I'm Nadine, an animal lover like so many of you, and I would like to introduce you to Polka, a large white male cat with several large black polka dots on his coat and some small ones around his mouth. Polka is one of several feral cats that come through our neighborhood and sometimes find refuge in my yard. This particular kitty showed up somewhat battle-worn to begin with. At first, I shooed him away because another feral kitty I've been feeding for over 15 years wouldn't come to eat while he was around. He persisted though, sleeping on my picnic table on the towel put out for the other kitty, so I would shoo him away, but he would just go to my front porch and sit, waiting politely for me to put a small dish of food out for him.

I started feeding him in hopes I could catch him to get him neutered. There have been several feral litters in the neighborhood, so that needed to stop, or at least slow down. I set a trap for him, but he wouldn't be tempted. Before long, he showed up with obvious bites and scratches from a fight. At first, the scratches looked superficial, but it soon turned into a large wound that looked terrible, and I could see he was uncomfortable. He refused to go into the cat trap I set and would just disappear for days, returning unexpectedly to my front porch, waiting patiently to be noticed. The wound on the side of his face got worse.

I started asking for help trapping him and received a lot of great suggestions, but nothing worked. I contacted a local cat rescue, but they seemed overwhelmed and couldn't help. I thought a drop trap would work but didn't know where to find one. Finally, I decided to put out a dog crate and feed him in that. At first, he wouldn't go in, but I believe, in his weakened and injured state, he finally gave in. It had been over a month and a half since the injury.

Then, about a week ago, I found him sleeping in the crate, and he allowed me to get very close. This is when I felt I had a chance to catch him and take him to a vet to get stitched up. By now, the wound was a deep hole with a big patch of skin hanging off. It wasn't pretty.

Yesterday, I finally got him to the vet, and they did the best they could with the injury. They also neutered him. I am trying to make him as comfortable as I can while he recovers. So far, he has done a lot of sleeping and ate a tiny bit. The vet left good instructions on what to expect as he recovers. I pray he does not need another vet visit - he is a strong kitty and has endured so much already. My hope is that during his recovery time with me, he will become more tame and allow contact. For now though, he isn't having it. I feel that since he is neutered now, he may stay close to where he feels safe. I hope it is with me, but I won't try to control him once he is mended. He will decide.

If you would like to help with his vet care costs, I would be so grateful.