Squeaky the Cat

[AriGriffin]

A stray grey and white male cat has been hanging around my house for several months. At first, my Mom said not to feed him, that he wouldn't go away if I did. After a week of not feeding him, the cat was still hanging around and noticibly thinner, so Mom said to feed him. I decided to call him Mr. Squeaky because of the way he meows. He is a very friendly (and chatty) cat. Squeaky is strictly an outdoor cat. Mom doesn't want him in the house.

I caught Squeaky and the neighbor's Siamese cat together a few weeks ago. Funds are very tight, so I checked into a program my county offers to get a free neuter for stray cats. Squeaky and I met the qualifications, so I made an appointment after getting the voucher. The only slot the vet had open that worked with my schedule was June 27th (two weeks from when I made the appointment).

He disappeared from June 20-25. I was starting to worry as he hadn't been gone for so long before. On June 26th, he showed up around dinner time acting like nothing had happened. He was promptly escorted into the house and put in solitary confinement in my bathroom. He couldn't have anything to eat or drink after midnight.

I wish I had my camera with me when Squeaky saw himself in the full-length mirror on the linen closet door. He cocked his head to the side and then moved it in a clockwise motion for a little bit. Once he got tired of that, he jumped up onto the sink counter and laid down. He is a bit bony and looked uncomfortable, so I picked him up, sat a spare pillow down, and put him back. Mr. Squeaky was in heaven.

We had to be at the vet on the 27th between 7:30 and 8:00 AM. I got him in the cat crate with minimal fuss. He didn't want to leave his pillow. All of my previous cats screamed or rattled the cage around while in the car- not Squeaky. He never hissed, yowled, or made any other noise. Mom kept checking on him, saying she thought he had died or something since he was so quiet. Check-in at the vet went smoothly and I left him there to go clean a house.

Around noon, the vet called to say his procedure was done and I could pick him up after 3 PM. When I went to check him out (and pay for the rabies shot, capstar pill, and medical waste fee- $17.50, so not bad), the vet came out to speak with me.

Either a minor injury had occured or Squeaky had licked himself, but he was a little swollen. She said that she sprayed him with some medicine and to not be alarmed because it gave Squeaky silver colored balls.

Squeaky has to take some medication for the next few days and needs to stay indoors for the next week and a half. The vet let me borrow an e-collar just in case. Poor little guy, it isn't going to be easy for him to be cooped up in the house for that long. Mom isn't happy with him being in the house (he's going to spray the house). When I let him out of the carrier, he made a beeline for his pillow. The last time I checked on him, he was curled up on the pillow with a stuffed monkey cat toy next to him.

[Aislin]

Please please please find him a forever home where he can be an indoor outdoor cat. They live so much longer that way.

[Andara Bledin]

I would say the 5-day missing streak would point heavily to his having been injured. Being an outdoor cat, he's likely to get into more trouble, and one day, he just won't be there any more.

I echo Aislin, please find him a proper indoor home; he was obviously somebody's pet and rather than be decent human beings, they abandoned him.

As a note, not all males spray. Our tom (the vet said he'd fixed him but we think he lied and charged us anyway... we didn't like the vibe he put out at all) never sprayed, even when he was getting all worked up over the stray toms that would come up and mark our front walk. Come to think of it, almost none of our cats have ever sprayed. *shrug*

^-.-^

[Marmalady]

As a note, not all males spray.

My dearly loved old black tom, Big 'Un, never ever sprayed either. I said that when he started spraying, I'd have him neutered - obviously he must have heard me, and decided that it was worthwhile giving up the pleasure of spraying so he could keep his furry goosegogs.

[XCashier]

As a note, not all males spray.

And it's not only the males who spray. Females spray too, as I found out at my previous job.

Thank you for getting Squeaky neutered. I do hope he can find a good home and live the well-loved life all pets deserve.

[dragon_wings]

And it's not only the males who spray. Females spray too, as I found out at my previous job.

Thank you for getting Squeaky neutered. I do hope he can find a good home and live the well-loved life all pets deserve.

My ex gf's female cat sprayed. She was unspayed most of the time I was living with my ex.

[ArcticChicken]

I've only ever met one neutered male who sprayed, and we went through a lot of cats before we figured out that indoor only was the only way to keep them alive around my house. (We put up with the one who sprayed until he sprayed the coffee maker. Then mom made us take him back to the SPCA.)

[fireheart]

One of ours sprays, although he does it in one particular spot. Does anyone want to guess where that particular spot is?

Well, guess no more. He does it RIGHT near the litter trays. >.>

[Pixilated]

Kudos to you for getting Squeaky neutered. Hopefully you can find him a nice forever home where he can spend the day snoozing on a pillow, LOL.

I'd be curious to know if you have any "spraying" problems with him. The only time I ever had, shall we say, incontinence problems with any of my cats was when there was illness involved (whoops -- or senility, in the case of one or two very elderly kitties ....)

[AriGriffin]

Squeaky has been behaving himself... mostly. He cried like a baby when he accidently knocked his toy monkey into the bathroom trash can (empty except for a used plastic bag liner), but was fine after I fished it out and gave it back to him.

I let him out of the bathroom (into my room), for a little while yesterday. He didn't really do much except for jump up onto my bed and lay down. I started petting him and he bit me when I moved down to scratching his back. It didn't break through the skin though, so that is good.

I have three other indoor cats. Molly (seven, female), Mickey (three, male), and Smudge (two, male). I found Mickey in my backyard one evening. He was injured and a tiny kitten. Shortly after, I saw a few kittens running around- another black and white like Mickey, a long-haired black one, an orange tabby, and a grey and white one. The vet said Squeaky was around three-years-old. Squeaky and Mickey look alike except for the coloring and have the same level of chatty-ness. I think they might be related.

Squeaky has met Molly, Mickey, and Smudge. He tried talking to them, but only Mickey would answer back, the other two ignored him (Squeaky then ignored them in favor of being petted). Mickey and Smudge never sprayed, but Squeaky did when he was outside. I don't think he has sprayed the bathroom. I don't smell anything. Mom said I should get a black light to make sure.

When Squeaky first showed up, I went door-to-door along my street, posted on craigslist, put up posters around town, and asked people that came in to work (town library), if they knew who owned him or wanted him. A lot of people said Squeaky looked like a mean cat. The local no-kill shelter was full. The county's animal shelter is one of the worst ones in the entire country. The shelter worker said they could take him, but he would be put down after three days if no one claimed or adopted him since he was a stray.

Mom will go from, 'He's going out in __ days.' to 'Who's a good boy? Squeaky is. Yes he his. Who wants rubbins? Squeaky does.' every few minutes. She doesn't like that Smudge (who was supposed to be my cat), sticks to her like glue and that Mickey is 'weird' and 'his eyes are too close together.'

[auntiem]

I have a feeling Squeaky is in to stay - we had a cat that we took in "temporarily" until he won over my Mom and he stayed for the next 12 years.
Unfixed male cats will spray if there is a female cat in heat nearby - now that he is fixed and inside (I'm assuming your other cats are fixed) he may not spray at all.

I want a picture of Squeaky and his monkey!