# Andrew the shelter cat



## Kat50 (Mar 13, 2005)

I just want to urge anyone and everyone, please, please, please when you move take your pets with you, even make arrangements in your will about who you want to leave them with when you are gone.

I live in a large apartment complex. About 4 years ago, a really lovely siamese mix cat found his way to us after his first owner died. Our managers kept him as an outdoor cat, fed him and then fixed up some kind of outdoor shelter for him. Otherwise he was free to roam and come and go as he pleased, they never had him licensed or tagged (I think his previous owner had him neutered). In September, our manager suffered a brain hemorrhage and passed away very suddenly. His wife was also ill and she moved away, again leaving this wonderful cat without a place of his own. Our assistant manager took "care" of him by leaving food outside and that was the extent of it. He showed up at my door in January when it was extremely cold, feeling very lonely and hungry. I took care of him for a time but knew I could not keep him. I enlisted the help of the management here to help me find him a home or to take him and give him a home, but they were not interested, literally shirking the responsibility onto me. Living in that cat shelter, it has been difficult for 
Andy to stay healthy, and leaving food outdoors has attracted some aggressive male strays and racoons who come and eat at night. I was actually thinking of taking him to the vet and adopting him until I learned that there is a non-refundable $300 pet fee here. Also, after living outdoors for so long, he has no clue about a litter box, and he can't be roaming around out there alone, digging up the neighbor's gardens and scaring the birds. I finally placed a call to the owner of our apartment complex who lives in a different city. The morons here were trying to catch him in a trap which they left at the bottom of my stairway in broad daylight for all to see; that was never meant to be and the owner finally made them come and take him to the pound after all my requests went unheeded. I'm sick over the whole thing, he's just a sweetie who if he'd been raised properly would have been a wonderful pet for just about anyone. I'm praying that he gets out of the shelter and that whoever takes him appreciates his wonderful siamese disposition and treats him like a king, he deserves it. If not, there's a special place in heaven for that little guy for all that he's been through. I'm very saddened by the lack of responsibility here. I probably could have handled it differently, but I've never experienced anything like this before.

People who abandon and neglect their pets should be fined and/or prosecuted, IMO. BTW, I named him Andrew, they called him "blue eyes" prior to that.


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## seashell (Dec 5, 2003)

*Andrew*

I'm glad you were so caring about Andrew, even though you couldn't take him in yourself. It's so worrying not knowing what will become of him in the shelter. I do hope someone adopts him.
Its terrible the number of animals who get abandoned just because the owners move. Also, I think you made a good point about putting something in your will to cover that eventuality as well.
We adopted our Jimmy when our elderly neighbour had to go into a home. But luckily her daughter actively sought a good home for him, and we were priveleged to have him  

seashell


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## Kat50 (Mar 13, 2005)

Thank you for your kind words. I also am worried about what will happen to Andy in the shelter, I say a prayer every day that he will find someone to take him and give him a good home. I want to go visit him, but I fear that it will upset him and make him want to come home with me, so perhaps it's best not to know. I spoke to the daughter-in-law of the man who passed away, explaining what been happening to him since the death in September, but she didn't seem very concerned, said she would try to find someone to take him but I'm not getting my hopes up on that one. In one scenario, I have him escaping from the shelter and finding his way back here.

I'm a bit angry about the way the whole thing was handled from the beginning. If someone had taken more responsibility early on, raised him as more of an indoor cat, trained him to use the litterbox and given him a name for goodness sake, things may have been different for him, he probably hasn't been to the vet in quite a long time.

Thanks for you note, have a great day.


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## seashell (Dec 5, 2003)

*Andrew*

It must be awful to be still worrying about Andrew, even tho' you did your best for him.
You know, if you did decide you could take him in you could find loads of helpful advise on Catforum about how to get him to use the litter box (if he does have that problem). Also, I think you can find threads about how to train an outdoor cat to be indoor only.
I'm not trying to tempt you to do that if you don't feel its right for you financially, or for any other reason. But just to let you know that if you could see your way to taking him, Catforum members would be flocking to give you good advice.

best wishes
seashell


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