Thankful for my crazy cat lady neighbor

Howie and I were out in the yard a while ago when we spied a black cat toward the back of our property. Normally, these outside cats dash away when noticed, but this one just stayed put and meowed to us when Howie called out, "Hey, kitty kitty". On closer inspection, we saw this poor kitty has some terrible wounds on his right foreleg. They're deep and filled with puss and nasty. He can put weight on it just fine. He is unable to stand on his left foreleg, however.

Thinking he might be one of our next door neighbor's cats, I bent down and picked him up to bring him over to their house. He offered no struggle, just meowed and kept purring. They have a carport, so I put him on the back of the neighbor's car just outside their door and rang the doorbell. The whole time, he was rubbing his head on my hands and purring, like he was thankful.

My sweet neighbor's eyes got big as saucers when she saw him and she kicked into caretaker role. She and her husband checked to make sure all their cats were accounted for (they have who knows how many -- seven now, I think?) and said he wasn't one of theirs.

I asked if they would help him, explaining that Howie just got back to work after being off for major spine surgery and his first few paychecks have to go right back to the company to pay the back insurance premiums not withheld during his time off.

Thank GOD, they are going to take this guy to their vet and get him taken care of. I don't know what we would have done if they hadn't. We'd have managed somehow, but still. I'm so thankful for my crazy cat lady neighbor and her husband. They're in their upper 80's and have lived in their house since 1955, I think.

I told her I'd check later today to see how the kitty's doing. Keep the fella in your thoughts and prayers - we'd appreciate it! :)

This message was edited Apr 22, 2006 12:44 PM