New Cat, Who Dis?

 

A week ago Thursday, Amir came home in the early hours after being gone for three days. He hadn't even yelled to come in. The only reason I knew he was there, was because Grendel kept staring at the door, so I checked. He sat lounging on the porch, so I let him in as usual. 

Normally, he's screaming for sustenance, so I served up some wet food, as usual. He took a few bites, and....walked away. This is Amir, right? 

I'd been worried. The last time I'd seen him, he was still matted up ( I'd been trimming fur tufts out as much as he would allow me.) and shaggy. He'd seemed agitated, and he smelled like stagnant water. His paws were wet and brown, filthy because of the recent rain.  I'd been to the vet, because he had diarrhea and I had given her his stool sample. We'd started feeding him with a probiotic powder, and he'd recently been given a de-wormer. He has to be healthy before he gets fixed, right? But as usual, he needed to leave. He didn't let me brush him, and for sure he didn't let me wash his socks. 

I was so happy to see him, so I picked him up and snuggled him close until he purred for me. He didn't smell like stagnant water. He didn't smell much of anything. I put him down when he asked and realized all his matted fur was gone. In fact, his fur was beautifully groomed. It was shorter and silky, no chunky fur mats. He was much calmer. And you know what? He didn't have diarrhea. He was so dapper, Freya didn't even mind when he stepped behind her and lay down. 

Uh-oh...What's going on? I didn't groom him like that. I don't know how. Every time I brush him, I only get so far before he puts his paw down on my hand, with a distinct 'no'. .  So what do I do now? It was quarter to six in the morning. Had he been out all night again? Or did he escape from somewhere? Should I let him out? Are his REAL owners missing him? Does he have real owners, or did someone else decide to take him in? 

He didn't want out. I opened the door, but he parked his freshly trimmed butt on my couch and went to sleep. Okay.... He was still there when I got home from work, looking for love. He let me hug him and pet him before deciding to go. 

He was back at three a.m. on Tuesday. I was half-dozing on the couch, watching "Is it Cake?" (That show is addictive.) And I heard "Ack" from the front door. ( I imagine Bill the Cat sounds a lot like Amir.) Sure enough, it was Amir, wanting in. He had a gummy eye. Looked like he'd been fighting with magpies again. I cleaned it up, and offered him food, which he was nonchalant about. He seemed to want comfort, and snuggled up with me on the couch. Oh...and his diarrhea was back. Thank God for 'Resolve'. Thank God it works on any carpet and upholstery. He stayed the night again, and slept through the morning. 

I got his results back from the vet. They believe it's parasites, no doubt from eating birds and rodents. Is someone treating this? I'm going to call them back to see what we need to do, BUT...I'm worried about overdosing him. What if someone else is already on it? 

I haven't seen Amir since that day. My guess is that someone has already figured out that Amir can and will sneak out at any opportunity, and that he's willing to take risks and destroy window screens to get out. 

YES, I have thought about putting a note on a collar with my cell number. I'm not sure that will help. We've put six collars on him, and he's lost every single one. I know he can take them off himself because I found one in the bedroom right after I put it on him. He has a weirdly thick neck. 

And to be honest? I'm afraid. I'm afraid the person who finds it will react badly, I'm afraid they will be angry at me for trying to steal their cat. Would they understand that I've been trying to help him for almost a year? That I built trust with him until I could get him inside for the winter? 

Maybe they will think I'm a crappy cat owner, and they need to rescue him from ME. You'd think that after being a pet owner for twelve years, I would be better at this. I was trying to be careful. I was trying to do what I felt was best at the time. For Amir. For the record, I didn't have these issues in the winter. Not like this.  

I'll tell you what I am going to do. I'm going to call my vet about treating his diarrhea. They know Amir's story, so I'll tell them what's going on, and we'll go from there. At this writing, it's been five days since I've last seen him. I may have to accept that Amir isn't going to be our cat. maybe he never was. All I can do now is check social media and wait. 

Regardless of what happens and who else loves him, he's my friend, my sweet Prince, and I'm always going to help him. Because we love him too. If he still needs a home, he always has one here.