Margot arrived as a kitten August 2005. I soon learned that some feral cats cannot be tamed. She was one. With difficulty, I trapped her and with more difficulty the mobile vet spayed her. That was it as far as health care. She came through the cat door to eat, and in bad weather came in to sleep inside. In summer she lived in the garden. I tried so many times to talk softly to her but could never get closer than 5'. My fear was not that she would die (that is inevitable) but that she would suffer and I be unable to help her. That is what happened. Saturday she stopped eating. Sometimes this happened for a day but then she perked, this time she did not and crawled behind a bookcase. When cats are in pain or sick their instinct is to hide. I spent all day Tuesday on the phone trying to find someone who could either do a house call or help me trap her. The rescue group that helped with her brother Rudy 2 years ago when he had a serious injury is no longer doing this. Numerous people said they would come out if I got her into a carrier or trap, but if I could do that I could bring her to the clinic. Finally my vet found another who could do a house call Wednesday afternoon. He had a sort of cat-catching net, it took a few tries but he got her out from behind the bookcase. I held her head while he gave her a sedative. After she was conked out, he was able to examine Margot. Her heart was strong but her kidneys shot, about half normal size and hard. I was able to pet Margot for the first time. She has long thick fur that was amazingly soft. She got euthanasia from a vet sitting on the floor. I buried her in the garden and put daffodils on her grave. I wish she could have tamed, but regardless, she became my responsibility for life the minute I brought her inside. Not sure if Word files can be attached, but 13 1/2 years ago I wrote out an account of the capture of Margot and Rudy someone might find amusing if it loads. Rest in sunshine.
My condolences. I have too lost feline friends in the past. It sounds like you gave her all you could. May she rest in Peace.
One time in SW Portland near Council Crest on a rainy day this skin and bones cat, if he were human, he'd be a teenager, came up to our kitchen sliding glass door and started begging for food. We gave it some left overs and a small dish of milk. It came around about the same time every day for some period of time, can't recall how long. After a while my mom and I decided we would adopt it but dammit, it was gonna have to like cheap dry cat food. We had a large, 135 lb., German Shepard who we trained to leave the cat alone. After a couple of months that cat had us right where he wanted us. We were buying the most expensive cat food we could find at Strohecker's grocery store. The cat would lay on it's back on the couch and go to sleep. We would stroke it's belly and it would purr. Now, we lived in a wooded area right across from Dosch road, and we had raccoons. The dog would chase the raccoons up a tree and the cat, a male, would go up the tree trying to finish the job. The cat consistently got all chewed up making us repeatedly take him to the vet. Still, he would run up a tree trying to kill something that was clearly too much for him. One day, he got sick with an infected kidney and died. I think the whole family shed a tear. Probably still buried on the property.
Really sorry for the loss...coincidence, Aug 5th is also my birthday....I miss my cat..she passed the day I retired but it was a cougar that got her
