Frigid Illinois weather and I discover someone has dumped off their cat at my farm!

[riderinthestorm]

I actually trapped it last night in one of my Have-a-heart traps that I keep out for raccoons. Poor (unneutered) boy! I discovered him when I went to feed tonight in my big barn loft.

Zero degrees and someone has dumped their cat! He's up in my barn's viewing room eating and drinking everything in sight. Very friendly and fairly sociable so not feral. His fur had some burrs which I brushed out but otherwise he feels in good health. I am sick to think someone would do this on one of the coldest nights of the year. Beautiful cat, verrry long fur, a kind of Persian tabby. He has a very loud tomcat yowl though. It's going to be a long night for the horses. The two other barn cats are at the viewing room door prowling about.

I'll take him to my animal control tomorrow to see if he's microchipped and then make an appt with my vet to get him neutered. Every stray that lands on my farm gets neutered. THEN I put out the word/notices that I've found a cat! (Not that anyone's ever claimed them but I do try).

Sigh. It's too damn cold here in Northern Illinois for this shit.

[Angry Dragon]

1. Some people are just asses

and others find themselves unable to cope any more and try to find a way that they can cope with
Perhaps they thought the cat would be able to find shelter in your out-buildings

Not all things are the way we see them.

[riderinthestorm]

3. I know. I get that. And I'm glad I CAN care for him.

He's a beauty! I just wish his former owners hadn't chosen some really terrible weather to put him out. The forecast in IL is much kinder in a day or two. There's no reason not to just wait til the weekend??!! Sigh. Not a big problem but thankfully he WAS found and able to be sheltered.

My small animal vet's been caretaking my cats and dogs for 25 years and she's going to give me an earful when I call tomorrow to schedule the appointment - not at me, but at the situation in general - the economy is pretty crap here. She's "moved up" into the expensive practice now but still sees me thank gawd, and understands when I show up with an unidentified adult cat. My horse vets won't touch small animal work anymore - the veins are too small and they are out of practice with it.

My only concern is how long it will take him to trust me again when I stuff him into the crate tomorrow and take him to get his balls chopped off? :7 Usually about 6 months. Alas.

[femmocrat]

2. That is one of the disadvantages of living in the country.

It always costs us money when someone dumps off an unwanted animal here.

No, we cannot keep them, so please take them to the shelter yourself.

You are a kind-hearted soul to take in another cat. :hug:

[riderinthestorm]

4. No, I'll keep him if he'll stick around.

I'm actually "short" a cat around here. I have 4 farm buildings and only 2 permanent barn cats (my house cat only moonlights as a barn cat) so I could use another. My problem is my clients keep taking the strays home. Which is also okay.


I'm like the Field of Dreams meme - more will come. I figure if I neuter them and give them their initial vax and rabies, they are then free to move on in the world. One thing us country folk know as a certainty with cats... MORE WILL COME!

[Crazy Dave]

14. We're fortunate to have a teaching veterinarian close by

Spay or neuter plus shots is $35

[riderinthestorm]

16. Officially jealous.

My vet charges $125 and I think I'm lucky. The low cost shelter will do it all for $55 but they can never schedule me in for weeks. I can never wait that long since I'm worried the strays will find a way out or escape during that long wait. I had one stray that jumped out my second story viewing room within 12 hours of being put up there! Pushed the screen out (during the summer) and dropped 35 feet.

This guy goes in tomorrow. That's why I love my vet. She gets them in and out for me asap, at half the regular price. We're calling him "Chat" for now. Chat is actually the french word for cat (pronounced "shaw") but my husband is actually calling him Chat like the conversation since he is incredibly vocal. Not just the tomcat howl, he's very talkative - almost like a Siamese.

[Crazy Dave]

23. Just for getting them fixed and shots, not when they need proper medical attention

It's so assembly line, get them in and get them out there with lines going down the street. I've had two cats be misdiagnosed and stayed sick with that place so we take them to another vet when they need proper and more attentive care.

[applegrove]

5. Someone dropped my cat Monster off on the side of a road. Someone else found

him and brought him to the vet's where I met him and fell in love. He's the most affectionate cat I've ever owned. Love him to bits.

[kimi]

6. I think that's fantastic of you

When others drop or dump their cats, you will take care of them. Not everyone would do that, or care, so thank you.

He's a lucky guy, that cat. :)

[raccoon]

7. Kudos to you for being so good to that cat! :hug: nt

[Arugula Latte]

8. Thanks for helping him!

Goddamn, people who do that stuff to animals make me crazy. I'd say "people suck" if it weren't for people like you!

[Bertha Venation]

9. You're a good egg, rider.

:yourock:

[GoCubsGo]

10. The fact that he's unneutered makes me wonder if he is a stray

I know that unfixed dogs tend to run off more often, and I strongly suspect cats are no different. That being said, that cat's owner should be horsewhipped for not having that cat fixed, whether or not they actually dumped him. Good for you for doing what the owner should have done, and thank you for taking care of this poor guy. I grew up in Northern Illinois, and I know how cold it gets there.

[riderinthestorm]

18. He could be a stray. I think I would have seen him before this though.

Usually they lurk around the place for a while before trying to get into one of the barns past the other two cats in residence. With this arctic heading into it's 3rd straight day, and miserable 40 degree rain on Saturday before this, I think he would have been inside a few days ago. And of course, we usually hear them bickering with each other before we ever usually see them as well.

Since I typically do evening chores here, I usually check the raccoon traps in the loft at night. He wasn't there until just last night so who knows. He's got really good weight on him and the most luxurious fur - like a Persian - with minimal tangling when I found him. :shrug:

Ah well, if he belongs to someone, he's getting neutered before they get him back. He goes in tomorrow to be cut, after that I'll call around to a couple other vet services and post some notices. I also usually put something on Craigslist. The shelter I took him to today to check for a microchip doesn't have anyone looking for him at this point.... Like I said, I do what's minimally required to find the owner and not much more. If they've let them go like this, unneutered, and in this weather, I'm not in a hurry to find them.

[friendly_iconoclast]

11. That's a good thing you did there, rider

I rescued my (now departed) cat Calvin from a crack house back in the early Nineties. He had been weaned too early, so I had

to nurse him with a syringe. He grew up to be twenty pounds of holy terror- but he always liked me holding him like a human

infant cradled in my arm. Go figure....

[hamsterjill]

12. Thank you!

From one cat rescuer to another! I appreciate your efforts for this kiddo.

It sucks that he was dropped off at all, but on one of the coldest night makes it much worse. How do people live with themselves when they do callous things like that?

In any event, he's a lucky guy to have landed on your farm! Thank you for being responsible enough to check for a microchip, put out notices of a "found" cat, and for getting him neutered! The world needs more ridersinthestorm!!!

[riderinthestorm]

17. No chip. So on to stage II. Ball chopping tomorrow! Thanks for the kind words. nt

[Crazy Dave]

13. We live next to several apartment complexes and rental trailer parks

So we're always catching and getting cats fixed that people left when they moved. Some leave, some stay, there's about 14 here that stay permanently and about five of them stay in the house. Took us two years and two litters to catch one momma cat but we finally got her.

Yep...we're nuts :crazy:

[madmom]

15. Maybe he wasn't dumped. I tell my family that I think cats have a network

kind of like the underground railroad. We have cats show up in our doorstep all the time and crying at our windows. I think they let each other know to come here they will be fed and cared for. Just my take on things:fistbump:

[pinboy3niner]

19. Maybe they use hobo code

Hobos use a system of coded markings to denote places that are charitable, dangerous, etc.

Coincidentally, in hobo code "A cat signifies that a kind lady lives here." :)

Hobo code
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobo

[riderinthestorm]

22. Now that is very cool. I may have to get one of those! nt

[TommyO]

20. One of my boys is a frigid find also - he was a kitten and was found curled up in the sidelight

of a door during a snowstorm, my now ex and I adopted him and found out than when show melted, there were a few more kittens in the front yard, none survived.

[riderinthestorm]

21. Oh my gawd. That is both a great and terrible story.

:( You are great, the other kitties freezing to death is just hard on my heart.

[davsand]

24. I think a lot of people think, "That farmer will never notice another cat or two..."

There's an almost "what the hell" kinda attitude about it--ya know? We used to get dogs that way too. Terrible sad. I always wondered what those poor dogs and cats thought when their person took them out to a strange place and just LEFT. Never could get my head around it.

Thank you for taking that boy in during this cold snap. I'm downstate (near Champaign Urbana) and we got another two or three inches of snow last night. If he's not too matted up you may have what used to be an indoor kitty who would have most certainly suffered a great deal out in this weather. They all suffer, mind you, but the ones who have lived indoors and get turned out in winter have not even developed the coat they need to survive. Makes me want to track down (and "chat with") whoever it was that dumped that kitty out...



Laura

[riderinthestorm]

25. I believe he's furry enough he may not have been cold, but his foot pads must have suffered.

My barn cats are avoiding going out onto the ice, and my dogs are really suffering since they want to be out with me constantly. My one puppy (now 8 months old) was doing a handstand for me on Tuesday his back pads were freezing! It was both hilarious and horrifying at the same time. I laughed but then immediately felt guilty - like I was at a funeral with inappropriate chuckling.

Heh. I go pick him up from my vet today at 6 pm after his neutering. She called after the surgery and told me he has tapeworms! :grr: Poor boy.

If you're near Chambana, you know how cold it's been up here.