Mending Ginger
Donation protected
UPDATE: Severe infection 21st Sept, emergency operation to remove more tail and clean infection. He's pulled through AGAIN overnight but is very very poorly. He's to go back in on Monday. He's fighting so hard to get better it's amazing. I've to monitor and clean him this weekend, and give regular antibiotics. Any help with this further emergency care grateful received x
UPDATE: Thanks to the wonderful kindness of friends and strangers, Ginge has now undergone a surgery on his tail, has been 'done' and has been deflea'd and wormed. He is a strong but gentle little thing and everyone at the RSPCA was rooting for him too! He is quietly recovering and even though he's a stray, he's calm and loving. I think he's just glad to be warm and fed and not fighting for survival. If anyone can help with the mounting bill, I'd be very appreciative. I don't know if he'll stick around or go back to his roaming ways but at least he'll be fixed, free of pain and not fathering any little Ginge's eh? ;)
Thank you all so far, Sian x
ORIGINAL CAMPAIGN: A few months ago a little ginger tom started strutting through my garden, occasionally sitting in the bushes and eyeing up my admittedly rather gorgeous cat Missy, who didn't chase him away as she did other cats. Despite him being a bit raggedy with a broken tail and a somewhat cocky manner, she seemed quite taken with him. Over the summer his visits were sporadic and I hoped his owner was keeping him in during the torrential downpours. During this last 2 weeks though his condition seemed to get worse and he starting staying longer in the garden, sitting near the terrace and I got closer to see his tail was matted and his mouth a bit scabby. I gave him some biscuits and he licked and wolfed them down. He even let me stroke him, though not for long. Then on Friday he was limping badly. Surely no-ne could own him and let him deteriorate like this? I made the decision to catch him and take him to the RSPCA to see if he was chipped. He was not happy and tried to Houdini his way out of the basket but a combo of gardening gloves and folding in his spreadeagled legs did the trick.
He was so sweet at the RSPCA, very calm, no hissing, just big eyes and sweaty paws. No owner chip. Still, ahem, intact. There's a bit of a list : broken tail, puntured paw, broken infected teeth, worms, a terrible flea infestation, dirty ears and a very full bladder, they think due to stress, as he can spray. Poor little mite.
The RSPCA can treat him today - 12 Sept - but they want me to commit to bringing him back here for ten days and keep him safe and warm and make sure his amputated tail doesn't get infected. I've no idea if he'll stay, he might run away once he's better, but at least he knows this area and it's 'his', and I can occasionally feed him when and if he needs it. Or he might decide he likes us (and Missy) and stay. But I've got a bit of a shock last night when I called to see how he was. The RSPCA have mistakenly registered him as mine and not as a stray, so they won't treat him unless his bill is paid. £160 so far and then £90 for the tail & meds, and then his teeth need taking out too.
If I let them say he's a stray, then they might still do all that, but I'll never know. They might decide he's not worth it, might they? And they might put him down. That would be a pretty unfair on him. I'd like to give him a better chance than the one I think he has if we don't pay the bill.
I don't know if this is the right forum but I wondered if anyone would help me with this, even chipping in a fiver, cause the first £300, then sorting his teeth, is a lot of money to find for a cute little stray who might not stay. If we raise more, we'll donate that all to the RSPCA. I'd be very grateful for any help getting him back on his cocky little feet again x
UPDATE: Thanks to the wonderful kindness of friends and strangers, Ginge has now undergone a surgery on his tail, has been 'done' and has been deflea'd and wormed. He is a strong but gentle little thing and everyone at the RSPCA was rooting for him too! He is quietly recovering and even though he's a stray, he's calm and loving. I think he's just glad to be warm and fed and not fighting for survival. If anyone can help with the mounting bill, I'd be very appreciative. I don't know if he'll stick around or go back to his roaming ways but at least he'll be fixed, free of pain and not fathering any little Ginge's eh? ;)
Thank you all so far, Sian x
ORIGINAL CAMPAIGN: A few months ago a little ginger tom started strutting through my garden, occasionally sitting in the bushes and eyeing up my admittedly rather gorgeous cat Missy, who didn't chase him away as she did other cats. Despite him being a bit raggedy with a broken tail and a somewhat cocky manner, she seemed quite taken with him. Over the summer his visits were sporadic and I hoped his owner was keeping him in during the torrential downpours. During this last 2 weeks though his condition seemed to get worse and he starting staying longer in the garden, sitting near the terrace and I got closer to see his tail was matted and his mouth a bit scabby. I gave him some biscuits and he licked and wolfed them down. He even let me stroke him, though not for long. Then on Friday he was limping badly. Surely no-ne could own him and let him deteriorate like this? I made the decision to catch him and take him to the RSPCA to see if he was chipped. He was not happy and tried to Houdini his way out of the basket but a combo of gardening gloves and folding in his spreadeagled legs did the trick.
He was so sweet at the RSPCA, very calm, no hissing, just big eyes and sweaty paws. No owner chip. Still, ahem, intact. There's a bit of a list : broken tail, puntured paw, broken infected teeth, worms, a terrible flea infestation, dirty ears and a very full bladder, they think due to stress, as he can spray. Poor little mite.
The RSPCA can treat him today - 12 Sept - but they want me to commit to bringing him back here for ten days and keep him safe and warm and make sure his amputated tail doesn't get infected. I've no idea if he'll stay, he might run away once he's better, but at least he knows this area and it's 'his', and I can occasionally feed him when and if he needs it. Or he might decide he likes us (and Missy) and stay. But I've got a bit of a shock last night when I called to see how he was. The RSPCA have mistakenly registered him as mine and not as a stray, so they won't treat him unless his bill is paid. £160 so far and then £90 for the tail & meds, and then his teeth need taking out too.
If I let them say he's a stray, then they might still do all that, but I'll never know. They might decide he's not worth it, might they? And they might put him down. That would be a pretty unfair on him. I'd like to give him a better chance than the one I think he has if we don't pay the bill.
I don't know if this is the right forum but I wondered if anyone would help me with this, even chipping in a fiver, cause the first £300, then sorting his teeth, is a lot of money to find for a cute little stray who might not stay. If we raise more, we'll donate that all to the RSPCA. I'd be very grateful for any help getting him back on his cocky little feet again x
Organizer
Sian Astley
Organizer
