Caroline,
I think it's great what you are doing! I'm very happy that your mom is getting on board with it! I know my family admires (even though they may not understand) my compassion for animals, but getting them to help, even reluctantly, is something I haven't been able to do as of late. Good for you! As for the owner-issue, with my rescued cats back in April, I advertised them as found cats (without description), and stated that the owners must describe the cat and pay the vet bill. I thought that if they really loved their kitty that they would do anything to get it back-no matter the cost. And if they couldn't afford it, then they would at least try their hardest to convince me that they deserved the kitty back even if they couldn't pay. I did not think this was out of line at all, and of course, as my husband predicted, no one came forward to claim the kitties. I knew that one was a stray (lived out of a dumpster) and the other might have been a back-door feeder but was severely neglected. If I understand correctly (I've been reading stories very quickly), you have the contact info of the owners? I would get kitty all fixed up nice-then let them know the bill. If they love kitty, they'll pay (or at least try). I'm very happy for you guys-especially at your abilities to get lowered vet bills-way to go!!! Melissa _____ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Caroline Kaufmann Sent: Thursday, August 09, 2007 3:29 PM To: felvtalk@felineleukemia.org Subject: OT: Update on Malnourished, Rescue cat My mom took the cat we rescued Sat. to her regular vet today. I couldn't get a hold of my Shamrock contact (she lost her cell phone in the bushes somewhere crawling around doing a kitten rescue- typical- this explains why I couldn't get a hold of her!). My mom was just really frustrated and felt she couldn't wait on Shamrock or anyone of those groups to help us get the cat into a vet that would treat her half price/discounted. She wanted to make sure we were dealing only with malnutrition and an upper respiratory infection. She ended up seeing a relief vet and my mom says she spent the first 15 mins arguing with the vet over what the cat needed, what they were/weren't going to do to her, and finding the owner. The vet pressured my mom into calling the vet number listed on the rabies tag AGAIN- even though we never heard from him and know that he has other clinics that are open in Louisville- well, when she called, she got a live person! That person looked up the rabies tag and gave my mom the "owner" information, so we have that now. The cat's "name" is "Nosey"...I mean..., I don't know....your alls' guesses are as good as mine...that's all I will say about that. My mom bargained down the vet and since she now had the owner info, I guess the dr. let her off the hook as far as not doing EVERYTHING that a vet would usually do with a rescued cat. They did a fecal and surprisingly, she doesn't have worms. Although, she could still have tape worms since I found a live flea on her- but we are going to wait on that. I can always get a tapeworm pill from Shamrock if I need to. She weighs 5 lbs, 5 ounces!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I told you she was malnourished!!!!! The vet had trouble aging her and guessed 5 years. I think she's a little off there-- she has tarter on her teeth, but not tons and she has no grey tarter- just the yellow, so I think she's younger than 5, but over 2 years. I think the vet's being thrown off by the malnourishment. She sneezed for the vet, so she's putting her on oral clavamox. Surprisingly, the vet said everything we've been doing for her is right and then some...we wrote out a list that included everything- the colostrum, food, etc., which my mom handed to the vet when she walked in. So I guess we know more of what we are doing than we thought. AND my usually reluctant to do "rescues" mother has even said that she is "willing to do more of this" as long as she has the resources set up ahead of time- meaning, ready access to a vet, if vet care is needed, that will treat a rescue cat for a discount! She got out of there with a $59 bill. As for calling the owner, we are in no rush. My mom still has major concerns based on how tight the collar was on the cat- so tight it rubbed the fur off, if she was supposed to be an outside cat or indoor/outdoor cat- why isn't she micro chipped, and she did end up a long way from home, etc. I'm probably going to call them and feel them out before I release too much info. What I DON'T want to happen is to have a reluctant owner lie to us and say yeah, we want her back, and then just surrender her to Animal Control after we turn her over, or just let her back out in this heat, etc. I am not going to have done all this work on this cat for NOTHING! The cat is back home at my mom's, no doubt loving the a/c. She's happy and I am sure she's gained an couple ounces since Sat. already. -Caroline _____ Puzzles, <http://g.msn.com/8HMBENUS/2728??PS=47575> trivia teasers, word scrambles and more. Play for your chance to win!
