YC Fabulous

As it turns out my old lady cat has HCM (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy). It's mild, but it's enough to make her anesthetic risk WAY too high to perform an elective procedure like a dental. She's just about on life 9 1/2 at this point, I swear.

She came to our yard almost 8 1/2 years ago. It was pouring rain day after day and she huddled in the shrubs on the side of the house. She went into heat shortly thereafter and had many, um, suitors visit. I decided to trap her and get her spayed, and after that we started feeding her.* At one point she had a bad wound on the back of her neck but we couldn't catch her to get medical attention for her.
We named her Yard Cat, or YC.

Over the following months as summer came she would visit with our other cats through the screen door. Eventually we would crack the door and she would walk in - for a little while at first, then longer and longer. Around Thanksgiving time she decided to stay for good.


The first year or two we had a challenge catching her to take her in for exams and vaccines. Once she was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease she allowed us to pet her more - sometimes with both hands! At one point she developed Horner's syndrome from an unknown cause.









Then she was hospitalized when her kidney disease progressed. After that she required fluids every other day and she became even more friendly.


She's a great cat and I am dreading the day we will have to let her go.






*We believe in feeding stray cats as long as they are spayed or neutered - otherwise you end up with a cat population explosion!