with
this bite.
The next vet appt. is Thurs. evening. So we'll find out how the abscess
is doing and the maybe we can move foreward to shots and neutering.
As for his name, at the vets we filled out the form using the only "name"
he's had with us....."That Kitty". It's not set in stone, but he may become
"T.K." for short.

My thanks to all of you for your thoughts, advice, and good wishes.



Norman, do not get too worried about the rabies. I bet if you look up your
county statistics, few, if any, *cats* have been reported with rabies. While
that is a *possibility* I think it is a slim one. Too many countless
thousands of people have taken in cats for you to worry in that way. I'm
glad the bite is looked after and kitty is settling in.

Karen

in article , Nomen Nescio at
] wrote on 3/10/04 4:20 AM:

Well, the plot thickens.
Monday morning at 6:00, my wife was making coffee and the cat was sitting
outside the window. Since she was working at home that day (she's a self
employed quality consultant), she lit the cat in and he had breakfast and
napped in the living room as my wife did paperwork.
At about 3:00 in the afternoon, he started to give himself a cleaning. Then
he started to pull some hair around his hind end which revealed a small
scabbed over area. Then he started to pull at the scab and started it
bleeding.
I was working up in my den at the time and heard my wife call me "we've
got a problem". I came down and the cat was leaking a few spots of blood
on the carpet. Got a flashlight, looked at the wound, tried to clean it up
with some peroxide and got the bleeding to subside.
Well, that was it. We decided that it was time for a visit to the vet. Got
a 6:30 appt. Tempted the cat into the carrier with a piece of ham, closed the
door and he went nuts. Banging around, crying, and he peed on the towel
that we had put in (good thing we had a towel). We grabbed another towel and
headed off to the vet for a 20 min. ride with a very upset cat. So I carry the
cat into
the vets, towel over the top of the carrier, I'm wearing oven mits to avoid
getting scratched, and an unhappy cat.
Talked to the vet and explained the situation. The first thing she did was
go get a sheet with the health dept. protocol for "animal bites of unknown
origin
in unvaccinated pets". Step one...."euthanize".
Needless to say, our hearts shattered.
Step two...."if the owner is unwilling to euthanize...the pet should be
quarrantined
for 6 months". "A rabies vaccination should not be given until 5 months into
the
quarrentine period".
Ok, that looks better.
The vet explained the health issues and dangers we would face with a
potentially rabid cat. There have been a few sporadic cases of rabies
in the area with a major outbreak several years ago.
I asked her to check out the wound and we'd go from there. So she took
the cat out back for what seemed like an eternity and came back with,
"it's definitely a bite....and there's an abscess". According to the vet,
he was a real good boy during the exam.
Anyway, we now have a potentially rabid cat, with a seeping abscess, living
in our basement, getting 2 pills a day (thank God for little cheese balls),
and having a warm washcloth on the wound 3 times a day.
Prognosis for the cat....for the abscess, good....rabies, questionable......
new
home in the basement, not a rough as I expected.
Prognosis for us......It's been a tough day and a half, not much sleep,
concerned
about the health risks, gotta go get a rabies shot, so far so good.
It's been over a day since the cat peed in the carrier and he's yet to use the
box. He's been in it a few times, but has not used it. I'm a little worried
about that. But he knows it's there, at least. Other than that, he's eating
Ok,
light, but OK. He's had some cream, but does not seem to want any water.
I'm not going to worry too much about it, right now, "cause he's still
settling
in.
Sure hope we can get through this, OK. We realized at the vets that we
are VERY fond of that cat. I do wonder, though, if our hearts are in the right
place but our heads are up our....
So right now, I'm kinda hoping that some "lost cat" posters are going to
appear and we'll find that he does have a home and has had his shots, but
I wouldn't bet on it. And, honestly, I can't say that we'd return their cat
if we did find that out.
The FLV and FIV tests were negative, I sure wish they could test for rabies
as easily. Of course, those tests don't show whether he was infected with
this bite.
The next vet appt. is Thurs. evening. So we'll find out how the abscess
is doing and the maybe we can move foreward to shots and neutering.
As for his name, at the vets we filled out the form using the only "name"
he's had with us....."That Kitty". It's not set in stone, but he may become
"T.K." for short.

My thanks to all of you for your thoughts, advice, and good wishes.



Norman, do not get too worried about the rabies. I bet if you look up your
county statistics, few, if any, *cats* have been reported with rabies. While
that is a *possibility* I think it is a slim one. Too many countless
thousands of people have taken in cats for you to worry in that way. I'm
glad the bite is looked after and kitty is settling in.

Karen

Poor you! Lucky cat! Don't worry over-much about the rabies thing. I'm
just glad the cat is now safely with you.

Six months, by the way, seems excessive as a quarantine period. I hope
your message generates some discussion about rabies.

It's been a while since I've had any dealing with cat bite and rabies
protocol. Some five years ago or more, Campus Cats took on a feral kitten
from King County Animal Control that had bitten a groundskeeper at a local
community college when he grabbed hold of it. King County's practice was
to hold the animal for 10 days then make a decision. Fearing for the
kitten's life, Campus Cats asked to take custody of her when she had
served her time. We had little to worry about; the kitten not only
continued healthy but by the time she was ready for release she had been
thoroughly tamed by the staff and came out of jail riding on the shoulders
of her keeper. We named her Sing Sing (she was a blue point Siamese mix)
and found her a wonderful home.

Sharon Talbert
Friends of Campus Cats
Seattle

Poor you! Lucky cat! Don't worry over-much about the rabies thing. I'm
just glad the cat is now safely with you.

Six months, by the way, seems excessive as a quarantine period. I hope
your message generates some discussion about rabies.

It's been a while since I've had any dealing with cat bite and rabies
protocol. Some five years ago or more, Campus Cats took on a feral kitten
from King County Animal Control that had bitten a groundskeeper at a local
community college when he grabbed hold of it. King County's practice was
to hold the animal for 10 days then make a decision. Fearing for the
kitten's life, Campus Cats asked to take custody of her when she had
served her time. We had little to worry about; the kitten not only
continued healthy but by the time she was ready for release she had been
thoroughly tamed by the staff and came out of jail riding on the shoulders
of her keeper. We named her Sing Sing (she was a blue point Siamese mix)
and found her a wonderful home.

Sharon Talbert
Friends of Campus Cats
Seattle

"Sharon Talbert" wrote in message
shington.edu...

Poor you! Lucky cat! Don't worry over-much about the rabies thing. I'm
just glad the cat is now safely with you.

Six months, by the way, seems excessive as a quarantine period. I hope
your message generates some discussion about rabies.



Six months sounds a little long to me as well.
We adopted Ralf in N. New Jersey. At the time they had rabies in the area
and had to quarantine the strays. They had Ralf in quarantine for 11 weeks.
They said he had another week to go but they didn't seem too worried at that
point and let us take him home.
I guess each area has different regulations.

W

"Sharon Talbert" wrote in message
shington.edu...

Poor you! Lucky cat! Don't worry over-much about the rabies thing. I'm
just glad the cat is now safely with you.

Six months, by the way, seems excessive as a quarantine period. I hope
your message generates some discussion about rabies.



Six months sounds a little long to me as well.
We adopted Ralf in N. New Jersey. At the time they had rabies in the area
and had to quarantine the strays. They had Ralf in quarantine for 11 weeks.
They said he had another week to go but they didn't seem too worried at that
point and let us take him home.
I guess each area has different regulations.

W

6 months is a long time for quarantine.

Several years ago, I was bitten/scratched accidentally by a stray we
fed. Since he broke my skin, I went to the ER. We tried to catch the
cat to bring him to the vet, but he was too smart. He managed to eat
all the tuna in the Hav-A-Heart trap for a week without setting it off.

The vet and the County Health Department told me not to worry, just to
let them know if I saw the cat... if he was still alive. If I hadn't
seen him trotting around the yard after a certain period of time, I
would have had to get the shots. (I think it was 10 days or 2 weeks.)
After that, I was told there was no problem. He was fine, and so was I.

6 months is a long time for quarantine.

Several years ago, I was bitten/scratched accidentally by a stray we
fed. Since he broke my skin, I went to the ER. We tried to catch the
cat to bring him to the vet, but he was too smart. He managed to eat
all the tuna in the Hav-A-Heart trap for a week without setting it off.

The vet and the County Health Department told me not to worry, just to
let them know if I saw the cat... if he was still alive. If I hadn't
seen him trotting around the yard after a certain period of time, I
would have had to get the shots. (I think it was 10 days or 2 weeks.)
After that, I was told there was no problem. He was fine, and so was I.