In case you're wondering how things are going with Sooty the foster cat, the answer is very well!
First of all, we reached the fundraising goal for getting his dental work done. A thousand and twenty thank yous from me and Sooty both to everyone who donated!
On his last trip to the vet, he had almost reached eight pounds (he was six-and-a-half when I first brought him home) and I would guess he's there now. The antibiotic shot from the first visit had improved his gums to the point that the vet decided that he did not in fact have stomatitis; just a bunch of bad teeth. I got him another shot and made him an appointment for his dental on December 15th.
I'd had a suspicion that he might have ringworm based on an increasing number of patches on his body with no fur. The vet said no, it was just places where he'd gotten injured and the fur fell out along with the scabs. That made sense considering the ordeal that led him to the shelter. I'm keeping an eye on a wound on his hip that I think was originally a burn. It looks like it's healing, though.
In the photo you can see one of the bare patches on his left front leg, but the fur is already filling in.
His coat is actually looking quite lovely and he's very soft. I've upgraded his canned food quality to what our cats are eating (initially he was getting the cheap stuff because his appetite was poor and that's what he liked). He's on his second bag of dry food as well, and his appetite appears quite healthy.
Yesterday we set up a pet gate between the TV room and kitchen so he could hang out with us while we watched television. He is very active and curious and was interested in meeting our cats on the opposite side of the gate. They were less enthusiastic about him, but the drama was relatively minimal. Sooty seems as though he really likes other cats. He kept rolling around on his back as if to say, "Look how non-threatening I am! Let's play, you guys!"
Since we don't know how long it will take to find him a permanent home once we have his veterinary needs taken care of, it would be considerably more convenient (and make him much happier) if we could integrate him into the general pet population. We're taking it slow to avoid the kind of all-out war that Xena and Trillian engage in to this day.
Sooty seems very afraid of the dog, but it shouldn't take long for him to realize that Toby is no threat at all. We actually had Toby in the room with him most of the evening yesterday because otherwise the incessant barking would have put us all on edge.
That's where things stand today. I'm looking forward to finally getting his bad teeth taken care of so his entire system can finish healing. His progress has been frankly astounding and the vets say he's the luckiest cat in the world. If you're interested in adding Sooty to your family, let me know! He's a great guy.
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