A Sad Day...

It was about 3 months ago we brought a skinny, dirty, mat-covered feral cat we called Spitz to the Vet to see how bad of shape he really was in. His big problem was dental - she ended up pulling most of his teeth, and he was also FIV+, so would have to be isolated from our other cats till he was used to everyone - no fighting allowed! As per our usual routine, he lived in a dog crate in our living room where he could get used to everyone, and everyone could get used to him as well. At most, I think the longest anyone stayed in the cage was 3 weeks...

Well, he must not have gotten the memo, as it didn't go as planned. At first it was fine - he adapted to the cage ok, where there was a soft bed, food and liter box. When everyone was scarce, we'd close off the back bedroom and give him the run of the house and did fine - he bonded with us, sat with us and watch TV, even play with us as we chased him around the living room and hide-and-seek around the island in the kitchen. But as we added a cat to the mix, his mood would change and would stalk them, culminating in a fight. While one or two stood up to him and he would relent, the others feared him and would run, triggering a more vicious attack. The vet gave us a script for phenobarbital to "chillax" him, but it had little effect. When it was just us, he was great, but we couldn't trust him with any of the other cats without screaming - even with the drugs and frequent use of a squirt bottle. After 3 months of this, we decided it wasn't fair to continue having him spend 18 hours a day in a cage, nor have our others in fear that he was out and about, and locking them out of the living room where there dry food was waiting...

So we called our vet a few days ago and she called the shelter she works with - Hope Animal Shelter. They didn't have space, but by today she had found a foster home for Spitz where he will be an only cat, and hopefully serve as a bridge to an only-cat household where he'll be happy and peaceful. But even so, it was so sad to say goodbye to him, and sign away ownership to Hope. At least I know he will have a better life than what he had on the street just a few months ago.  If any of you out there need a great cat for your only-cat household, you can likely contact Hope and ask about adaption...