Murphy
We recently had an unexpected kitty visitor in our house. Our kitty staffers have always been indoor/outdoor, living long, healthy lives while staying close to their territory. Every once in a while, a roaming neighborhood tomcat discovers our lush park-like yard and hidden cat door. Usually, it's a one-time visit before they move on. However, over the last three years, a medium-haired tabby has been visiting on and off. This time, he came looking for trouble. He fought with every cat in sight, came into our house, sprayed, and caused absolute havoc.
One evening, he took a wrong turn, giving me the perfect chance to safely trap him in a room. It was clear this guy needed help. I immediately posted on local lost-and-found pages to ensure he didn’t belong to anyone. One person reached out but was simply feeding and giving him refuge when he was around. While searching for an owner, I set him up with food, water, and a litter box. To my surprise, he was in absolutely no hurry to leave! He was incredibly affectionate, perfectly litter-trained, and totally relaxed. This made me think he must have belonged to someone during his first few years before getting lost or abandoned—though he was never neutered. Since he let me handle him so easily, I noticed he was covered in fleas, sore from fighting, and full of scrapes. First things first: flea treatment!
We took him to an initial vet visit and confirmed he wasn’t microchipped or neutered. The Vet estimated he is around 6 to 8 years old, so, getting him fixed was our top priority. I tried reaching out to the Cat Adoption Team and the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon but all the agencies are over flowing with cats. Honestly, I’m not surprised-We have a very large cat population out there! Through this process, I also discovered a shocking number of unfixed cats in our community. Maybe people think it’s fine if their cats stay indoors, but what happens if they accidentally get out?
There are so many more reasons to fix a cat then to not fix a cat.
I have to say, we’ve had five different lost cats find their way to our home in just the last few months after escaping and roaming. Two were intact males, one was a senior, and another was an unfixed female. Fortunately, we tracked down all of their owners!
I finally made the financial choice to have this guy neutered, and at this point, I affectionately started calling him Murphy. I also had the vet run a disease panel and found out he is FIV-positive. A lot of people don't know what FIV is or how prevalent it is. It's an immunodeficiency virus that spreads to other cats through deep bite wounds. However, FIV-positive cats can still live long, happy lives! Ideally, they should stay indoors, and they can absolutely live safely alongside both FIV-positive and non-FIV cats.
This is a good article that simply explains FIV:
Because our own cats are indoor/outdoor and Murphy preferred being an only cat, we knew we had to find him a proper home. He had improved so much in just the two weeks we had him! I reached out to the local lost-and-found sites again to share an update and see if anyone could take him. Thankfully, someone reached out! He specializes in rescuing FIV kitties and works directly with Cat’s Meow Cat Rescue. He offered to foster Murphy and help find his forever home. I’ve received a few updates since, and he is doing incredibly well—in fact, he's currently up for adoption through Cat’s Meow Cat Rescue HERE! Let’s help Murphy find his forever home! Huge thanks to Clifford!
From firsthand experience, I know getting a pet fixed is a real financial cost. I get it. But we love cats. It breaks my heart to see them unable to live their happiest lives when they give so much joy and love to us. If getting them fixed is all it takes to accomplish that, don’t we have an obligation to act?
There are so many resources we were able to find in our state - and we know there are many more across the US. Please look into your states Spay & Neuter resources!