Injured stray helped thanks to Clapton - update

[Desley (booktigger)]

Glad to hear she is reunited - when I looked into the Program injections, the receptionist told me it only sterilises fleas rather than kill them, so you might need to do both, so maybe that is this cats problem. i assume the vet will have told her the cat will need to be wormed.

[Liz]

So pleased for a happy reunion

On the Programme side of things we use Programme on 52 cats and have no fleas or dirt and it works but has to be done every 6 months - our vet is now recommending it for the skittish ones that visit!

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

Ahhh what great news ... I'm so pleased kitty and her owner have been reunited.  I had a feeling that she was owned by an elderly person for some reason.

[Mark]

Forgot to say. The lady said she will phone the vets in a few days to let them know that her cat has settled down OK  - I meant to ask her real name, rather than call the 'the cat' 

[Janeyk]

It does sound like the old lady missed her and that the vet has had a little word 

[Mark]

I just phoned the vets for an update. Leanne, the VN there really cares about animals, you can tell. She said they slipped a note through the door and an elderly lady phoned. She was over the moon  - she said that her cat was over 18 and didn't really go out much. When we had the few mild days, she had left the back door open and the cat must have slipped out (she is a tiny cat - 3kg max) - she was frantic. She was worried as the cat has memory problems and at times, even wanders into the kitchen and forgets where her food bowl is. I asked if they spoke to her about the fleas as she was caked in flea dirt. Apparently, she has program injections (they confirmed this as the lady is one of their customers)  - the lady said she must have picked up fleas in the few days she was missing. They told her that it couldn't have happened in a couple of days and that she should keep and eye and supplement the program injections if needed. Leanne said she was aware that some of the people in the houses were no-so-desirable but people shouldn't be so quick to judge someone by their address - she was confident that the lady doted on her cat and that she had just slipped out unnoticed.

Given how she huddled against the air outlet, I don't think she would have survived too many cold nights - so thanks to the care-home people that reported her  (and fed her in the meantime)

[Shirley]

Well done Mark! Hope this poor cat has a caring owner in the end 

[Mark]

Sharon spoke to the vet about something else. They still haven't managed to get through. One of the VNs is going to drop a note through their door.

[Janeyk]

Well done Mark, Clapton and lady 

I wonder whether the cat has been left behind the cat may have previously been chipped by another owner or rescue.

I hope that you can get know the outcome, best of luck for Polly 

[Mark]

The problem is, if a cat is chipped, they are legally obliged to return. I would like to think that anyone who chipped a cat would be a 'proper' owner.

[clarenmax]

I hope the owner can be traced, although I would be dubious about then if they have let their cat get into that state    As others have said, I wonder if its an elderly person who has not been able to get out and door knock etc?

Keep us posted Mark, and well done for helping catch this babe 

[Desley (booktigger)]

Fingers crossed they can trace her owner.

[Mark]

Probably best to see if they can contact her first. The vet will probably write to the address if there is no answer.

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

As the girl at the nursing home said, nobody has knocked at their door and if it was her cat, she would have knocked on every door in the area with leaflets and had posters up all over.

I agree we would all do that but if it's an older person they may not be able to go wandering round knocking on doors etc.

[Mark]

As the girl at the nursing home said, nobody has knocked at their door and if it was her cat, she would have knocked on every door in the area with leaflets and had posters up all over.

[Steff - Petsearch Bedford HQ]

Well done you (and Clapton)

I hope the cat is reunited with its owners soon...although it does sound a bit fishy...

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Well done and do hope that the cat just lost its way 

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

Fingers crossed it's not an elderly owner who has died / or poorly  - maybe someone should go round rather than phone.

[Mark]

I hope so - although it sounds as if the cat has been out for quite some time - weeks according to the women. They first assumed it belonged to someone but then realised it was staying in the yard.

Anyway, the VN phoned while I was typing this. They have tried phoning the owner but no answer. They will try again tomorrow and let me know. They said the cat is elderly. It doesn't sound like it had wandered far. They said the address was Herne Bay High Street, which is parallel to the seafront where the cat was found (High st gardens/yards back onto where the cat was found)

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

Yay well done Mark and great news that Kitty was chipped.  I hope your vet is gonna have words with the owner about the condition of the poor fella   

[Mark]

The carrier was still at the vet from when I took Clapton for the last time  - I also forgot it when I went to get his ashes. I decided today that I really must go to get it just in case we need a carrier in an emergency. I went after college. As it was my day on CP phones, after I collected the carrier, I phoned the cat line from the car. There was a message from an old peoples home in Herne Bay (where I was) saying that they had an injured stray out the back that had been there for some time. They had been feeding it but didn't know what to do with it. I phoned Sharon to make sure we could help if I could catch it. I drove round there with the carrier. Two of the staff there got some gardening gloves and hospital blankets. The poor cat was huddled up against a warm air outlet outside. They said it hadn't moved all day. As we got close, it tried to take off but was badly limping. It ran around the back of an outbuilding and into some shrubs, one of the women clocked one side and me the other. The other woman had the carrier. The young girl was the one that managed to catch the cat - she literally dived on it with a blanket. We bundled the cat and the blanket into the carrier as we couldn't risk it escaping. I ran it to the vets. Amazingly, the cat is chipped! - the vet said it was so badly matted with poo which could have caused the limp. He has shaved the clumps out. Also it was alive with fleas and no doubt, worms, which he has also treated. He planned to examine the cat properly once the customers had gone. They will let me know the outcome so will post when I know more.

Anyway, thanks to Clapton, I was in the right place at the right time and with a carrier 

Anyway, Polly (as I called her) was a tiny, dark tortie but looked like a BSH, with bright orange eyes.