Found - Blind Orange Male Cat in Etobicoke, Ontario

[hats]

Found on the ring road behind Humber College in Etobicoke, Ontario on June 7, 2005 around noon.

Orange, long-haired, medium-sized male Persian. Very underweight and terribly matted - we think he has been on his own for a while. He is blind in both eyes, but seems to have a bit of limited vision. (Kitty jumped right into the pet carrier and started purring happily when we came to rescue him.) No white markings that we can see, but he was so matted it was hard to tell.

Vet estimates his age to be between 12-16 years of age. He is very sweet and friendly with people. The vet didn't tell us if he is neutered or not.

Cat has no tags, collar or microchip. Unfortunately we have allergies, so are unable to keep him at our house. He is currently residing with Toronto Animal Services, and he is sentenced to die on June 14, 2005 unless someone adopts or claims him.

We were thinking of taking him home as an outside cat, but at his age and with his blindness we were worried he would be attacked by the coyotes and feral cats that pass through our yard nightly.

Please contact me via email ASAP if you think this might be your lost cat or if you know anyone who has lost a cat that matches this description.

He is a lovely fellow and it saddens me to think of him being put down. If his owner doesn't come forward, we would be more than willing to help cover the bills to get him out of kitty prison and have his shots, vet work, etc. if we could find him a loving foster home where he could be an indoor kitty spending the last few years of his life sleeping in the sun. We would be happy to deliver him to a loving home in the Toronto, Mississauga or Barrie areas.

Please email me at hats2953@look.ca

Thanks,

Sara

[Luba]

Thank you for rescuing him but the chance of him now getting a home once at TAS are slim to none!

Try to contact some cat rescues and see if they'd be willing to pull him before they kill him!!

[badger]

Are you sure June 14 is a firm date and not before? I'd check. Definitely ask a rescue to help you, this guy needs a break! Thanks for helping him, bless his old heart, imagine being out there, blind and hungry. It's a real weepy. Don't give up! Can you come back and tell us what happens?

[cpietra16]

Hi again, I wrote you earlier regarding this site. I don't know Ontario very well but you can look up this site. I believe that thay may be a rescue, if not they may be able to give you some ideas.
Good luck.


http://www.pinkballoon.com/catspyjamas/contact.htm

[CyberKitten]

Why June 14? That's outragous! Surely you or someone else can take him so that does not happen. I am glad you rescued him but pls do not leave him in a shelter to die - when I see those kind of deadlines I figure it is either a sham (NO pet lover would allow a cat to die!) or someone is exploiting the date to find him a home, a laudable but not effective goal. Usually, the quality of time spent is better than anything. If you care for this cat, you spend the time to find him a home. I say that b/c I was once taken in by a shelter who claimed certain Siamese cats would be destroyed unless a home was found and Siamese Rescue clued me in on this strategy that most rescue groups deplore.

So if it is a firm date, get him out of there! If not, I don't know what to say except it makes me sad and angry at the same time. Has anyone thought to contact the various Persian Rescue groups?

[cpietra16]

I was just wondering if there is any change regarding this poor cat. Please keep us updated. There has got to be a rescue group around that area that could find a home for him to live out the rest of his life. I may be able to take him in, but I live in Montreal and can't make the trip, and I won't be able to take him in until August. Any ideas??

[Luba]

The OP left an email addy you may wanna try that

[cpietra16]

thanks. I tried that yesterday.

[hats]

Sorry, I didn't have a chance to get online again until now - thanks so much for all of the suggestions and everyone's interest in this cat. I have been contacted by 3 rescues and prospects for finding a home were looking good. Of course, things can never go smoothly and the latest challenge we are facing is in dealing with TAS.

On Thursday morning I called TAS to confirm that yes the cat was still alive and had anyone determined whether he was neutered or not as at least one potential home was contingent on the cat being neutered. The pleasant person I spoke to at TAS told me he was an intact male and yes he was happy and still alive.

One rescue organization had offered the services of their vet as the first stop when the cat got released, so I called TAS later that same day to confirm when the cat would be available for me to adopt out as I wanted to get the cat to the vet as soon as possible because thanks to the assistance of a feline rescue group, a home for him had been found.

The person I spoke to informed me that the cat was female and that the cat is 15 years old. Then the shocker - I was told that they are under no obligation to release this cat to me or anyone else! By law she has to be held for 7 days, but after Tuesday they will definitely NOT be making her available for adoption/release because of her age and her blindness.

This person then went on to tell me that in all fairness to the cat that I should walk away from this now and let them do what's in the best interests of the cat. I was very angry about this as they knew prior to this that I was working on finding a home for the cat - why didn't they tell me this in the first place? I was sharply told that I should never have involved "Cat Collectors" in my search for a home for this cat and that now that I had, the cat was off-limits.

I am sure they have had bad experiences with so-called "Cat Rescues" but at the very least they could have at least given me a chance to provide details about candidate homes rather than assuming I was going to stick this poor cat in a home with 100 other cats!

I demanded to speak to the supervisor. Of course the supervisor was nowhere to be found and so they put me through to her voicemail. I was so upset but couldn't leave work, so my poor husband allergies and all, went down to TAS in person. They were more civil to him, but are telling him there is nothing they can do at this time, but we could go down there in person on Tuesday and try to get "special permission" from the supervisor to have them release the cat.

My husband is now having doubts - thinking that maybe TAS is right, maybe it is in the best interests of the cat to let TAS put her down rather than stress her out by putting her in a new home. I myself don't know for sure, but somehow it seems wrong to give up on the poor cat without at least seeing if she could adapt to a new home. Hopefully they won't have put her down before we can get to them on Tuesday, but with the ways things are going with them, who knows?

If we ever go through something like this again, we will definitely try to find an alternative to dropping a cat off at a shelter...

hats

[badger]

Live and learn. However, I would be camping on TAS' doorstep on Tuesday morning and would not leave without him/her. Tell them you've decided to adopt it yourself. Given that they originally thought it was a younger, intact male, I wouldn't put too much stock in the 15-year old female part. Don't give up now! Even an old, blind kitty deserves a second chance.

[chico2]

Hats,what a sad kitty :sad: still I commend you for taking her off the streets,thank's
I know nothing of TAS,but her chances are extreemly slim,with all the healthy young cats waiting for the same fate,if not adopted out.
The 7 day waitperiod is really sad,does not give her many chances,maybe someone has been looking for her.It does not take long for a cat to get skinny and matted if not cared for,so she might not have been missing for very long,but then again,they did not even bother to spay her,so....
I am hoping you'll have found a happy solution by Tuesday...please let us know what happens...