There are several stray cats that hang around our place that we feed on a regular basis. A couple of them are pretty tame; they can be picked up and handled, but they have no interest in being indoor cats - we tried. There's a couple others with which we have an understanding: we give them Meow Mix and they turn it into poop, and that's pretty much the extent of the relationship.
We've taken each and every one of these critters in to get fixed, get all their shots, etc. A couple of times the more tame ones have gotten themselves in trouble and we them in to get patched up, which sets us back $200-$300 each episode.
One of the not-so-tame ones has managed to get himself hurt a week or so ago. I'm not sure what the exact extent of his injury is, but he has a hurt hind-left leg. It appears that he can't put any weight on it, and when he sits down, he sticks it out and doesn't rest it on the ground. From what I can see at a distance, it looks swollen between the "knee" and his paw. I don't see a wound of any sort, so I'm assuming it's an orthopedic injury. I can't get within 10-15 yards of him, and even with the zoom lens on my Nikon, I haven't been able to get a good pic.
Here's the dilemma: I don't want to spend a bunch of money to repair a cat to which I have no emotional attachment. Fine, call me a Grinch, I don't care - I'e been called worse. I think I should do
something, but I'm sure it's not going to magically get better on its own. I thought about taking him in for an eval, which will probably be $100 or so, but then what? Some quick googling got me guestimates for $500 to $3000. My wife wants to get him treated, but of course you know who will be footing the bill for it. Even if we
did get him treated, I assume he would need care afterwards; I don't think you can just slap a cast on him and turn him loose. He still shows up looking for meals, but only once a day instead of 3 or 4 times a day like he used to. If I were to take him in, I'd have to use a trap to catch him.
Here's the best picture I could take; if I were to open the slider and screen he'd bail. He's still surprisingly quick for a tripod, but I can tell from watching him that he's not a happy camper.
