Hi All! Well, apparently I left my "feline honing radar" on yesterday...a sweet little orange girl literally walked into my office while the door was open! We've often been a "rest stop" for strays on their way to the boardwalk for a good meal from the locals who dine at the outdoor seafood restaurants...but I've never seen any of them in the kind of shape that "Maggie" is in...she is literally just skin and bone...I'll be surprised if she weighs more than 3 or 4 lbs. for a nearly full grown cat!
So needless to say, I couldn't just leave her...she now has a suite at our house (hereafter nicknamed "Chateau Chat") while she waits to see our vet this afternoon...Maggie is in remarkably good shape despite her appearance...her fur is very soft and clean which tells me that she hasn't been a stray for very long...this, unfortunately, also indicates that her condition was probably inflicted on her by some jerk (I'm trying to hold-off on judgement calls until I get a definitive diagnosis...I was doing really well until about now... ;) )...the poor baby can *barely* use her back legs (it appears that her fat reserves were all used up and now the muscle is starting to deteriorate) and her tail is useless (it just drags behind her)...but despite it all she has impeccable litter box habits and is determined to claw her way up the bed to be with us! She's quite energetic and playful for someone so skinny! I've got several "Maggie hickeys" on my arms as I became her surrogate m om last night, apparently! :) So I'm hoping that she's just suffering from *severe* malnourishment (yikes--the things you wish for sometimes)...she's eating California Natural at the moment (I didn't want to start her on anything that might cause diarrhea and make her condition even worse) and her poops are looking good...I'm not sure how much to feed her given her appearance...honestly, guys...I've *never* seen a cat this thin before...she is just a little walking skeleton...any thoughts on how to get her back into shape would be greatly appreciated! I'll let you know what the vet thinks this afternoon! Jen
