[Krista2882]

There are a number of cats in my grandma's neighborhood who sometimes pass through her yard, or sit for a while in the grass... for the past couple of months she's been telling us about this black cat who spends time in her yard pretty often. She likes him because he was completely black and has these bright, yellow eyes. She's never interacted with it, though. She told us her neighbor feeds it sometimes but he doesn't know if it actually belongs to anyone.
Then last week I was at her house and we were outside and saw the black cat come into her yard, so I started walking towards him and he came right up to me and started rubbing all over me, I sat down in the grass, and he just climbed into my lap and was rubbing all over me, so I gave him lots of petting. He's such a snuggle bug! He's a male who hasn't been neutered and is kind of skinny. So I'm pretty sure he doesn't belong to anyone.
I was at her house again yesterday and the cat came into her yard, so I went up to him, and he came trotting over, meowing hi at me.:luv But then I noticed something wrong with his backside near his tail. It looked all infected- pus was coming out of what looked like a hole in his backside. He seemed ok, not in too much pain because he rubbed all over us and even laid down on that side. But it looked pretty icky. I wanted to take him to the vet, but I'm still not sure if he belongs to anyone. Then I found out from my grandma today that her neighbor who has been feeding him cleaned him all up and put some antibiotic stuff on him. He said someone shot him with a BB gun. :-x HOW AWFUL!!! He's not planning on bringing the cat to the vet because he said he can't afford it. At least he tried to clean him up and he leaves food out for him. I'm going to have my grandma keep an eye on the cat, though to make sure the infection doesn't get worse. I don't know what to do because I do want to bring this cat to the vet both to get the bb out, and to get him neutered... but now her neighbor is trying to take care of him, and if I did take the cat to the vet, then I'd want to keep him. I wouldn't be able to release him back into my grandma's neighborhood when there's some jerk with a bb gun shooting at stray cats! But I have my own cat who's not keen on being with other cats. So I keep trying to come up with plans in my mind like, he could be our outside cat. But then I worry he'll just run away because he doesn't know my neighborhood. and ugh. I don't know what to do.

 

[Vivid Dawn]

Is this an option?
Take the cat to the vet to get him all cared for. Then let your grandma feed the cat. It seems you have the financial means to take care of a cat, but not really the situation...if your grandma doesn't have the financial means, you could buy the food for her, and she would just be the dispenser.
Would that work?
Also, if you do take the cat to the vet, you might want to tell the other neighbor that you are, so he doesn't get worried about the cat being gone for a couple days (to recover from neutering), since it seems that he cares for the cat too.

I would also recommend getting the cat a microchip - if he doesn't already have one. That way you could register it in your name (HomeAgain does "free" registration for the first year with the microchip implant, then $16 a year after that). Or your grandma's name...whichever works better. That way, if somebody abuses the cat, you can do legal action against them for animal cruelty to a pet (many places, my city included, couldn't care less about strays and ferals...but PETS they readily defend)

 

[Krista2882]

Thanks for your advice!

 

[Straysmommy]

Could your grandma adopt him?

 

[Mitts & Tess]

I would immediately take the cat to the vet. Infected bb wounds are very serious and painful. Cats hide their pain as a survival method in the wild. Even domestic cats hide being sick. When a cat acts sick it is pretty bad by then.

My rule is if your cat is in my yard it will get neutered. Once a cat is neutered they are less likely to spray to mark its territory. Plus once they are neutered they wont feel driven to mate and produce more kittens in the community. Kittens born outside to abandoned or feral moms dont have a good survival rate. They are suspectable to all sorts of sicknesses and can slowly die from their illnesses since their immune systems arent strong. So it important you get this handsome man to your vet.

He sounds like a wonderful companion for your grandma. Seems like he has picked you guys to be his angel and help him. Thanks for your concern for him. Keep us posted.

The Humane Society in Tucson does microchips for $20 and its a life time registration. No yearly fees. Its a super deal. I would put a break away collar on your new friend to show others he is being cared for.

Maybe you could give your grandmother neighbor info on TNR. Or hook them up with a local TNR group that would s/n the cats the neighbor is caring for. Our group would jump at the chance of s/n for free a group of cats if they had a care taker in place. Thats the ideal situation!