Lucky has been adopted and has a forever family!!
Happy, happy update. All the neighbors who had been feeding Lucky worked together and found a wonderful family who want to adopt him. The day after I posted his story, Lucky lived up to his name. Thank you all for the concern and suggestions.
Being a cat lover and working at a cat-only veterinary hospital is not always easy. Lucky is a case in point. He's about a year old and is a darling stray who has been hanging out around a neighborhood where several people have been feeding him. They all agreed that he was a love bug and one neighbor was potentially interested in adopting him. Another neighbor is a client of ours - in fact she adopted one of her cats from us - and decided to bring Lucky in to be neutered and vaccinated and to see if either we could adopt Lucky out through our clinic or if among all the neighbors they could find a home for him.
It turns out that Lucky was sweet until we needed to scruff him to give him his vaccines and then he got quite aggressive which is understandable for a stray cat who hasn't been constrained before. In the next two days he went from being friendly and wanting attention while we cleaned his cage to threatening us. Again, being in a cage can be unsettling for a cat who has only ever lived outside. He did much better when we let him run around loose while we cleaned his cage.
On the third day, one of the original neighbors who was potentially interested in adopting Lucky came to visit him and he bit her so she is no longer interested. Because he was vaccinated for rabies only three days earlier, the animal control officer said Lucky had to be quarantined for 10 days before making any further decisions. Adopting him out through our clinic is no longer an option - he's too much of a liability. None of the neighbors can (have too many cats already) or want (the neighbor who was bitten) to adopt him.
Being a stray cat in New Jersey isn't great so just releasing him back into his old neighborhood or relocating him may be complicated. Winters can be very cold, food can be hard to find and there are other territorial, unneutered males out there. New Jersey is also part of a major migratory pattern for many bird species and many of those use this immediate area for nesting so birders hate stray and feral cats - they are truly decimating bird populations. Finally, stray cats can carry disease. There is at least one colony in the area where two cats have tested positive for rabies.
So, it's not clear to anyone what Lucky's fate will be. He may turn out to be a wonderful pet but who will take ownership of him until a future home is found. How long do you keep a cat in a cage or otherwise confined who is used to living outside and being free?
Explored January 9, 2016
Lucky has been adopted and has a forever family!!
Happy, happy update. All the neighbors who had been feeding Lucky worked together and found a wonderful family who want to adopt him. The day after I posted his story, Lucky lived up to his name. Thank you all for the concern and suggestions.
Being a cat lover and working at a cat-only veterinary hospital is not always easy. Lucky is a case in point. He's about a year old and is a darling stray who has been hanging out around a neighborhood where several people have been feeding him. They all agreed that he was a love bug and one neighbor was potentially interested in adopting him. Another neighbor is a client of ours - in fact she adopted one of her cats from us - and decided to bring Lucky in to be neutered and vaccinated and to see if either we could adopt Lucky out through our clinic or if among all the neighbors they could find a home for him.
It turns out that Lucky was sweet until we needed to scruff him to give him his vaccines and then he got quite aggressive which is understandable for a stray cat who hasn't been constrained before. In the next two days he went from being friendly and wanting attention while we cleaned his cage to threatening us. Again, being in a cage can be unsettling for a cat who has only ever lived outside. He did much better when we let him run around loose while we cleaned his cage.
On the third day, one of the original neighbors who was potentially interested in adopting Lucky came to visit him and he bit her so she is no longer interested. Because he was vaccinated for rabies only three days earlier, the animal control officer said Lucky had to be quarantined for 10 days before making any further decisions. Adopting him out through our clinic is no longer an option - he's too much of a liability. None of the neighbors can (have too many cats already) or want (the neighbor who was bitten) to adopt him.
Being a stray cat in New Jersey isn't great so just releasing him back into his old neighborhood or relocating him may be complicated. Winters can be very cold, food can be hard to find and there are other territorial, unneutered males out there. New Jersey is also part of a major migratory pattern for many bird species and many of those use this immediate area for nesting so birders hate stray and feral cats - they are truly decimating bird populations. Finally, stray cats can carry disease. There is at least one colony in the area where two cats have tested positive for rabies.
So, it's not clear to anyone what Lucky's fate will be. He may turn out to be a wonderful pet but who will take ownership of him until a future home is found. How long do you keep a cat in a cage or otherwise confined who is used to living outside and being free?
Explored January 9, 2016