Tux

Videos starring and/or co-starring Tux. Tux is the "maybe, maybe-not brother" of Cole, and recuperated from his neutering in Cole's owner's shed for three weeks, just as Cole had before him. He came to stay with me for about four weeks after that. Both Tux and Cole lived in an encampment of about 40 people that occupied his creek-side lot for 2-3 years. He lived with a couple of other cats and dogs, and from all indications was well cared-for given his resulting nature and condition. I would see him occasionally when I walked by daily on my way to feed Birthday and Buddha (see their respective Playlists), and he seemed to have plenty of things to do in his people-community. That encampment was eliminated around August 2023, but he, Cole, and one or two other cats didn't get the offer to continue on with them. I'd been feeding him daily ever since, unless he was off taking care of whatever business he's involved in on any given day. It seemed/seems like Tux has a substantial medical problem that's likely either fairly advanced kidney disease or diabetes. On average he peed 12-14 times per day and drank a bit more than 1L/1qt of water per day, which is about four times normal. His first two weeks with me was great, but then every few days he peed in places where he shouldn't -- in bed, on the carpet, and once on the sofa. This didn't seem to be voluntary but a consequence of his condition rather than simply a behavioral or training issue. He otherwise had no issues using the litterbox at all. Unfortunately at that time I was preparing to move out of my place and trying to clean and fix it up was impossible with him unable to control all of his peeing. His condition basically made it impossible to find an adopter for him unless he could be a purely outdoor cat in a safe (enough) environment. Given the phenomenal number of cats looking for homes in a 100-mile radius, few people would ever consider a cat with medical issues. No shelters or city animal care centers were accepting many cats due to intense overcrowding, and because he's a poor adoption candidate, he would probably be euthanized. We had no luck trying to find a single independent volunteer group that was able to take him. This was a terrible problem because I was planning to move out of the state sometime in June or July, and we couldn't find a home for him. Where I was moving would not have provided him outdoor living options with me, and me trying to find a place to live with an intermittently urination targeting problem seemed insurmountable. In mid-April 2024 I felt that I had no other choice but to re-release Tux was back outdoors where he and I met and always fed. Besides my own twice-daily feeding, this location had some feeding options from passers-by and those that work in the adjacent business complex. The hope was that enough local workers would provide him with adequate food and attention and get (re-)established by the time that I moved away. In mid-May I moved my possessions out of state over eight days, having made arrangements for a close friend who could feed him in the mornings. I had weighed Tux the day before I left (which I'd been doing weekly), so I knew exactly what condition he was in when I left. After my return I figured that I had at least one, and maybe two months to spend with him before my the final part of my move. When I returned, it was immediately obvious that #Tux's health had taken a terrible turn. He had almost no appetite and had lost 6.5oz during my eight days away. He was wheezing and sneezing, his eyes were oozing and he had very little energy. After that first feeding (attempt) I returned late that afternoon to bring him back to my house. His condition was so bad that I decide that no matter what he did to my place while I was trying to vacate it didn't matter, but I had to take him back again. The first two days with me seemed very perilous, but after two days he started to make a recovery. I was able to take him to the free clinic for an exam on the third day and he was given two meds that might help depending on whether his illness was either an infection, or a more chronic problem like asthma. Thankfully after a week he was about 80% of his normal self and had fully recovered after a few more days. Long(er) story short(er), his urination problem disappeared at some point between his release and his emergency return to my place. For the remaining six weeks we still could not find him a permanent home and so I decided to take him across the country with me to my new place, hoping for the best. His video playlist includes this entire timeline, through our lives together today. Sadly, since I've moved I've been unable to continue with videos of the other neighborhood cats, but in some cases I get updates on them through other dear friends-of-cats that I met while I lived there. Our living situation is hardly perfect, but between us we're much better off together.