Thank you Washington Humane Spay Neuter Clinic

These past few months have been really hard, but I have to write this down today.

Last night we set out to trap a few more of the feral cats in our neighborhood. We've been slow getting ourselves in gear this Spring, but we're trying to stay ahead of a kitten boom.

We ended up trapping one of the older males in our neighborhood who we had not been able to trap before. The neighbors called him "Pimp Daddy." He was considered the father of many kittens and had a reputation for being aggressive and fighting with other males. Had he been neutered younger that probably would not have been the case, but that's not what happened here.

When we trapped "Pimp Daddy" last night he was not in good shape at all. He was clearly very sick.

I called the emergency vet but they refused to see him. I had to tell them he was feral, I could not handle him, he was in a trap, and he was very sick. Citing fear of rabies I couldn't find a vet willing to see him. It had become obvious to me that we were looking for euthanasia options at this point, but nobody would even help me with that. Later I gave up and went to bed, as "Pimp Daddy" was quiet in the trap and I hoped he was sleeping.

This morning my husband took "Pimp Daddy" in with the other cats to the spay/neuter clinic at Washington Humane. Even though they only really do spay and neuter, they took "Pimp Daddy" into the back to assess him and try to figure out if there was some way to treat him. They determined that he had advanced Feline Leukemia and that giving him a peaceful death was the kindest thing to do. I appreciate their caring support of a cat whom nobody else even wanted to see, much less touch.

They do so much good work, and they really helped us out today.

I also want to say that situations like this show the importance of spay/neuter programs. "Pimp Daddy" probably became infected through fighting and had he been neutered at a young age he would have had much better health.

I'm sad to see him go though. He was legendary in this neighborhood. I'm so sad for his suffering.