Damon's Dim Prospects

Things are not working out for Damon.

First off, he's not getting along with the other toms. When the other cats were new, they seemed to know the protocol of dealing with prima donnas (the existing cats) in their established territories. Nutmeg, eventhought just a kitten, knew to lay low passively and let the others sniff and growl at him until they finally accepted him. Cory knew not to retaliate when smacked by Saffron. Tammy knew to stay out of everybody else's way until they got used to her. But not Damon. He's been giving as good as he got and for the past week or so he's been confined to a cage for everybody's safety (including mine, because I'd sustained some bites and scratches from breaking up fights). He gets along with the females, though. He plays with Tammy and Pepa just gives him a wide berth so there have been no altercations between them.

Secondly, he's been diagnosed with a tape work infestation. Eventhough he'd been dewormed as part of the standard procedure during his first visit to the vet, tape worms (ugh!!!) are unusually stubborn and he needs three doses of deworming tablets over three days back to back to dislodge them. He also has to be quarantined and eventhough we used to let him out of the cage a few times a day previously (after having taken the precaution of locking up the other toms), we have to stop doing that until he finishes his course of meds. But our bigger problem is actually getting him to swallow the medicine. We've tried dissolving and crushing the tablets to mix with tuna and other smelly foods that he ordinarily goes crazy over but nothing doing. He's too smart for that. It's futile trying to feed him the tablets manually either. He absolutely refuses to allow it and bites and claws at us when we try to administer them.

Which brings us to the third problem. Although he is a sweet cat, I guess he's been wild for too long, and it will take rather longer to tame him and get him to trust humans. After all he's been the recipient of bullying at the hands (and feet) of people and animals (I've seen both species at work with my own eyes) for, probably as long as he can remember. Although we'd want to give him the chance, we are short on resources. Baby's due in two months, and whatever progress we've made with him has probably been erased by his incarceration. He doens't fancy being caged up all day and all night (who would!) and if I were him I'd be wondering what I got myself into trusting these humans in the first place. Unfortunately we don't have the space to dedicate an entire room to him and the cage, although it is a pretty big one, it's no place for a cat used to roaming wild and free (and hungry and wounded and diseased).

And so, confronted with all that, it is with heavy hearts that we have to consider sending Damon to PAWS. Furry Farms, although with a no-kill policy, does not yet have a cattery, and the Independent Pet Rescuers never replied any of our emails. We hope and pray someone with a big heart (and house) will adopt him and love him, because really, he deserves a break after all he's been through. It's a rotten world, and things like this just makes me yearn for the new heaven and new earth.