What to do about Fast Eddie?
June 18th, 2008
Nowadays all my cat wants to do at night is go outside. He paces from window to window, peering out for a few minutes at a time, and then he moves on to the next one, mewling plaintively all the while. He’s broken every blind in the place so he can get onto the window sills when the blinds are down.
Here’s Clint Eastwood and one of his broken blinds. This is the front window on Cambridge St. He’s mewling plaintively in this picture, hear him?
Last night I let him go, but it was a mistake. He stayed out a long time and I had to go out looking for him. I was looking in the gutters of the street in case he got hit by a car. I’m happy to say that eventually I found him alive and brought him in, but it wasn’t worth it. I don’t want my cat to go outside at night, no matter how much he wants to go.
I’m not sure what’s drawing him outside at night, but all that pacing and mewling sounds like sex to me. Clint Eastwood is neutered, but according to the Humane Society he’s 5 years old and the operation was only performed last winter. So I imagine that he can hear the sounds and smell the smells of the other cats on the street, and he remembers. He knows what it means.
There are quite a few cats on my street. I’ve blogged before about Fast Eddie, the slippery outlaw cat who likes to sleep it off on my porch. Today I got a different view of Fast Eddie.
When I came home from work Fast Eddie slipped in the door behind me. He was so fast that he was knee-deep in Clint Eastwood’s food dish almost before I noticed that he was inside. I chucked him out the door but then I felt kind of sorry for him, so I took Clint Eastwood’s food and water dishes out on the porch and let him have a go at them.
Clint Eastwood didn’t like it much. He starting hissing at Fast Eddie and batting at him with his claws, so I gave him a talk about sharing with those who are less fortunate than ourselves. Then I put him inside so he could think about that for awhile.
Fast Eddie polished off a bowl of IAMS — a day’s nosh for Clint Eastwood — in about two minutes. As he was eating I looked more closely at him and noticed that he has an open sore on his foot. It doesn’t look infected, just fresh. And his coat, although it is sleek, has some weeds and other plant stuff in it. Suddenly I saw Fast Eddie in a different light — not as a romantic rogue, but as a homeless stray.
Now I don’t know what to do. I have a feeling I should grab Fast Eddie and put him in a box and take him to the Humane Society so they can treat his wound and fatten him up and try to get him adopted. But I don’t know for sure that he’s a stray, and I don’t want to inadvertently steal somebody’s beloved cat.
Plus I’m not sure if he’s adoptable, and if he isn’t, he’ll be euthanized. Then what will I have accomplished? If I don’t do anything, he might survive another winter outside.
I want to say here that I’m aware of the controversy surrounding the Humane Society lately, but I don’t have any opinion about it and I don’t take a side. I don’t have enough information.
I like the Ottawa Humane Society. That’s where I got Clint Eastwood, and on the same day Zoom got Duncan. I think the people there really care about animals.
I just think some cats are going to be put down no matter who’s running the show, and I think Fast Eddie might be one of them. He might have been out on the street too long to be adopted. He’s not exactly cuddly.
As for Clint Eastwood, I’m going to carry on as I have been — letting him out for short periods of time, keeping an eye on him, making sure he’s in before I go to work, and not letting him out at night. I just can’t stand to make him be strictly an indoor cat when he loves the outdoors so much. I know there’s a risk with letting him out and I’m willing to take it.
But you know what? It really doesn’t seem fair that some cats get to live in houses and be cuddled and taken to the doctor and fed the finest cat food while other cats get nothing at all. I’m open to suggestions about what to do about Fast Eddie.
June 18th, 2008 at 5:52 am
Why not just keep on feeding him and let him come and go at will? That way he would still be a free spirit but a well fed one. As for the paw, I’d likely clean it and keep an eye on it when he comes for food.
June 18th, 2008 at 6:59 am
I had a similiar situation with a cat I called Moochie. He first started coming to my door in the spring. He appeared to be a teenager, gangly and not yet neutered.
I thought he must belong to someone but he was there ever morning and I started giving him food and water. He wasn’t very friendly but ccasionally I could pet him. I asked neighbours if they knew who he belonged to; nobody did.
Winter came. He appeared at my door bleeding from a wound on his face - I couldn’t catch him. He disappeared for a few days.
Then he was on my door step, curled up on the mat in the snow. He let me pick him up. I brought him in, feed him and cleaned him up the best I could.
I couldn’t keep him but I couldn’t put him back out. I have two cats already. I took him to the SPCA of Western Quebec which is a no kill shelter. I did give them a donation when I brought him there. I didn’t think he had much of a chance at the Ottawa Humane Society because of his wound and his fear of people.
I think you should take Fast Eddie to the Humane Society or the SPCA because winter can be very cruel.
June 18th, 2008 at 7:00 am
Can you afford to have him fixed yourself? If you’re willing to do it, and look after him for the few days til he’s healed it’s a good way to look after strays you find (and ehem BAD pet owners who let out unfixed pets!) We used to do this in Toronto. I think its a very humane way to deal with strays. It lengthens their lives, and helps with the stray problem without killing any cats. I’m not anti shelter, but an injured cat is on the euthenazia shortlist because of the wound and the increased likelihood they’ll get sick there.
Cats do well with bactine spray on wounds because they don’t like licking it off.
I’ll be in Ottawa this weekend and I’ll donate 10.00 towards it if you decide to - I’ll leave it with Zoom.
And I agree with Oma except - we did this and ended up feeding a street full of strays AND several families of racoons. We had to cutback by not free feeding.
June 18th, 2008 at 7:50 am
He has a sweet little face. Almost the exact opposite facial markings as my cat - Malcolm.
I thought there was a cat house in ottawa. Do they take in strays?
http://www.parliamenthill.gc.ca/text/explorecatsanctuary_e.html
June 18th, 2008 at 7:56 am
Well, I think the first thing to do is find out if he is a stray.
Perhaps you can put a small collar on him with a note that asks that question. If he ever goes home, the owners would be able to see the note and respond… add something about him being sent to the Humane Society if there is no response. Perhaps there are others in his neighbourhood who are feeding him too and may want to adopt him.
Meanwhile, put a little antibiotic ointment on his foot.
June 18th, 2008 at 8:09 am
At one point we (mom, brother and I) had seven cats because mom would pick up strays. But we were out in the country and except for a couple of dedicated house cats the rest came and went at their leisure. But they did move with us.
I would suggest you have to ask yourself how much time and effort you want to put into the relationship between you and this cat. The next question is how much money you are willing to invest… straight away your food costs double, then if you take him to be neutered the vet will also inoculate him for rabies and all the other kittie diseases.
Personally… I’d leave a plate of dry food and a bowl of water out for him. Eddie was most likely born a wild cat or was a dump, and in my opinion needs to be left alone, just like any other wild animal in the city.
Whatever you do I doubt Eddie is someone else’s cat… and if he was, he isn’t anymore. I think you’re doing the right thing right now.
June 18th, 2008 at 8:47 am
I was kind of wondering about Fast Eddie when I say him — he looked pretty rough like maybe no one’s really looking after him. He seemed really thin and scruffy, thought he takes a great photo. The advice about taking him to a no-kill shelter is a good idea.
June 18th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I had an indoor cat that longed to be an outdoor cat. I started letting her out for a few minutes at a time, but she started to seriously roam. One night she did not come home. I was worried she had been locked in a neighbor’s shed or something. She finally turned up with a broken leg, apparently hit by a car. To make a long story short, $400 later I had to have her euthenized. Shortly thereafter, my daughter noticed that a stray we had been feeding had an infected ear. To make *another* long story short, *another* $400 later, I had to have this cat euthanized as well. Several years later, my now grown daughter returned from college with some strays. The sweetest one turned out to be FIV positive AND had feline leukemia. Except for recurring mouth infections, he seemed fine, so I kept him for a while. But once he made a turn for the worse - stopped eating and drinking - I had him euthanized. SO… what am I saying here? I don’t know, but it is really easy to get sucked in emotionally and financially when it comes to cats. Make sure you can afford it.
June 18th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
Thanks zoom, for sending all your knowledgeable cat-loving readers over to my blog for a day. Thanks everybody for your suggestions.
I didn’t see Fast Eddie today, which seems a bit odd, considering I fed him yesterday. You might think he’d come back for more. Maybe he isn’t a stray after all…
But I think he is.
I’m thinking about all the input I got. I haven’t made up my mind about what to do about Fast Eddie.
I’ll let you know what happens. Thanks again!
June 19th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Hey Robin,
Had a very similar experience here during the winter. This orange cat kept coming around and hanging out on our porch or in the driveway.. he appeared to be a stray, but we really weren’t sure. My downstairs neighbour started giving him food and eventually put a blanketed cat carrier on the front porch for him to sleep in as it was quite cold outside being winter and all. He slept in it every night for months until we got him his shots, neutered, chipped, etc.
The Humane Society has a special deal if you’re bringing in a stray cat with the intention of adopting it yourself… my downstairs neighbour and I split the cost of it, I believe it was only about $35 each, and she took him in afterwards.
He was a little sick (upper respiratory infection which, unfortunately, both of my cats got as well) and had an injured leg for a bit but he’s doing quite well now. He’s put on a lot of weight, sleeps a lot, likes to play and seems very happy.
If you think you can find someone willing to adopt Fast Eddie, it’d be a good idea to wait until then so you can have that person bring him in, get the deal, and then there’s no risk of him being euthanized.
James
June 19th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Also, he was a little wild at first, would bite (not too hard) when he didn’t want to be pet anymore, but he adapted very quickly and now he’s quite affectionate but cautious of people he doesn’t know. And he’s always grinding up against the neighbour’s dog which is cute. He still goes outside but prefers to spend most of his time indoors sleeping and playing now.
June 20th, 2008 at 11:50 am
This dilemma - “he came to my door… now what, do I do something about it, or do I not?” - how well I know this feeling… I have learnt that doing “something” about someone’s abandoned pet is not an easy job - time, money, all kinds of logistics, lots of effort and energy. It would be so much easier if I just could adopt all of them, but I cannot, because my Burush is an “only cat” and does not tolerate newcomers.
With Eta and her two kittens it was 4 months of fostering and a very aggressive adoption campaign. I took her to the shelter first, but they had a distemper epidemic and were going to euthanize her.
With Dzikus (The Wild One) shelter was out of the question, he was a young feral cat and it took me over half a year to tame him.
Roscoe was adorable and adoptable but got bad respiratory infection at the shelter and ended on the to-euthanize list. I pulled him out of there as a fast-tracked foster volunteer. Two months later he was well again and got easily adopted. Robin published his profile on this blog last year, when Roscoe’s future was still uncertain.
There were others, and it not always ended well. Additionally one has to battle the “crazy cat person” image and assure everybody left and right that we also care about hungry children and global warming.
But you know what? At the end of the day I say it was always worth it. I will do this again, because it feels so right to take the responsibility and to carry it. When I was a child I was not allowed to bring animals in need to our house. The images of those keep haunting me. My rescued cats, dogs and birds helped me to heal this.
June 20th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Please don’t take him to the Ottawa Humane Society. I work downtown and we found a cat outside our office at the corner of Bank and Gilmour during one this winter’s bad snow storms. He was hanging around the door crying so we brought him in and fed him and kept him at the office from Wednesday to Friday. I contacted the Humane Society immediately with his stats and sent a picture in case his owners were looking for him and we also made up posters and posted them around the neighbourhood. Unfortunately no one claimed him and come Friday, I had to take him in to the Humane Society. I couldn’t keep him as I have 5 animals at home already. The staff we met were wonderful and assured us that they wouldn’t put him to sleep without contacting me first so that I could make a last ditch effort to find him a home. I finally got up the courage to call them on the Wednesday to see how he was doing and he had been euthanized. No one had let me know. They said he was older (10-12 years), had some dental issues and didn;t adjust well to the cage. I ended up feeling like a murderer and wished I had left him to his own survival devices!