Just trying to do the right thing

Our neighbor died about a year and a half ago. His wife is in a home and his children only collected his dog, but not his outside, seemingly feral cat. The cat is old, and fixed, but won't let us touch him. I started feeding him because his Owner was gone and I felt bad for him. These days, he does let me sneak a pet in if he's really hungry and I pet him after putting the dish down and he's eating.

Anyway, guess what happened when I started feeding the outside cat? More showed up. Actually, we used to keep the dish in the backyard and he'd just hop the fence to eat. Then we got the dog so we moved the dish out front. That's when the others showed up. Most of them are intact males who are totally feral. One day, though, this beautiful, sweet, tiger-stripped female showed up. She's essentially lived outside our house ever since. She looked like she belonged "somewhere" as she was socialized and well-fed.

After some time, I noticed her belly growing. Oh, no. Pregnant? Once I finally decided she must be, I contacted The Cat House on the Kings, a large, free-range no-kill shelter to ask their advice. They noted that there are NO HOMES for kittens, and recommended I have her spayed. Today was the earliest they could get me in. Last night, I picked her up, carried her inside our house, and put her in the dog kennel that we never used. It's essentially a large cage. I gave her some food, water, litter, and blanket. She was very sweet, just letting me pet her and rubbing against me. This morning I made the 30 minute trek to the sanctuary and dropped her off.

While at the salon, and my mom was driving to pick her up, I got a call from them. I was assuming it was a, "hey, things went well and your kitty is ready to be picked up" call. It wasn't. It was a, "hey, while the vet had her open, he discovered she has a severe case of Pyometra, which is essentially an infection in the uterus. The said she has a 50/50 chance of living. They offered to care for her the next few days, giving her antibiotic injections for the mere cost of any donation I can afford. How generous is that?! She is just a stray cat but now I feel totally attached to her and really want her to pull through.

After my appointment, I called the Cat House for more information. They had mentioned she may not wake up from the anesthesia. Turns out, she did, and she was even eating. They noted that eating is a really good sign, and that most cats with that condition don't eat until they've had fluids injected (which she had not yet had). They said she's likely to survive given her positive outcome so far, but no guarantees. So now she's being cared for by them for a bit. I'll be in touch to see how she is progressing. I feel totally indebted to them for their efforts with not this kitty, but the 500 cats they adopt out every year. I'm glad to be a previous and present donor to them.

Here she is on a better day.

Here she is last night before her surgery.