I was on my way to work today when I saw a cat sitting by the side of the road. Not far down the road, I turned into a fishing/boating turn-off (the road is next to a creek). I parked and walked back down the road to where the cat was. The cat was now laying down. I picked it up and it was all skin and bones. It didn’t struggle, just let me carry him to my car. I put him on the floor of the passenger side and he stayed there while I turned around and went home.

I left the cat in the car while I went inside to call my vet. They could see me at 4:30 (it was then 1:30). I got our large dog-sized cat carrier out and put a small bunny pan of litter in it and a dish of water (the vet said I should wait to feed it, in case of blood work), then got the cat and brought him in and put him inside. I put the carrier in our library and shut the door. I checked on him every so often between reading in the den. He would meow when I would leave and I felt bad.

Finally it was time to go to the vet. The vet was running behind, so we had a long wait. The cat is a he, is neutered, and is declawed on all four paws (poor kitty). There was no microchip. She thought he was about 10 years old. She did a feline leukemia test, but I don’t know the results of that yet. I’m expecting it to be negative. If someone neutered and declawed him, they probably also vaccinated him.

He is much thinner than Akasha was when we adopted her, and she was very thin. The vet said it’s possible that he’s been eating but has a kidney or thyroid problem and recommended a full blood panel. It’s very expensive, so I’m going to wait and see if he gains weight at all from eating. We can’t afford it at the moment anyway, as we’re getting both our cars inspected this weekend.

Right now he’s drinking a lot, but hasn’t gone to bathroom since I’ve found him. He wasn’t eating the dry food we gave him, so we put some in water and he’s been drinking that. He’s limping a little on one leg. There is a sore on that leg. I mentioned it to the vet, but I don’t know that she looked at it. I washed it off and put some ointment on it.

I looked online at some lost pet sites (very depressing, btw). I guess I should call the humane society to see if anyone reported a black and white cat missing in the area. There was no collar on him, of course.

I don’t know what we’re going to do with him. The vet recommended keeping him separate from the other cats for 12 weeks, in case he just contracted feline leukemia and isn’t showing up in blood work. I guess if he does have that we will definitely have to find a different home for him. Otherwise, I’m not sure.