However, once we start working with them and show them how much the quality of the cats lives improve once they are fixed and vaccinated, we can usually bring them around to our way of thinking. The caretaker eventually agreed that it would be better for Rascal if we took him, so we set up a humane trap. We were able to catch him in less than five minutes. An immediate trip to the vet was in order so we whisked him over there. He was riddled with parasites which was why his general health was so bad.
Untreated parasites can be very debilitating and are one of the main killers of abandoned cats.
He also needed dental work on some broken teeth. We approximated his age to be about six years. Once a cat has been vet checked, we make a decision as to whether it should be returned to its previous environment. This decision is partly based upon the cat s overall health, a good food supply and a safe location. In Rascal s case, it was obvious that two out of the three conditions would fail the test - health and safe location.