Cat Rescue Bleg – San Jose Area

From “semi-lurker” commentor TMinSJ:

A friend of mine called me a few weeks ago to say that his apartment had been inspected by the management and they found his family’s contraband pets, a cat and a dog. He was given 72 hours to get rid of the pets or get a 30 day eviction notice. While he had found someone to take the dog, he had not been able to place the cat, and by then down to less than 48 hours, said if I could not take the cat he would have to go to the local shelter. I went and got the cat.

His name is Elby. He is one of the world’s sweetest cats, but here is my issue: I have a cat (Belle, showing off one of her favorite games in March of this year’s Pets of Balloon Juice calendar: stick under the tissue paper/kitty under the tissue paper) and she is not having it. She is having an epic meltdown over him being in our (hers and my) apartment, and even though they are separated by a gate, she is losing her shit. Her losing it is making me feel like I’m losing it, so I need to find a nice home for Elby.

Elby is truly one of the nicest cats I’ve ever met. His favorite activity since he’s been here is lying on my chest and doing head-butts and face rubs under my chin accompanied by purring, punchy-paws and occasionally licking my face. Unlike most cats he is totally chill being carried around.

Elby does have a challenge, and that is his right back leg is disabled and will not support his full weight, so he walks with a limp and is not able to jump. I took him to my vet and she said he has a compressed disk in his lower back and that the leg itself is not the issue. He takes daily pain medicine to help his mobility. The meds are liquid, and although he does try to turn his head away, he has never tried to swat or bite me, or even growled at me, while I give him his meds. While I was at the vet I had his shots updated, since they were due in a few months, so he’s all current. My vet said she thinks Elby is about 12 years old (he was an adult when my friend adopted him, so his age was always a guess). Other than the bad leg he is a healthy cat.

If I had written this a few days ago I would have said he can’t get on the furniture, but the other day I came into the living room and he was on the back of the couch. He was clearly VERY proud of himself, so I think he had been working on it for a while.

He would love to sleep with someone, but he would need pet stairs to get down to his litter box at night. Speaking of litter boxes, I got him the one with the lowest sides I could find, and he’s been fine getting in and out with no accidents.

I didn’t want Belle to have to share (I was aware of her hard “no siblings” policy before I picked him up), so I got him all new cat paraphernalia, including toys, beds, bowls, etc. plus the carrier he came in. I have a cat-kit ready to go, including this sweet boy, hopefully to a home that will give him as much love and attention as he deserves!

I’m happy to communicate with anyone interested via comments and/or email, and will work with anyone on transportation if needed.

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You guys know the drill: Leave a comment, or email me (annelaurie dot bj at gmail dot com) and I’ll forward your message. Some of the very sweetest cats I’ve ever known — including my current Piper — have been grey (okay, cat experts: blue) tuxies!