I got up bright and early today to bundle up three cats and get them to the vet. Pinky and Hops are both headed in for FeLV testing, vaccinations, and neutering. Nick is going in to get that abscess checked out. I used the clippers to shave around it, and it's pretty deep. I'm not going to mess around with an abscess in the chest area.
When I got in, the vet and vet tech's eyes lit up when they saw Pinky in the trap. He is a gorgeous cat, and pictures don't do him justice. Ellen asked if he were up for adoption. I told her he has been an indoor cat (she takes wonderful care of her outdoor barn cats).
(I took Pinky in in a trap because he could then be anesthetized through the wire. It's hard to handle a strong shy scared cat in a plastic crate).
Even though Pinky is incredibly shy, and so strong that if he takes it in his head to squirm, you have lost him, I think he's a candidate for a pet home sooner or later. He may actually be OK as a barn cat, given how much he loves other cats. I'll have to think about that.
If to become a house cat means him spending two years here to tame up---and he can be adopted into a good place as a cat on a horse farm faster---a barn home is a possibility. Especially since he doesn't like people, but does like cats. However, as an indoor cat he'll probably live many years more.
The question is: what would make him happier in the long run? It would be awful to keep him here and discover he will always be too afraid of people to live happily in a house.
No hurry on that question. It's too cold to consider caging him up in a tack room anyway. We'll wait to see what his personality is like once his hormones calm down.
Post-note: Vet called. Nick's abscess was deep, and he needs a drain. Poor Nick is going to have to be caged up with an Elizabethan collar. I'm sure that will just thrill him. Good thing I didn't try to "go it alone."
While he's under I asked them to scrape his teeth. May as well take advantage of this little nap!
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