Meet Edgar

[thecatneuterer]

I just felt like sharing. Admittedly he's not the prettiest of cats.

I picked him up in the street just round the corner from me two days ago. He was unneutered, starving, filthy, flea-ridden and with a mouth full of broken and rotten teeth.

He hasn't stopped eating since I took him in, despite obviously being in pain from his mouth, and has already put on a lot of weight. He is even quite a bit cleaner, again despite the problem with his mouth.

The plan is to get him neutered and to have a dental as soon as possible. Then, as I expect no one will be falling over themselves to adopt him, he will end up joining my gang. What's one more after all?

(the dirty pink stain on the sheet in the first photo was as a result of me flea combing him with a damp comb. The water in the bowl turned a very dirty, dark red).

I imagine he became stray, as most unneutered males do, because he left home to chase a female and couldn't find his way home. That was obviously a long time ago though.

[MycatsaPirate]

Donated and emailed head office. I hope Edgar's teeth are sorted quickly.

When my DD dragged me to the animal rescue place near us (she'd raised money for them at school and wanted to visit) we ended up in the cat section and almost all of the kittens had been reserved but there was a 5 year old cat there who was so timid that she'd been in there for four months and no one had really even considered her.

She's been with us for five weeks now. Admittedly she's still living in DDs bedroom but she's extremely affectionate, very sweet natured and I'm sure will turn into a wonderful addition to the family once she's overcome her fears. Her old owner died and she's a bit lost really. I couldn't say no to her sweet face.

[cozietoesie]

*TCN
*
Could you ask your website people to make it so that the cat gallery doesn't rocket through quite so quickly? I'm a fast reader and I think I was only managing one, maybe two thumbnail descriptions before it was 'all change'.

[cozietoesie]

What a pretty girl she is, Mycats. Goodness knows how she was overlooked!

[thecatneuterer]

Thanks so much Mycats.

I know Cozie. There are so many problems with the website. We are aware of most of them but getting them fixed seems to be impossible. I don't understand why, but then I haven't really gone into it.

[thecatneuterer]

Yes Mycats she looks lovely. It's so rewarding to adopt a timid cat and see them blossom.

[Gatekeeper]

oh my...I'm welling up here looking at all the cat pics. Edgar is lovely despite his tattiness

I trapped a stray entire tom a couple of weeks ago and took him to the vet to be neutered. He is lovely but our own cat loathes any other cat and bashes him when he sees him

[cozietoesie]

I feel your pain. I had that with Seniorboy and The Lodger.

Well done for having him neutered and giving him a chance though.

[Gatekeeper]

donated so hope he can get his poor, sore mouth seen to more quickly

[MycatsaPirate]

They had so many kittens in the shelter that they were all that people wanted. I saw a couple of older cats who were gorgeous but they'd been in for about a week and I knew they'd get snapped up. Poor Bella though, that staff said she hadn't even had any interest because she just kept hiding. DD and I spent 45 minutes sitting in her little enclosure until she came out and let us stroke her. She's so sweet.

I cannot look at the cats on the website. Dp has said 4 is enough and Boy cat would likely have a hissy fit if another female cat moves in. He'd blow a gasket if another male moved in!! Very set in his ways is boy cat :o

[cozietoesie]

I bet the shelter staff were thrilled.

[iloveeverykindofcat]

Aw he'll come beautiful when he's fixed up. You're such a good person with all you do for them. The shelter were calling Habibi 'Beauty' when I rescued her but tbh she was a thin-coated scrawny little scrap, only her eyes were beautiful. But she carried herself like a Queen from day 1 and now she's fat, sleek and gorgeous.

[cozietoesie]

A picture or two are in order I think, ilove?

[iloveeverykindofcat]

Cozie - I don't have many pics of her when I first got her, but you can see in this linked thread. I have never met an animal so intelligent and self-possessed. Zara is sweeter and my one-person cat - she would never, ever claw me or hiss at me, whereas Bibi has done both. She is also the only panleucopenia survivor our vet has ever met (I think survival rate is about 5%). She is a force of nature and seems to understand everything.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_litter_tray/2530051-Bibi-then-and-now

And neuterer when you get time, please update on lovely Edgar!

[chemenger]

Just applied to become a fosterer with Cats Protection, spurred on by this thread. Time to give something back to the cat kingdom. Now I can't wait to get a cat to look after.

[RJnomore1]

I live in Scotland abd my dh is hugely allergic to cats but I just want to take Caitlin home and look after her! Poor worried little thing.

You do a great job TCN. I indulge my furries love by lurking on these boards though I almost never post as no pets due to dh. It's a good job I love him as much as I do 😁

[chemenger]

If I had to choose I think it would be Harrington; such a bedraggled boy.

[thecatneuterer]

That's great chemenger. Let us know how you get on with the fostering.

[FizzyBanger]

Have donated and emailed head office. Hopefully Edgar will be feeling better soon.

[cozietoesie]

He must have been/be horribly anaemic, TCN. (All those fleas.) Among his many troubles of course.

[WigelsPigels]

Aww he is beautiful. Can't wait to updated pics

[BagelGoesWalking]

TCN can I divert the thread for a second. I live in Surrey and i share dogs and cats looking for homes in a few local FB groups.

Called Celia H to ask if they rehomed to Surrey but they said it was too far for homechecks. Totally get that but can't they work with volunteer rescue home checkers or local cat rescues to sort this out. Seems a shame when it's not so far away and potential homes are waiting?

Sorry for diverting!

[thecatneuterer]

Bagel I can't see local cat rescues doing it as they would want to home their own cats. We would need a network of volunteers all over the place to do that, who need training and some coordinating. It is a shame I know but it's just not that do-able.

Personally I would like us to start doing some home checks further afield by skype, maybe just for the especially difficult to home cats.

[cozietoesie]

I think that that's an excellent idea, TCN. Use any technology going - including Skype or other forms of video chat - and you're likely going to get as much of an idea about some people that way as you would with a 'traditional' home check. It would also be cheaper and faster for CHAT - to at least have it as an option where people were comfortable with it.

[cozietoesie]

In fact, you might be able to have a system where you could ask people to submit a short video of themselves and their house - to a script (ish) covering topics that you would want to know about. Many many people have iphones or iPads these days which are perfectly up to the job. (Or have friends or relatives who could assist.)

I'm meaning just as another option here, to speed things up for some of the checkers. Not a compulsory item - indeed, there might well be some instances where a physical home check is completely necessary still.

[SuburbanRhonda]

And to back up the video home check you could ask if people have rehomed before - maybe if they had some kind of testimonial from another cat rescue that would count.

I love the look of little Caitlin on the chat website. I bet that sad face would change once she's rehomed!