Yesterday, I saw Baker laying the grass and he just looked “off.” I couldn’t put my finger on it, just a feeling. I went over to him and he raised his head, but he didn’t move at all. I petted him and he meowed his hello to me. I thought maybe he was just taking advantage of the sunshine. Turns out he wasn’t.

Then today, around late afternoon, we receive a call from an elderly woman about a stray cat severely injured. She said she had gone online and gotten all the names of local rescues and called them all. No one had gotten back to her. She said she was panicked because this stray cat was so injured and he smelled horribly. Said his neck looked like it had been ripped open or something. She was in another town about 25 minutes away and she was crying. So off I went.

When I got there, she had put the stray into a carrier for me and when I went to lift off the towel, I reeled back. The stench of necrotic tissue was so strong. It is an older tomcat (shorthair tuxedo) I couldn’t really tell until I got him home, but he had been in a fight and a huge abscess had formed and split open from one ear to the next. His whole throat and neck was covered in wounds. Poor kitty-

Too late in the day to get him to my vet, and to take him to an ER you have to have $300.00 before you get to the door, so I laid a warm damp cloth gently on his neck to lift off any debris and crud. He didn’t tolerate that very well, so I finally just ended up spraying him with diluted Betadine, giving him an antibiotic, feeding him and giving him fluids. He will be at the vet first thing in the morning. Thankfully he isn’t feral. He only growled at me twice, so I gave him a pain pill and left him alone in the deck enclosure to decompress.

When I went back in the house, I had to feed the outside kitties, but I couldn’t find Baker. Unusual; because always at food times, he is inside the one enclosure waiting to eat. I called and called and nothing- everybody came but him.

Next to the feeding area, there is a covered cat condo. I happened to look over into the hole in the bottom and I saw him lying there. Then I saw the blood covering his rear legs! A lot of blood. You can reach into the top of this condo and remove cats, which is what I did. I picked him up, wrapped a towel around him and laid him on the couch. He tried to get up but his legs collapsed under him and he couldn’t move.:) It was 9:00 p.m. by this time, so I called another vet and he agreed to meet me at the clinic.

Turns out, Baker had been attacked by something. He had a 105.6 fever, his limbs were weak and he had lost a lot of blood. He was also leaking stool and bloody urine. He was a real mess. What the heck is attacking our cats all of a sudden? They have all gotten along until that new stray appeared recently, now they are getting torn up.

Baker is home after getting a pain shot, an anti-inflammatory shot, an antibiotic shot and his abscesses drained and left open. I had to chase the other cats out of the patio enclosure, because he is supposed to be quiet and to himself for at least 4 days. He can’t come in the house because he sprays like a firehose. That’s why he has never been successfully adopted out. Even neutered, he has sprayed ever since the operation.

I’m going to have to do something I detest and catch that tom with a catch pole. Nothing else seems to be working to get him captured. Our cats don’t deserve to be torn up like this- the wounds on both Baker and Pita are deep and infected.

Tomorrow is another day, when I will drop Glover in the morning to be evaluated and treated accordingly. I hope it isn’t as bad as it looks- but there is so much blood and tissue torn on this poor boy- in the photo below you can see the swelling on the one side of his face- the abscess is in the center of his neck and worked from one ear to the next. Never seen anything quite like it before. Just looking at it breaks my heart. He’s been a in pain for a long time.

12:40 SAD UPDATE- Glover could not withstand his injuries. He was put to sleep an hour ago. At least, now, he is out of pain. RIP Sweet Gent-

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