I haven't talked about our stray cat friend lately, so here's what's up.
Last weekend, I made an appointment to have him tested for FIV and FeLV. He came up negative, which is great news. An FIV diagnosis used to mean that a cat would be quarantined from healthy cats for a lifetime. Today, that's no longer the case, but it's just good to know that he doesn't have the virus. FeLV is a death sentence, so it's especially good news that he doesn't have that one.
Once his tests came back, I went ahead and got him vaccinated for rabies and everything else he was due for. The vet agreed with me that he's 6 or 7 months old.
He still needs to be neutered, but there's no huge hurry on that. My vet's office gave me a quote to have him neutered and microchipped and it was quite expensive, so I may just take him to the humane society and have them do it.
We got our baby gate back from our neighbors, who no longer needed it now that their "puppy" is several years old. He's met the dog and a couple of the cats through it without incident. The next step is to bring him upstairs for further meet-and-greets through the gate.
Does he have a name? No. All of the vet's office paperwork calls him "TBD," so every email about him says something like, "Here's your cost estimate for TBD's neuter." I almost feel like we should name him Thibodaux now. But honestly, we keep trying to think of names but nothing is sticking.
He's obviously very active when we're not watching. He mauled two of my alpaca wool dryer balls to the point where I don't think they're salvageable. I'm sure they made great toys. He seems to be spending time on one of my laundry tables, but it's the one that's covered with stuff I was going to get rid of anyway, so no harm, no foul.
For now, we both visit him numerous times a day to pet him and bring him food and water. We'd still like to move him upstairs, but we're taking it slow to make sure none of the other cats lodge a strenuous objection. At this point, we can take all the time we need, so we'll make sure to do everything slowly and carefully. As I said before, we'll see what happens.
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