Someone Made Him an Offer He Couldn't Refuse

I spent part of this evening with the gangster still residing in my dining room. My guess that he's pretty hard core was on the money. The cat is riddled with bullets from what is likely a .22. My opinion of human beings continues to sink. My theory is that he had some long and unpleasant discussions with the neighbor's cat. Or dog. Or given the size and nature of the cat, livestock. He's not one for small potatoes.

Whoever trumped his arguments left their remnants in his shoulders and hips, and I think, one at the base of his tail. He's lucky that nothing shattered. Perhaps Bugsy was not the right gangster, and his last name is actually Luciano. Whatever it is, he's not going to tell me. I'm sure the Witness Protection Program has this guy on speed dial.

What I am not sure of is what to do about the bullets. I suppose they could stay there. I am fairly certain he wouldn't be the first feral cat to carry this kind of baggage. His wounds are beginning to heal. No bones have been obviously broken, and the cat, for the most part, is intact. He and I have worked and reworked the contract on touching, and I have been able to brush away enough scabs to reform a cat his size, and remove many, many ticks, all for payments of wet cat food, minced beef, and salmon flavored cat treats. He probably needs a Lyme test, which is doable. Surgery to remove all of his little hitch hikers is not - at least, not for the time being. We simply cannot afford it and we are too new to have a good enough relationship with a vet practice who would let us make payments. All of our spay/neuter surgeries come from the good people at CASPCA. It is a dilemma, to be sure.

For now, he continues to convalesce. He is in pain and it shows when you touch any of the offending spots. He flinches, yowls, and bares his teeth in a way that brooks no argument. I don't know if he will remain this way, or eventually if scar tissue will form around the metal. I just don't know, and I will have to do some research and make some phone calls to find out.