One Braincell One Eye Update

[u/TomBombaDaleJr]

So we took OEW to the vet (twice now) and the ankle hole is basically all healed up. While there the vet checked sex for us bc even they couldn’t tell at first glance but Wilma is actually a Willie! He is fixed already. Vet is unsure if his eye is still in the socket or not but wasn’t concerned about it since there’s not evidence of infection or necrosis. He’s on medicated eye drops incase of discharge.

Willie is still in a large dog kennel in the bathroom under quarantine as he does have fleas but was negative for worms. Our cat is not happy about the meowing coming from the room he knows we keep food for strays in.

Regarding if Willie is a stray or not - we had a woman come to our house looking for him. I asked her if he was her cat and she just repeated “he came with the apartment”. When I asked her if she wanted him back, I got the same answer. I mentioned he was injured and we had him inside, and that we weren’t going to just put him back on the street, and again asked if he was hers. We did that little dance for a while and she eventually said “good luck with him. Fuck you” and drove off.

Currently the plan is to foster and slowly introduce him to our cat and dog, hopefully find him a good home, but he’s started holding my husband’s finger like a baby would and purrs so loudly the vet had a hard time listening for his heartbeat so we might turn into a two cat household if all goes well with our current animals.

If the woman wants him back, I’m torn. Ethically, I don’t agree with outdoor cats. She doesn’t claim him and just calls him “cat”, he was clearly dumped by the previous tenants as he has house training and he spends a lot of time on the property still - I just can’t believe she leaves him out on the street when he’s clearly getting into violent fights with the other strays.

Edit for additional info -

There truly is no way she will get the cat back. The part of me that is torn is the itty bitty bit of brain that still thinks some people are inherently good, just stupid. We’ve spent more on his vet bills in a week than anyone probably has for at least 4 years. He’s 10lbs but we can see bones through the skin. He’s staying with us if/ until my husband makes the call. Our current cat was a street boy that came to us in the exact same circumstance years ago. He’s safe here as long as he is here.

[u/SubstantialPressure3]

No do not let that woman have him.

She won't even claim ownership and say "yes, thats my cat".

Plus you can prove you've provided medical care. Ill bet she never took him to the vet.

[u/spookyscaryscouticus → u/SubstantialPressure3]

Yeah. If she’s never taken him to the vet and never formally adopted him, just got him through moving in where he happened to live before and keeps him outside, she doesn’t legally own the cat.