New family member.

Hi, all - A rather irresposible neighbor just largely ignored his wife’s old cat, after she passed away. He rarely kept any food in his bowl and he was commonly out of water. Super friendly old cuss, he’s a 23 year old Flame Point Siamese, we walked past his house two or three times a day, on our walks with our dog. He’d come out to greet us, as we walked each way.

As time went on, he took to walking us to our home two doors away, hang out with us for a while, (we keep treats,) then toddle on home. About 18 months ago my wife was tending her garden and here comes the cat, seemed really distressed and was yowling quite fiercely, pawing at his jaw. Wife noticed a foul, dark brown substance at the sides of his mouth, took him to our vet straight away.

Four infected, rotting teeth. No wonder he was in such agony. Teeth extracted, stayed with vet for a couple of days to make sure he was stable, he was very old after all. $1,800 later we picked him up, bought him a cat bed, food and water bowls, plenty of kitty supplies and moved him in with us. Advised his owner he was going to be with us, since he didn’t have enough interest or responsibility to ensure his well being.

His name was Albert, but shortly that seemed a bit formal, so it’s shortened to Bert. He’s pretty much buggered up with arthritis, he’s nearly blind and can’t hear very well, but he’s enjoying life now and has adjusted perfectly well to being an indoor cat.

He loves his time out on the lawn, head up and sniffing the air, really likes to hang out with the wife as she tends her garden beds. Has a way of asking to be petted, by touching his paw to her with a little meow. Frequently, as it turns out.

We feed him with chicken and beef, both with broth, cod and salmon. We’re in Western Oregon, fresh seafood is plentiful. We recently went crabbing at the coast, he discovered he really likes Dungeness crab. We figure he had it pretty rough for a while, it’s no problem for us to give him improved living conditions and a happier life. Makes us happy too.

Patrick

Wonderful story! A similar thing happened to us, our neighbors totally neglected their cat, kicked it out into the woods behind our house to fend for itself. But he was very friendly, and visited us for food and water. We took him to the vet to get him checked out and get his shots, and he became our outdoors cat. He would come in the house every morning to have breakfast with our other two cats, but when finished, he would fuss to go back outside. So we enjoyed his company for many years, until one day he didn’t come home. I fear he became lunch for some critter in the woods or swamp behind us.

Congrats,you did something real nice,he will certainly reward you with his presence

Nice story, thanks for sharing.

Lucky cat, good people. Nice match.

LOVE that story Patrick!

Don’t you just hate people that mistreat these poor animals!![:@]

That kitty is very lucky to have met you guys and will enjoy his remaining years living in a caring and loving home. Great job Patrick.[Y]

23! Wow. Good on you. Lucky kitty

That’s good karma on you dude! Sometimes I think the world has gone insane, but there are always people like you who convince me that there is still hope. Acts of love, kindness and compassion will save us as a species. This is coming from a pragmatic, usually cynical, non fru-fru kind of guy.

And as Roger Moore said in Ffolkes - “I like cats. And I don’t like people who don’t like cats.”

And that’s not a dig against dog people, as dogs are very special too. It’s the stupid humans who mistreat animals that need the spray bottle and a whack on the head with the newspaper. See? The cynicism is returning already.

Way to go! [t$t]

Don’t have any time for animal mistreaters. When his time comes, he will certainly be waiting for you at the rainbow bridge.

Jim [cptn]

yup! You are good people, Patrick.

Did you say he was 23 yrs old,thats pretty old even for a cat,mine was a little short of 18.I hope you get some good years with him around.

Hi, Tojo - Yes, he actually is about 23. I’ve been long retired and used to help the neighbors wife with rides to dialysis (sp?) for a few years, as he was still working. She told me the year Bert was brought home for their daughters, one of the girls comes by our place now to visit with him and she knew her age when they got him, so that’s a good accounting of his age.

My wife’s Mom and Dad had a female cat that made it to about Bert’s age, like us they were very careful to feed her well, so some can indeed last a good while. We do hope to have him with us as long as possible, but we also realize what waits around the corner. Day by day we just make sure to do whatever we can for him.

Patrick

I really think there’s a special place in heaven for people that help animals like that.

Thanks for the responses and kind words everyone, it’s clear there are other animal lovers out there. At a personal level, I hold anyone that deliberately abuses or mistreats an animal in major contempt, and doing it just out of ignorance is only marginally better. People that fight pit bulls are unspeakably horrid.

Pets bring so much affection and loyalty into a household, the little we give them is returned in multiples. Bert and our black lab Ellie were very soon inseperable, if you want to find one, look for the other. Ellie senses Bert doesn’t see well, so she goes at a pace where he can easily follow her lead.

My wife and I were talking about Bert today, as sad as it is to think of the inevitable, she said at the least we bought him some more time, happiness and comfort. All of our other pets were cremated, Bert will join them when it’s time, all together in the family room.

Hope there is plenty of room at the Rainbow Bridge.

Patrick

Patrick;

I think that is a wonderful story. Every animal we have is either a gift or rescue. We would NOT have it any other way.

That’s really kind what you did Patrick.