A long post, it tells a story so please read.

Tuesday, 1st November - this lovely ginger cat stops by our garden. Never seen him before, no collar, and really skinny (you could feel his bones and he was incredibly light). At first, we thought "he's got a home to go to" but we couldn't help but feed him.

He'd seemingly disappear so we thought he's gone home, but he kept coming back. My sister put a collar around him as well as a paper RSPCA collar (in the event that if he does have a home). We took him to the vets to get him scanned for a chip (no chip as expected) and were told that he seems to be full from the food we'd given him but noticed he had flea dirt and dirty ears.

The weather of course has been absolutely atrocious and having a cat of our own meant we couldn't bring the stray inside the house. We found the stray constantly sitting outside the patio door or sleeping in the undergrowth / bushes. "This isn't right" I'm thinking, "it's pouring with rain, it's windy, it's cold - where can I give him shelter?".

A shed in the bottom of our garden which hasn't been used was the right place, even though it had no roof. I repaired the roof and thought all was ok but the roof was leaking - I grabbed all the wood and paving slabs I could find in the front garden and it kept the rain out plus I also added some bin liners too.

All seemed okay with this cat, we gave him some old towels to sleep with and left him with cat litter, food and drink in this small little shed. He was always craving affection, always purring but he was never a playful cat, just a loving cat. 2 weeks had gone by and we've still got him, so we're trying to get him rehomed. I'm phoning the RSPCA, Cat's Protection League plus some friends.

However, the last few days he's started acting weird. He'd leave the shed and prefer to sleep head down in the undergrowth / bushes, he wasn't coming to the patio for food and he wasn't eating. My sister (19) who had got a little attached to him noticed this more than I did.

Today he still didn't seem himself but he was still purring and sitting on our klargester as he did. Then, this evening came. My sister comes upstairs and says "come and have a look at the cat, I'm a bit concerned". She should be, the poor little thing had walked out of the shed and (probably) just collapsed laying on the floor not moving. I pick him up to put him in the shed and he falls out of arms meowing. "Call the vets now" i'm saying.

I left my sister with the cat whilst I go and find numbers for the vets, my dad suggests the RSPCA so i call them. I give them all the details and whilst we're doing this, he's been brought in to the house and laying limpless across my sister's lap. He started to become weaker, and by the time the RSPCA had called back - the cat was becoming less and less lively.

The stray was according to the vets, an 8 year old male and neutered. Suspicions, he was dumped. Unfortunately, the cat eventually died in my sister's arms just as the RSPCA got here. He eventually became cold and we handed him over.

My sister, understandably in tears feeling a little helpless. My brother (12) also in tears. It was so sad to see the cat just laying in her arms dieing and because I can't stop thinking about how lovely he was I decided to post the story on here.

Uploaded a couple of pics of him here: http://s1092.photobucket.com/albums/i408/ilovecats2011

How sad Cute cat

Sweet of you to look after him xxxx

What a sad story. Any clues to what killed him? But at least in the last few weeks of his life you gave him food and shelter and looked out for him. You did all you could for him and you cared so be glad about that

Aw this is a really sad story.

Well done for being there to care for him in his last days so he didn't die alone, cold and wet with no-one there for him. xxx

Awwwww am so sorry to read this read this. He was beautiful.

A stray ginger tom once appeared in our garden and we started feeding him. He was very wary and in a right state but over a period of months he got to trust us to the point he would come in the living room and roll over flexing his paws in delight as we talked to him. We knew him as Ginger Boy for obvious reasons.

Anyway, a decision had to be made so we asked around and no one claimed him so we decided to give him a permanent home much to our current cat's disgust!

We took him to the vets to be neutered and from that day he just went downhill and stopped eating. Eventually his organs were giving up and we took the advice to have him put to sleep. It was absolutely heartbreaking.

Just take comfort, as we did, that in the end you were there for him and did the best you could for him.

No clues as to what killed him. The shed wasn't perfect, so it could've been that the cold got to him. We'll never know I suppose which is a sad thing.

Definitely did all we could and that's all I told my brother and sister. Mum and Dad agreed too and that's what I'm proud of.


Thanks and that's similar to what the RSPCA officer said too. Makes me feel really proud that he died in the arms and around people who cared about him.


My sister started calling him Tom (as in Ginger Tom) but at fear of getting too attached when / if he got rehomed, she stopped after a while. Our cat didn't take too kindly to him and would often stay in or out (whatever the situation) if he saw the ginger tom.

My sister and I tried to get them to like each other but whenever we took them near each other it was a hissing match lol. Max (our cat) would then run in to the bushes.

It's such a shame to hear about how you lost the stray you took in as yours. Was it the neutering that killed him?

We've honestly no idea but we could only console ourselves with the fact that surely the vet wouldn't have gone ahead if Ginger Boy hadn't been fit enough?

But then again, we've since learned that there are vets and there are vets and the difference is huge!

Neutering doesn't kill cats, except the very, very few who don't survive the anasthetic. During his life as an entier male he might well have picked up FeLV and/or FIV which you won't know about unless he is either tested or has started showing symptoms, by which time he is quite ill. Suspect nothing but a very unfortunate co-incidence. ktboils hasn't said how long ago this was, though has put it so it doesn't sound recent to me. If the vet had offered FeLV / FIV tests would they have accepted them? I guess another possibility is he was quite an old cat and on the edge of kidney and/or liver failure when an anasthetic could push him over the edge. Again, if the vet had offered to blood test him first would vtboils have said yes?

Ah yes, true. I've got to call the vets tomorrow to remove him off the list of missing cats and also the Blue Cross in Felixstowe who were gonna take him on Tuesday. So sad knowing he's gone.

What a sweet puss he was, it's so sad he didn't survive, but at least Bluedabadee you and your family gave him food, shelter and love for his final weeks. Bless you all

Thats so very sad, but please take conformt in the fact that you took him in you cared for him and fed him and when he died he died in someones arms and not alone outside and cold, and wherever he is now I am sure he is very very grateful that someone had enough compassion to do all of that for him in his last days.

Awwww, that poor little ginger tom. He looked very lovely. Sadly sometimes people can be cruel and abandon their pets, however at least he found you in his last weeks where there was food, water and cuddles. It's such a shame to read this cause i hate it knowing that there are tones of strays just looking for love.

Did you not bring the cat to the vets beforehand may i ask??

Aw what a sweet looking cat...thank you for making his last days nice...RIP

OP such a sad story. Take comfort in that you took care of him in his last few weeks and he didnt die alone. Take care OP

Aaaw. We adopted a stray ginger tom 10 years ago. We still have him, he's called Big Ginge and we love him to bits.