08/25/2026
This stray cat has been part of our life since we bought our house 7 years ago.
He was a random visitor, coming by to meow loudly for an occasional meal, mark our entire front porch & head off to the next house to do the same. He was the top cat amongst the strays with the loudest voice and wasn’t shy about letting you know he was there.
We could never put nice things out front cause he would ruin them. When we took in the abandoned runt kitten he would scare her off during meal time. His insistent calling out for attention could get annoying. He was a pain in the butt. Then in early July something changed.
I noticed for awhile that he would occasionally emphasize the “ow” in his “meow” during mealtime, so I would add a little water to soften the dry food for him, which had been working fine, especially since he only came by sometimes.
But one day he made this strangled choking hack. I thought the water was affecting his ability to eat. He ran off and I didn’t see him for almost 5 days. When he returned he had this hollow look, his hip bones were visible, his eyes sunken, he looked defeated and his meow was pitiful.
I quickly went inside and grabbed the blender and blended the dry food with water and brought it out to him. He quickly started eating, but then cried out and ran away. So I decided to blend the food longer and more like a broth vs baby food consistency.
I fed him this blended food 5 times a day and added in the lickable treat stews to the blender as well. He struggled each time, but slowly started to put weight back on. I would hold him and use a flea comb to brush out the burrs and stickers caught in his fur so he wouldn’t have to groom himself if it hurt.
Then about a week and a half ago he screamed, just sitting in my lap between attempts to eat. Then another day he was meowing at the door and screamed. Loud cries of pain. Then a few days in his eye started to have discharge. I would gently clean it at every meal, but it would come right back. Whatever was hurting him was now affecting his eye. So I made the appointment.
I put his towel inside a crate, and after we had our first breakfast I tried to get him inside….
⬇️ continued ⬇️
