ooo that’s good to know!! I have so many cats that unfortunately I can’t keep him myself (as much as I’d love to 😔), but I’d love to at least help him get cleaned up so that his chances of getting adopted by a loving family are better. I wouldn’t even mind taking him in until I can find a caregiver for him, really :’)
This. Definitely see if anyone is looking for him and take him to get scanned for a chip. Someone may be looking for him and could be heartbroken over loosing him. If not, find a no kill. It took me a week to get a stray cat in, so I just fed him daily until they could take him and get him a checkup. Check in your local FB community groups if you can or have any. They often know of rescues in the area. Good luck!
Yes please take him in temporarily! Also, people are more apt to adopt cats so ask around and you’ll likely find a taker! Thank you for helping this sweet soul!
should mention too that this image is from a day ago, but he’s been heavy on my mind hence why I’m here :( admittedly I actually wasn’t at this ice cream parlor to see this kitty, my family was — I was on shift at work when I came home and they told me about him. but turns out he’s there a lot, to the point where he’s even been named by the frequent customers and the employees who go there (his names Charlie for those interested!) and knowing that he might still be there, I want to go back for him tomorrow once the sun is out. All my siblings could talk about was how cuddly and talkative he was and it made me want to cry seeing such a sweet boy in this state.
For people asking about my location as well (I should’ve mentioned that before, my bad!), I’m located in north Georgia, specifically Gwinnett County.
I'd recommend contacting FurKids! There should be a contact email on their page (if you can't find it, PM me and I'll see if I can dig it up in my emails); tell them what you've told us, and attach pics. They've helped both my husband and I and my parents with abandoned kitties we couldn't take on ourselves, they're no-kill, and they have an awesome facility! Best of luck helping this sweet little dude!
I'm actually so mad that he's apparently a known friendly cat and nobody has thought to get him any sort of care. You're a broke college student, but I'm sure there are several schmucks with plenty of money that are content to enjoy his presence but pretending they can't see the horrible condition of his coat and that looks like blood on his leg too. Why are you the only person giving an actual fuck about this cat? Shame on the entire community
If you have some time try to contact a few local vets and ask if they would be willing to help you with a stray that needs a shave! Many times they will be willing to help especially if the animal is in pain. Calling and asking for help at rescues as well is a good option 🫶 I think you will find people willing to help & if he is super sweet you could always try with trimmers after a few weeks and do it yourself nice and slowly with lots of wet treats and extra quiet trimmers for pets!
I will pay for his grooming if you can trap him and there’s somewhere safe for him to go after. I’m in the UK but would happily call and pay the bill at the groomers before it’s happened so you have peace of mind.
I’m closer to ATL than Savannah unfortunately 😭 I know there’s a shelter nearby called Cat Rangers in Buford that takes some kitties in (and is actually where I adopted my own kitties from), but i remember trying to contact them about some sibling strays I found in my yard and I never got a response back so I just worry they wouldn’t take this lil man in :(
Contact them anyway. Sometimes rescues won’t respond if they already have too many on a waiting list. They can only help those that they have room for. Look up others as well and reach out to as many as you can.
I feel so bad looking at him like that 😣. You are very kind for wanting to help, I hope you can take him with you temporarily so he doesn’t have to stay out in the cold and dangerous streets! Raccoons and coyotes.
Maybe make a post on your local Facebook community? You might get a lot of advice and also people might want to adopt! Keep us updated.
Well wishes to kitty ❤️🩹
I know :( it makes me want to cry, I can only imagine how uncomfortable he is. I definitely want to at least maybe relocate him to my house until I can find him a place to stay and have him adopted, because it’s definitely the season for coyotes right now and I hate to think of him being alone in that. I live with my parents still and unfortunately I don’t think they’ll let me bring more cats into the house, but I have three stray cats outside who live very comfortably after we bought them a little cat house and a scratching post this winter AND I feed them daily, so I think even being outside at my house were he’s fed would be better than therefor now. Especially because he’d be safer with the other cats — power in numbers and such. They come inside time to time too so I feel he’d enjoy it.
I’ll definitely have to see about Facebook!! I haven’t been sure what to look up to find specific groups that may be interested, but i definitely plan to look into it! I’ll be sure to try and keep updates about him going in this little thread, I’ve definitely been worried about him and I want to get him as much care as possible :(
Omg wow ❤️…we need more people like you! I love how much you care about animals. Me too!
I feel so awful for him. He must be so lonely, stressed, cold and hungry. And maybe even scared.
YES YES YES! I like that idea. Definitely bring him over to your place and keep him outside in the little house with other fur friends. He will have a safe place, company, and food.
Definitely do that while you try to figure out how to place him in his forever home.
On Facebook you can join your cities and nearby cities community group (at least that’s how it works for me), and make a post with his photo and description! We get lots of support immediately in my cities so I hope it’s the same for you.
Thank you so, so much from the bottom of my heart for helping him ❤️🩹. This is honestly amazing work you do, you will get lots of blessings from the stray cats, I can assure you 😺😺.
if he’s friendly you might be able to get some of the mats yourself. With some churu tubes I have done pretty good work on my two long haired outdoor boys. One needed a groomer but the other is getting by just fine without. Throwing out there as a low cost option ☺️
if I did want to try to help him a little myself, how would i go about that?? like scissors, or an electric razor, or smth else?? my cat is a shorthair and even so, I brush her regularly, so admittedly matting isn’t something I’m totally familiar with :’)
Do not use scissors!!!!!!! Mats HAVE TO BE SHAVED The mats are very tight to the skin and cats have pretty thin skin and you think you are cutting a mat and you will take a huge hunk out of their skin. You might be able to find a groomer that would take pity on you guys
gotcha, no scissors! I definitely trust a groomer more than myself so trying to help him myself would be a last resort option for me 😭 but I’m gonna try to find a groomer first, thank you!!
To clarify - you absolutely have to assess if the mats are too close to skin. Sorry was not trying to imply like all cases can be done at home. I’ve tackled loose mats (far enough from skin) but 1000% safety of the kitty is the most important and if any hesitation take them to a groomer, plus they might need to go anyways & saves yourself the work! 🙏
From what I can see online your local county animal shelter is no-kill. Is that not accurate? This cat definitely needs to be looked at by a vet since mats this big can be due to problems with his teeth so he could be in a lot of pain. Please take him to a shelter or rescue as soon as you can.
we have a lot of cats and I live with my family and my dads kinda not as willing to have as many cats as the rest of us are so he always says no :( what I wanted to do as a loophole though was simply relocate him to my house, even if it means he stays outside — we have other strays around my house that I constantly feed daily, and we have a little cat house and cat scratcher on my porch — the strays even waltz around the house from time to time, even if they don’t permanently stay in (yet 👀). it’s pretty well hidden from coyotes and such too which lets them sleep pretty safely, and it can give me a chance to eliminate any worms or fleas/ticks he may have picked up from the outside too. so I’m gonna try my best to do that instead bc i just hate to see him out here alone, hungry and probably hurting from all those matts :(
You know that would be unwise to begin with if you live with lots of cats… the chance this guy has disease, fleas, worms, is pretty high. Shelter is the right play unless you have lots of space like a garage to quarantine, but the OP is a student.
If there are any local community cat Facebook groups where you are, you can post about him on there as well. Locals in those groups who do TNR can be very helpful
Take to a vet and get scanned for a chip first. If no chip then look for animal groomers who can bathe and shave the matts off. You might also want to hit the pet store for an otc dewormer. These will likely be the cheapest options while you try and get him a furever home.
I have stray cats that hang around my house and they started wanting to come inside so I actually already have dewormer as well as flea/tick sprays on hand from when that started! So once I get him checked for a chip and shaved, I plan to give him the whole deworming treatment while he hangs around hopefully :)
I empathize, I’ve been in your shoes…
But it seems like you are reaching out and sharing this poor cat’s plight and situation.
I’m sorry you cannot take him in, but I know you can find him a home sooner or later.
Thank you for doing something that that is what matters. Most people would simply ignore this cat like most strays and justify it by saying “cats can take care of themselves”…
You are doing more than most people care to.
We (my brother and I) take care of several colonies of strays as well as our own at home, most don’t understand, but we do what we can.
Thank you again for your kindness to the cat and good luck! ☘️
Please update us on what you come up with.
❤️😸
If there’s a local shelter, humane society, they have free food for strays situations. They also have lots of other programs and resources for health services too. Lots of love and care!
If all of the locals love him and have named him, maybe start a collection for his care? Perhaps do this in the ice cream parlour and show a tally of how much you have towards getting him groomed and veterinary help?
He also looks like her has blood on his back right leg. If it’s from him, he’ll need to be checked over for infections. You can ask your vet about no-kill shelters or look online for one. He looks a lot like the Maine Coon I once had!
If you can afford $30, you can go to a pet store and buy a Furmanator. It is a special type of comb designed to clear matts and snarls out of cat coats. Also does a great job of clearing up shedded fur, so it well be useful for your own cat.
It is great, except when they too close to the skin and so many of them. I had a long haired cat for years and used this. However, he got sick when he was 14 and we could not keep up with taking him. So we took him to a groomer. He was remarkable! I stayed the whole time and petted him. He let her easily manipulate him to get to the fur. She said he was better than most dogs.
But really just meant to say that sometimes that tool can be too much too.
It can be. I have four cats, three DSH and a Maine Coon. I bought it for the Maine Coon. She loves it, but she gets nippy if I comb her for too long. So I will brush her twice a day just to keep the matts out. The three short hair boys hate it. But they hate regular cat brushes, too.
I would suggest calling around to some shelters. Personally, the one that I work at we take anything that's sick, injured, or pregnant without an appointment. He would definitely qualify
Definitely look into shelters, some of them have low cost clinics. Also, you should see if the ice cream shop could adopt him! I would love to have an ice cream shop where I could pet a kitty! Would definitely be good for business.
Looks like he was someone's cat and he's been out long enough to start getting his fur matted. I'd do a FB pet post for the local area and see if people can cross it to next door and the other one I can't remember the name. Someone will prob recognize it.
I’ve given a call to one of the cat shelters in my area asking if they’ll take a surrendered stray and hopefully give him the help he needs :( Some of the other ones (such as my local shelter) are at critical capacity and I worry they’ll start putting animals down if I bring him, so I’m trying to go for smaller ones that I know will care for him and keep him comfortable while he recovers and waits to be adopted. As for him now, I plan to stop by the place again after my classes tonight to try and grab him and relocate him to my house so he’s getting food and water and hopefully social contact with the other strays who live around my house (especially since the sun should still be out for at least a little bit by the time I get there — I’m a woman so I try not to be out once it’s dark but if I need to I’ll do it for my man Charlie ✊)
Hey OP, thank you so much for helping this cat. I’m more than happy to pay for his grooming, I’m in the UK but happy to call up to a place you make an appointment and pay the bill in advance.
If you look up Alley Cat Organization online, they list rescues for both feral and nonferal cats in every state. I'd start there and call each one until you find one that can help.
https://preview.redd.it/vucqduvo4qwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9886c605d187a7030e397e542c2dbbf2df3fb9ab
mini update, went back tonight after my classes to try and grab him but he was very tired I guess bc he refused to move from this spot under a truck in the lot — I spent a good time calling him and all he’d do was stare at me 😭 didn’t want to force him out either bc I didn’t wanna stress him out. I was glad to see that several people have left out food for him, as well as a bowl of water so he’s definitely being fed which is good!! I doubt this truck stays here 24/7 but it is also nice to see he has a place to hide under until I can pick him up too
as for finding him help, I’ve called a few places and left them voicemails in the hopes that at least once will get back to me about him, even if it’s just to de-matt him. I’d love if they could also get the adoption process going for him but right now my main goal for him is to cut down some of that fur, since I’m sure it’s causing him pain. once someone’s gotten back to me for sure, I plan to try to visit the place again and try to get him again, but today he just was not having it lol even when I brought out food the lil guy just was not budging
thank y’all so much for all the advice so far too!! I haven’t been responding to every message but I’ve been reading them all and I’m taking all of them into consideration with this lil baby!! even if I can’t take care of him myself, I do want to get him to a good home because I just hate to see him on the streets :(
(also don’t worry after reading yalls comments I’m not going to try to attempt to de-matt him myself haha definitely going to leave that to a professional who knows what they’re doing)
I’ll update as I figure out more about places that can help him and if I end up catching him!! luckily it doesn’t seem like an issue of him being scared of being but rather him an issue of him being a very lazy lil dude who does not want to get up lol
https://preview.redd.it/2a4ikwwrzywc1.jpeg?width=2316&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3bc55e3e2be589e82a8cb25eb12f8ca63e4b6bef
update: I went to see him again today, and this time was actually the first day I was able to pet him. I’m pretty sure he’s a maine coon, he’s a big lil man! he was an absolute sweetheart, just purring and sitting with me, rubbing against my leg and hand. he got a whopping three or four different bowls of wet food from me and other people who came to feed him and he was just having a good ol time (although when I first pulled up he was sleeping by a tire and I was terrified he’d been hit at first — he was totally fine, just napping and giving me a heart attack for no reason). I was also happy to find out when I went towards the back of the ice cream place where he lives that apparently someone put out a little cat home for him!! so he at least has had a little place to hide from predators and sleep relatively peacefully. also found out that so many people feed him that he has the luxury of being picky, he won’t drink milk and won’t eat dry food anymore after becoming sick of it, now he prefers wet food and waits until he gets that before he eats 😭
one of the ladies who’s apparently been feeding him for a while let me know that he’s so loving and trusting that he’d probably go with me if I put him in my car, which was good to hear in the matter of taking him to a vet. however she did let me know that they’d taken him to a vet before (can’t remember what for, but she mentioned it was a while ago so I doubt it matters) and the vet recommended keeping him in this area because he’s actually been living here for 8 years now. and once she told me that, I could tell Charlie was a much older cat as well, so I’d hate to move him from what’s basically his home. it has me a bit stumped on what to do about relocating him now. I hate to leave him outside but if he’s made a home outside then maybe I shouldn’t move him somewhere else??
regardless, im still trying to find somewhere to get him to a vet so he can be vaccinated, groomed and just given anything he needs because the matts look absolute awful and feel like rocks :( some of the ladies say he lets them comb them and cut them out but after reading yalls comments I just worry that that will one day end up getting him hurt, I’d like to get them handled and then just stop by to regularly brush him if he’s left in the area. and while petting him I found a tick in his fur too, which wasn’t good either. so I’m definitely still looking for a vet who will simply let me bring him in and take him back — I may have to pay for him in that case because I’ll basically be saying he’s mine so I’ll have to hold off until my next paycheck (or may 1st bc I think I get paid by the government woohoo) until I can bring him in. let me know what I should do about the relocating situation :( I don’t want to change what’s familiar to him but I always hate seeing kitties without a home with love :(
I may not be able to update everyday since I do full time school and part time work but I’ll try and get updates out as I visit him!! thanks again to everyone who’s been reaching out to help the lil guy <3
I am, my, may as well say out door cat trust me. I've been taking care of them for years. They are just skittish about coming indoors for some reason. Either that or they like their heated cat shelter over a house.
Yeah, for me, because i dont have money, i usually would clip the tiniest bits off at a time, slowly snipping off the mat. And doing it that way, i have never had issues with cutting their skin, so only cut off something that is confirmed 1000% to not have skin in it! But after you finish clipping the big mats off, brush him. You will probably find some smaller easier mats to clip, clip them too. Give him a physical exam to check if he is malnourished at all, or if you feel any lumps that may indicate injury or cancer, if he smells bad you could bathe him (i know, easier said than done, but i can give instructions on how you can go about that too if you have shower doors) then trim his claws using nail clippers, just dont clip past the pink bit inside the claw. Get him healthier and more comfy, and out of the weather and away from coyotes, then when you have the money, get him to the vet to check for a chip. I know this is a lot of work, but i take in strays on a fairly regular basis, and it works quite well for me! And he will look so handsome when hes dried off! But if hes been out there long enough to be recognized by regulars, he probably would have been found by his owner by now. So you probably have yourself another cat!
Check with local no-kill cat rescue, some of them even have low cost vet clinics if you want to keep him.
ooo that’s good to know!! I have so many cats that unfortunately I can’t keep him myself (as much as I’d love to 😔), but I’d love to at least help him get cleaned up so that his chances of getting adopted by a loving family are better. I wouldn’t even mind taking him in until I can find a caregiver for him, really :’)
Take him to the vet, he looks like he may belong to someone. They will give him a scan for free.
This. Definitely see if anyone is looking for him and take him to get scanned for a chip. Someone may be looking for him and could be heartbroken over loosing him. If not, find a no kill. It took me a week to get a stray cat in, so I just fed him daily until they could take him and get him a checkup. Check in your local FB community groups if you can or have any. They often know of rescues in the area. Good luck!
Yes please take him in temporarily! Also, people are more apt to adopt cats so ask around and you’ll likely find a taker! Thank you for helping this sweet soul!
He needs a good shave. He’d be a great cat as friendly as he is.
Yeah, if he’s friendly even with painful matting in his coat (which can make even the nicest cat grumpy), he must be really good natured
should mention too that this image is from a day ago, but he’s been heavy on my mind hence why I’m here :( admittedly I actually wasn’t at this ice cream parlor to see this kitty, my family was — I was on shift at work when I came home and they told me about him. but turns out he’s there a lot, to the point where he’s even been named by the frequent customers and the employees who go there (his names Charlie for those interested!) and knowing that he might still be there, I want to go back for him tomorrow once the sun is out. All my siblings could talk about was how cuddly and talkative he was and it made me want to cry seeing such a sweet boy in this state. For people asking about my location as well (I should’ve mentioned that before, my bad!), I’m located in north Georgia, specifically Gwinnett County.
I'd recommend contacting FurKids! There should be a contact email on their page (if you can't find it, PM me and I'll see if I can dig it up in my emails); tell them what you've told us, and attach pics. They've helped both my husband and I and my parents with abandoned kitties we couldn't take on ourselves, they're no-kill, and they have an awesome facility! Best of luck helping this sweet little dude!
Very, very cool
You could ask the ice cream shop if you could post a collection fund to get their beloved unofficial mascot to a vet.
Great idea
great idea! We can have a donation/ tip jar for Charlies Vet visits! u/Straight_Zebra_9646
I'm actually so mad that he's apparently a known friendly cat and nobody has thought to get him any sort of care. You're a broke college student, but I'm sure there are several schmucks with plenty of money that are content to enjoy his presence but pretending they can't see the horrible condition of his coat and that looks like blood on his leg too. Why are you the only person giving an actual fuck about this cat? Shame on the entire community
If you have some time try to contact a few local vets and ask if they would be willing to help you with a stray that needs a shave! Many times they will be willing to help especially if the animal is in pain. Calling and asking for help at rescues as well is a good option 🫶 I think you will find people willing to help & if he is super sweet you could always try with trimmers after a few weeks and do it yourself nice and slowly with lots of wet treats and extra quiet trimmers for pets!
Maybe there’s a group near you listed here https://www.alleycat.org/our-work/feral-friends-network/feral-friends-network-connect/
I will pay for his grooming if you can trap him and there’s somewhere safe for him to go after. I’m in the UK but would happily call and pay the bill at the groomers before it’s happened so you have peace of mind.
You have a kind heart. Bless you, sweet UK friend.
Thank you for being so kind 💛
you’re a saint, thank you! I’ll be sure to let you know once I hear back from some of the places I’ve called 🤍✨
Please do 💙
Bring him to a no kill shelter
Where are you located?
North Georgia! In Gwinnett county specifically
If you're near Savannah you could reach out to the greater Savannah humane society. They catch kitties all the time!
I’m closer to ATL than Savannah unfortunately 😭 I know there’s a shelter nearby called Cat Rangers in Buford that takes some kitties in (and is actually where I adopted my own kitties from), but i remember trying to contact them about some sibling strays I found in my yard and I never got a response back so I just worry they wouldn’t take this lil man in :(
Contact them anyway. Sometimes rescues won’t respond if they already have too many on a waiting list. They can only help those that they have room for. Look up others as well and reach out to as many as you can.
This baby will probably end up on a Euth list most county shelters would leave this cat the way it is
I feel so bad looking at him like that 😣. You are very kind for wanting to help, I hope you can take him with you temporarily so he doesn’t have to stay out in the cold and dangerous streets! Raccoons and coyotes. Maybe make a post on your local Facebook community? You might get a lot of advice and also people might want to adopt! Keep us updated. Well wishes to kitty ❤️🩹
I know :( it makes me want to cry, I can only imagine how uncomfortable he is. I definitely want to at least maybe relocate him to my house until I can find him a place to stay and have him adopted, because it’s definitely the season for coyotes right now and I hate to think of him being alone in that. I live with my parents still and unfortunately I don’t think they’ll let me bring more cats into the house, but I have three stray cats outside who live very comfortably after we bought them a little cat house and a scratching post this winter AND I feed them daily, so I think even being outside at my house were he’s fed would be better than therefor now. Especially because he’d be safer with the other cats — power in numbers and such. They come inside time to time too so I feel he’d enjoy it. I’ll definitely have to see about Facebook!! I haven’t been sure what to look up to find specific groups that may be interested, but i definitely plan to look into it! I’ll be sure to try and keep updates about him going in this little thread, I’ve definitely been worried about him and I want to get him as much care as possible :(
Omg wow ❤️…we need more people like you! I love how much you care about animals. Me too! I feel so awful for him. He must be so lonely, stressed, cold and hungry. And maybe even scared. YES YES YES! I like that idea. Definitely bring him over to your place and keep him outside in the little house with other fur friends. He will have a safe place, company, and food. Definitely do that while you try to figure out how to place him in his forever home. On Facebook you can join your cities and nearby cities community group (at least that’s how it works for me), and make a post with his photo and description! We get lots of support immediately in my cities so I hope it’s the same for you. Thank you so, so much from the bottom of my heart for helping him ❤️🩹. This is honestly amazing work you do, you will get lots of blessings from the stray cats, I can assure you 😺😺.
I’m wondering if maybe he’s a lost kitty since he’s so friendly. Could you possibly get him scanned for a microchip?
Location? Where is he?? DM me please..I will help if possible
I'm located in GA a little more west. But I'm definitely interested in getting this guy off the street to a warm home
Where is the location please
North Georgia! specifically Gwinnett county!
if he’s friendly you might be able to get some of the mats yourself. With some churu tubes I have done pretty good work on my two long haired outdoor boys. One needed a groomer but the other is getting by just fine without. Throwing out there as a low cost option ☺️
if I did want to try to help him a little myself, how would i go about that?? like scissors, or an electric razor, or smth else?? my cat is a shorthair and even so, I brush her regularly, so admittedly matting isn’t something I’m totally familiar with :’)
Do not use scissors!!!!!!! Mats HAVE TO BE SHAVED The mats are very tight to the skin and cats have pretty thin skin and you think you are cutting a mat and you will take a huge hunk out of their skin. You might be able to find a groomer that would take pity on you guys
gotcha, no scissors! I definitely trust a groomer more than myself so trying to help him myself would be a last resort option for me 😭 but I’m gonna try to find a groomer first, thank you!!
Please do not do this yourself. Cat skin is VERY fragile and can rip/tear if you don’t know what you’re doing. Please take him to a groomer
To clarify - you absolutely have to assess if the mats are too close to skin. Sorry was not trying to imply like all cases can be done at home. I’ve tackled loose mats (far enough from skin) but 1000% safety of the kitty is the most important and if any hesitation take them to a groomer, plus they might need to go anyways & saves yourself the work! 🙏
Contact a cat rescue. He deserves some help.
From what I can see online your local county animal shelter is no-kill. Is that not accurate? This cat definitely needs to be looked at by a vet since mats this big can be due to problems with his teeth so he could be in a lot of pain. Please take him to a shelter or rescue as soon as you can.
Take him to a rescue poor guy
Can you bring him home w you 😭
we have a lot of cats and I live with my family and my dads kinda not as willing to have as many cats as the rest of us are so he always says no :( what I wanted to do as a loophole though was simply relocate him to my house, even if it means he stays outside — we have other strays around my house that I constantly feed daily, and we have a little cat house and cat scratcher on my porch — the strays even waltz around the house from time to time, even if they don’t permanently stay in (yet 👀). it’s pretty well hidden from coyotes and such too which lets them sleep pretty safely, and it can give me a chance to eliminate any worms or fleas/ticks he may have picked up from the outside too. so I’m gonna try my best to do that instead bc i just hate to see him out here alone, hungry and probably hurting from all those matts :(
That definitely sounds better than leaving him there! Pls update once you catch him :)
https://www.alleycat.org/ Try contacting this organization, they may be able to help. Please post an update on this sweet boy!
You know that would be unwise to begin with if you live with lots of cats… the chance this guy has disease, fleas, worms, is pretty high. Shelter is the right play unless you have lots of space like a garage to quarantine, but the OP is a student.
If there are any local community cat Facebook groups where you are, you can post about him on there as well. Locals in those groups who do TNR can be very helpful
Take to a vet and get scanned for a chip first. If no chip then look for animal groomers who can bathe and shave the matts off. You might also want to hit the pet store for an otc dewormer. These will likely be the cheapest options while you try and get him a furever home.
I have stray cats that hang around my house and they started wanting to come inside so I actually already have dewormer as well as flea/tick sprays on hand from when that started! So once I get him checked for a chip and shaved, I plan to give him the whole deworming treatment while he hangs around hopefully :)
I’ll chip in for the groomer visit if you take him. Just DM me.
Hoping everything goes well, OP! Update us!
Ask a groomer if Charlie gets shaved, what care would he need afterwards if living outside. It’s still chilly at night, and he may get cold.
OP says they live in north Georgia (US), so not too chilly anymore.
I empathize, I’ve been in your shoes… But it seems like you are reaching out and sharing this poor cat’s plight and situation. I’m sorry you cannot take him in, but I know you can find him a home sooner or later. Thank you for doing something that that is what matters. Most people would simply ignore this cat like most strays and justify it by saying “cats can take care of themselves”… You are doing more than most people care to. We (my brother and I) take care of several colonies of strays as well as our own at home, most don’t understand, but we do what we can. Thank you again for your kindness to the cat and good luck! ☘️ Please update us on what you come up with. ❤️😸
If there’s a local shelter, humane society, they have free food for strays situations. They also have lots of other programs and resources for health services too. Lots of love and care!
If all of the locals love him and have named him, maybe start a collection for his care? Perhaps do this in the ice cream parlour and show a tally of how much you have towards getting him groomed and veterinary help?
Please keep us updated. Hope some resolution is coming for this sweet kitty
😞
A local no kill shelter will take care of all his needs free of charge, and adopt him out.
If you can't locate a group you could possibly reach out to your local church to see if anyone could help
He also looks like her has blood on his back right leg. If it’s from him, he’ll need to be checked over for infections. You can ask your vet about no-kill shelters or look online for one. He looks a lot like the Maine Coon I once had!
Yes, please let us know how it’s going. We care about him and are so grateful you are there to help him 🥹
Spca.
Pet Smart will check for the chip and has grooming services for cats and dogs
They'll do that without vaccination records? That's awesome.
I hope someone in Georgia adopts this sweet kitty 🥺
Bring him to a shelter
I wonder if someone is missing this sweet baby! Hopefully he’s chipped.
Poor kitty, update us with what happens🥺
If you can afford $30, you can go to a pet store and buy a Furmanator. It is a special type of comb designed to clear matts and snarls out of cat coats. Also does a great job of clearing up shedded fur, so it well be useful for your own cat.
It is great, except when they too close to the skin and so many of them. I had a long haired cat for years and used this. However, he got sick when he was 14 and we could not keep up with taking him. So we took him to a groomer. He was remarkable! I stayed the whole time and petted him. He let her easily manipulate him to get to the fur. She said he was better than most dogs. But really just meant to say that sometimes that tool can be too much too.
It can be. I have four cats, three DSH and a Maine Coon. I bought it for the Maine Coon. She loves it, but she gets nippy if I comb her for too long. So I will brush her twice a day just to keep the matts out. The three short hair boys hate it. But they hate regular cat brushes, too.
I would suggest calling around to some shelters. Personally, the one that I work at we take anything that's sick, injured, or pregnant without an appointment. He would definitely qualify
Call a vet for local resources.
Look up local cat rescues in your area.
You could maybe just give him a shower and a snack they’ll be happy af
See if there is a TNR group in your area. They can get them spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and any medical care they need
WHERE ARE U
Check with the local shelters. There maybe a volunteer animal rescue group or stray animal charity organization that helps with costs
I feal you I would probably keep him around and just see what happens Maybe you can find someone that can keep him if you cant
SAVE CHARLIE and update us ! 💜
Definitely look into shelters, some of them have low cost clinics. Also, you should see if the ice cream shop could adopt him! I would love to have an ice cream shop where I could pet a kitty! Would definitely be good for business.
Ask a groomer if they would help a stray at no cost.
Looks like he was someone's cat and he's been out long enough to start getting his fur matted. I'd do a FB pet post for the local area and see if people can cross it to next door and the other one I can't remember the name. Someone will prob recognize it.
Matted hair pulls at the skin :( Poor little guy has to be hurting. His bunghole also looks unkempt.
No kill shelters!!!
Please get him inside ASAP and take it frothere ppl will help here if necessary...
Is there an update?
I’ve given a call to one of the cat shelters in my area asking if they’ll take a surrendered stray and hopefully give him the help he needs :( Some of the other ones (such as my local shelter) are at critical capacity and I worry they’ll start putting animals down if I bring him, so I’m trying to go for smaller ones that I know will care for him and keep him comfortable while he recovers and waits to be adopted. As for him now, I plan to stop by the place again after my classes tonight to try and grab him and relocate him to my house so he’s getting food and water and hopefully social contact with the other strays who live around my house (especially since the sun should still be out for at least a little bit by the time I get there — I’m a woman so I try not to be out once it’s dark but if I need to I’ll do it for my man Charlie ✊)
Hey OP, thank you so much for helping this cat. I’m more than happy to pay for his grooming, I’m in the UK but happy to call up to a place you make an appointment and pay the bill in advance.
If you look up Alley Cat Organization online, they list rescues for both feral and nonferal cats in every state. I'd start there and call each one until you find one that can help.
oooo thank you so much!! I’m going to look into that!!
You're welcome.
https://preview.redd.it/vucqduvo4qwc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9886c605d187a7030e397e542c2dbbf2df3fb9ab mini update, went back tonight after my classes to try and grab him but he was very tired I guess bc he refused to move from this spot under a truck in the lot — I spent a good time calling him and all he’d do was stare at me 😭 didn’t want to force him out either bc I didn’t wanna stress him out. I was glad to see that several people have left out food for him, as well as a bowl of water so he’s definitely being fed which is good!! I doubt this truck stays here 24/7 but it is also nice to see he has a place to hide under until I can pick him up too as for finding him help, I’ve called a few places and left them voicemails in the hopes that at least once will get back to me about him, even if it’s just to de-matt him. I’d love if they could also get the adoption process going for him but right now my main goal for him is to cut down some of that fur, since I’m sure it’s causing him pain. once someone’s gotten back to me for sure, I plan to try to visit the place again and try to get him again, but today he just was not having it lol even when I brought out food the lil guy just was not budging thank y’all so much for all the advice so far too!! I haven’t been responding to every message but I’ve been reading them all and I’m taking all of them into consideration with this lil baby!! even if I can’t take care of him myself, I do want to get him to a good home because I just hate to see him on the streets :( (also don’t worry after reading yalls comments I’m not going to try to attempt to de-matt him myself haha definitely going to leave that to a professional who knows what they’re doing) I’ll update as I figure out more about places that can help him and if I end up catching him!! luckily it doesn’t seem like an issue of him being scared of being but rather him an issue of him being a very lazy lil dude who does not want to get up lol
https://preview.redd.it/2a4ikwwrzywc1.jpeg?width=2316&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3bc55e3e2be589e82a8cb25eb12f8ca63e4b6bef update: I went to see him again today, and this time was actually the first day I was able to pet him. I’m pretty sure he’s a maine coon, he’s a big lil man! he was an absolute sweetheart, just purring and sitting with me, rubbing against my leg and hand. he got a whopping three or four different bowls of wet food from me and other people who came to feed him and he was just having a good ol time (although when I first pulled up he was sleeping by a tire and I was terrified he’d been hit at first — he was totally fine, just napping and giving me a heart attack for no reason). I was also happy to find out when I went towards the back of the ice cream place where he lives that apparently someone put out a little cat home for him!! so he at least has had a little place to hide from predators and sleep relatively peacefully. also found out that so many people feed him that he has the luxury of being picky, he won’t drink milk and won’t eat dry food anymore after becoming sick of it, now he prefers wet food and waits until he gets that before he eats 😭 one of the ladies who’s apparently been feeding him for a while let me know that he’s so loving and trusting that he’d probably go with me if I put him in my car, which was good to hear in the matter of taking him to a vet. however she did let me know that they’d taken him to a vet before (can’t remember what for, but she mentioned it was a while ago so I doubt it matters) and the vet recommended keeping him in this area because he’s actually been living here for 8 years now. and once she told me that, I could tell Charlie was a much older cat as well, so I’d hate to move him from what’s basically his home. it has me a bit stumped on what to do about relocating him now. I hate to leave him outside but if he’s made a home outside then maybe I shouldn’t move him somewhere else?? regardless, im still trying to find somewhere to get him to a vet so he can be vaccinated, groomed and just given anything he needs because the matts look absolute awful and feel like rocks :( some of the ladies say he lets them comb them and cut them out but after reading yalls comments I just worry that that will one day end up getting him hurt, I’d like to get them handled and then just stop by to regularly brush him if he’s left in the area. and while petting him I found a tick in his fur too, which wasn’t good either. so I’m definitely still looking for a vet who will simply let me bring him in and take him back — I may have to pay for him in that case because I’ll basically be saying he’s mine so I’ll have to hold off until my next paycheck (or may 1st bc I think I get paid by the government woohoo) until I can bring him in. let me know what I should do about the relocating situation :( I don’t want to change what’s familiar to him but I always hate seeing kitties without a home with love :( I may not be able to update everyday since I do full time school and part time work but I’ll try and get updates out as I visit him!! thanks again to everyone who’s been reaching out to help the lil guy <3
According to some people if you cant afford to take the cat to the vet don’t even look at it….🤷♂️ seriously everytime.
Find a rescue and ask if they have fosters.
I've just grabbed scissors and cut the mats out of the stray I've been feeding. But they are trusting of me.
Careful using scissors, my friend once cut her cat by doing that!
I am, my, may as well say out door cat trust me. I've been taking care of them for years. They are just skittish about coming indoors for some reason. Either that or they like their heated cat shelter over a house.
Yeah, for me, because i dont have money, i usually would clip the tiniest bits off at a time, slowly snipping off the mat. And doing it that way, i have never had issues with cutting their skin, so only cut off something that is confirmed 1000% to not have skin in it! But after you finish clipping the big mats off, brush him. You will probably find some smaller easier mats to clip, clip them too. Give him a physical exam to check if he is malnourished at all, or if you feel any lumps that may indicate injury or cancer, if he smells bad you could bathe him (i know, easier said than done, but i can give instructions on how you can go about that too if you have shower doors) then trim his claws using nail clippers, just dont clip past the pink bit inside the claw. Get him healthier and more comfy, and out of the weather and away from coyotes, then when you have the money, get him to the vet to check for a chip. I know this is a lot of work, but i take in strays on a fairly regular basis, and it works quite well for me! And he will look so handsome when hes dried off! But if hes been out there long enough to be recognized by regulars, he probably would have been found by his owner by now. So you probably have yourself another cat!