For about a year now I have had a male tabby visiting me. I noticed him before my old girl died two years ago - they had enormous mutual hatred so I wasn't too friendly towards him. However now I am officially catless, he's been more and more persistent. Last summer I had a BBQ and saw a sneaky paw swipe one of the mackerel off the table and that was it. He was waiting in the garden the next evening for more tasty mackerel (and even brought a friend) and he's been a bit of a fixture ever since.
I've found out he lives in one of the houses over the back, which is also home to about four very yappy terriers. Now I KNOW it's really not the done thing to "adopt" someone's cat when it already has a home, but he's a free ranging boy, and I work a lot from home. Over the summer while the door has been open he's just been wandering in. He stays later and later, and while I do have a cat flap, I have it locked, and I always put him out before bed. Him staying the night would be too much! In the mornings he's there, peering wistfully through the catflap and scratching it maddeningly until I let him in.
Here's the issue. For about a year, his left eye hasn't looked right , the upper lid being rather swollen. I often bathe it with warm water on a kitchen towel, but recently it's got a lot worse. There's a lot of pink inflammation on the upper and lower lid, and it's very weepy. Poor boy :( I finally scooped him up the other day and knocked on their door - I don't know these people and they didn't look too pleased to see me there holding their cat and pointing out that his eye needs attention. They said they'd take him to the vet. That was about ten days ago and nothing has changed - they eye is getting worse, and he gets ever more determined to take over my house.
Do I take him myself? That would really piss them off, and I imagine it would be very expensive and ongoing. They don't seem like the kind of people who would appreciate me knocking on the door and challengingly saying "So how did you get on at the vet?" He's such a sweet natured boy, and otherwise appears to be in excellent nick, despite being fourteen. I don't know if you can see how swollen it is on the pic?