There's this stray cat that keeps coming onto my porch. Usually I don't mind cats but this one is riddled with fleas. What can I do to keep it away?
I suppose there are many things you could do to get rid of it, but there are other options. I’m not going to tell you what is right for you, but I am going to tell you my story, if you care to read. Take from it what you will.
I used to hate+fear cats (childhood trauma from cat attack) and I’m also very, very allergic.
About five years ago I was entering my car at night, in the rain, with my wife when I saw a messy, furry lump of hair reminiscent of the movie “the ring” streak around the corner of the car. I went out to look and there was this gnarly black feline looking back at me. I was like… eugh… and went back into the car. But the darned thing followed me crawled up my lap, up along my arm up towards my shoulders all while I’m all but screaming “WHAT THE **** IS IT DOING??!?” to my wife, who I knew had a lot of experience with cats. The cat, that was obviously in a bad state, proceeded to lie down around my neck like a nasty, wet scarf and passed out with a huge sigh. Weirdest thing ever.
Despite my aversions against cats, especially one that had just punctured my leg, arm and neck in about a hundred spots with its nasty, infected claws - we decided to walk down to the vet, cat around my neck, to get advice on what to do with it (and also to have it safely removed from the vicinity of my carotid artery
)
The lady who worked there was involved in a local animal support group and offered to do her best to find the owners and said the cat could live there for now, in a small cage, in a dark corner until the owner could be found or if not - be sent off to the shelter.
I suppose that was where love won out over hate, fear and allergies, so I asked if it wouldn’t be better for the cat if we took it home to try and care for it for the time being.
The cat was dirty, had ticks, fleas, skin infections, ear infections, worms and was in obvious psychological distress.
Long story short, the owners were found - but because they’d had kids and the kids were beating up the cat they decided to kick the cat out instead of teaching their kids manners. The cat was homeless and given the previous owners mentality, probably hadn’t gotten much love or attention.
So we decided to give him a fighting chance and spent a minor fortune (no insurance = expensive) getting him the help he needed, removing ticks, cleaning out fleas, daily skin care, minor ear surgery, vaccinations, anti-worm medication, intensive care diets, castration and whatever “love” I was able to muster. My allergies were terrible, but I pushed through. This was not a fun experience for any of us, but the cat never, ever tried to hurt us despite being put through weeks of painful and likely terrifying medicinal procedures as well as my constant, ear shattering sneezing.
In time (many months), my body started getting used to having “cat” in the air all of the time and my allergies started to slowly fade, in straight opposition to what doctors have always told me should happen. Not just my cat allergies, mind you. My dog and generic fur allergy, pollen allergies (hay fever) and contact allergies all improved significantly over the next two years!
Today, five years later, I could not imagine living without Sheldon. He is the perfect pet - with beautiful, soft and glistening black fur. He’s one of those cats who never do annoying “cat things” like topple things over, attack from behind a corner or walk all over the keyboard when you try to work, and when I lie down in the couch in the evenings he comes over with a slight meow, as if to ask if it’s okay to hang out, and when I move over he jumps up and snuggles up right next to me for hours on end. When I go for a walk he will follow me around wherever I go. He keeps the house and garden free of mice and rats. Warns us when something is awry. Hangs out with the pet rabbits my wife keeps in the yard or when we are outdoors he will run around the neighborhood playing and jumping up and down trees and fences. When we are away he spends most of the day comfortably resting in bed, only to come running to us like a dog when we get back. Every time we open a door for him, or give him food, he will first take the time to turn around and give us a gentle stroke against the leg, before proceeding about his business.
I can now go outdoors in the summer without being destroyed by allergies, the family has gained a wonderful friend and Sheldon gives us more than enough love to go around. These are the gifts we were given for deciding to love, when we could’ve just walked away - and certainly had our reasons to do just that.
Furr buddies can change our lives.
Texican....