Straying Alive

So here s/he is. His/her gender now in question, but we didn’t want to do too much invasive peering at his/her nether regions.
When I say we, I mean Chris at the Cattery. Breathe again. The white and back stray is now in safe hands, and literally in a warm bed. The sleeping rough episode is ended.

Emerging from her hidey hole

SEttling to breakfast

Oh my, that looks sore

Cleaning the plate

Job nearly done

When I took breakfast out she scrambled from her hidey hole at once. I had thought she had a sore on her leg when I saw her in the gloom. In daylight it was clear she has sores on both front legs and one is making her limp. I resisted her demands for seconds and thirds and instead we had a bit of a love fest. When I went in I was a bit worried she might try to follow me, and maybe that is what happened, because having talked to Chris on the ‘phone and got the go ahead to bring her in, I couldn’t find her. I looked inside the binshed and there she was, crouching in the corner, and fortunately where I could pick her up. Which I did. She didn’t resist though she was obviously worried when I closed the door and it made a noise. The car was already open and the cat basket in place. She lifted her nose to mine and I told her she would now be properly looked after.
On the journey she was initially absolutely quiet. I had some music on and I talked to her. After a mile or so, there was a faint mew and some movement from inside the basket. I lifted the towel an inch or so when we stopped at the lights. She looked out at me and rubbed my fingers when I put them through the slat.
Chris opened the door of the cattery before I had even rung the bell. We went straight through to the run she is to have. Fortunately it is the end of the busy Christmas holiday period and twelve cats went home today.
Chris lifted her out and checked to see if she has a chip. No sign of one, but maybe the more advanced technology at the vet’s surgery will tell a different story.
Just this little bit of human contact was enough to turn an anxious animal into an affectionate one. She clearly loved the attention and would have been happy for us to stay and scatch her ears and rub her head all day.
Chris winced when she saw the sores, and showed me more sores on the cat’s rear feet. I asked her what she thought could have caused the sores on her front legs and she shook her head. A mystery.
Before we went back into the house, Chris lifted her into the little house and she settled straight into the bed under the heat lamp.
She’s not out of the woods yet, and almost certainly has worms, though I could see no sign of fleas, but she is in a much more hopeful position than she was a couple of days ago.