About a week or two ago a new cat came wandering by… a very beat-up, undernourished and emotionally defeated cat I called Starvin’ Marvin. Yesterday I managed to grab hold of him… with no fight whatsoever. He thought that being picked up by a human was just the awesomest thing ever. Me being a sucker, I brought him in so he wouldn’t freeze to death; after feeding him I noticed that not only was he a she, but she had a fat belly indicative of being With Kittens. After a night in the basement, I took her to the vet for a basic checkup. Good news: no feline leukemia (had there been, I’m not sure there would have been a more humane reaction than a needle). Bad news: she’s not pregnant. Might be a tumor, or something else messing with her innards. Any further testing will require more spending.
So I brought her home and set her up in one of my bathrooms until I can figure out what to do with her. My dim plan right now is to fatten her up and see if she can get otherwise back into shape, then spay and release. I really *don’t* want a new cat in the house (and neither do Raedthinn nor Fingers). But tonight while petting her I found *two* small (1/8″ or so) spherical nodules directly under the skin. They are hard, and they are mobile, and they seem to be the same size. They are either cysts of some kind… or perhaps shotgun pellets. Either way, it’s back to the vet tomorrow. On the practical side, I *don’t* want to spend money on yet another cat; on the other side, if someone shotgunned this cat, I want to know about it and do what I can for it. It may be that her skinniness yet tubby gut is due to damage from getting shot.
So, an X-ray would seem to be in order. The vet today said such a thing would run about $150. Anybody want to pitch in and help out? Not really sure what I can do to repay except give a hearty “thanks” from me, a half-hearted “Meh” from Marvin and a passel of photos of Marvin as she, hopefully, gets better.
So, you know, if interested…
