Saving a feral street cat

Most people come home from Mexico with a souvenir key chain. We came home with a cat.

Meet Buddy—an 8 to 10-year-old feral cat rescued by our daughter. She and her neighbor were eventually able to trap him and get him to a vet to be neutered and treated for ticks, lice, and worms.

After 2 months of talking to and feeding him when he showed up at her house, our daughter was able to touch and pet him. His head and neck were battle-scarred—more than once, she saw him fighting with another feral cat, their jaws locked around each other's necks. One day she found him hiding under her couch. Sure he was about to die, she called a neighbor for help. When they got him out from under, he took refuge in the bushes nearby.

For several days she called him "the mechanic" as he showed up each morning covered in grease having sought shelter at night somewhere in the innards of a car.

When he was finally brave enough to enter our daughter’s house, her two cats wouldn’t tolerate him so we took him home with us.

Buddy was a gem on the trip home. Security, plane ride, customs, hotel, another plane ride and not one peep from him. He’s affectionate, a great communicator, and happy to be safe indoors.

Now, however, things are not so rosy. Buddy is healthy and can look forward to a long life but he needs to have several teeth extracted (Periodontal disease) and the enormous vet bill ($3,500) is not covered by pet insurance.

We are pensioners and need help. If you can contribute, we would be ever so grateful.

Thank you for your consideration of our request.