Monty was our very large (8.5kg), and in charge, stable cat! He came to us in 2008 via a customer who had been feeding him as a stray. When I first saw him he was semi-wild, in poor condition with open sores on his shoulders. Upon their return from their weekend away we set about trying to catch him as it was clear he couldn’t stay as he was, particularly as he was fighting with their other cats. After 3 days of trying we eventually managed to trap him in a large dog cage – a conventional cat trap just wasn’t big enough for him. I then took this snarling and swearing tomcat to the vets to be neutered and cleaned up. When I went to collect him the following day he was back in the dog cage in no more of a friendly mood!
What to do with him now?
The customers who had found him didn’t want him back because of their own cats, and I couldn’t keep him at home for the same reason. However, in the meantime he needed time to heal and take his medication so he came home and lived in our spare room for a month, along with the pregnant mums that I was fostering at the time – they were not impressed, muttering under their breath that it was “the likes of him that had got them in that condition in the first place!!!” Despite having lived rough for some time he seemed quite content to stay in his dog cage – a soft bed and regular food helped him realise that maybe his luck was about to change.
Well it certainly did, as 4 weeks later, much healthier looking and also more friendly he moved into the stables that we rent and he never looked back. Despite having a huge area to roam in he never strayed far from the tackroom where his home comforts were, and always came running at the sound of my car. He was an expert hunter and helped keep the mice and rabbit population under control, although the chickens bullied him terribly and tried to steal whatever he had!
His was a proper “rags to riches” story.
Sadly we lost Monty unexpectedly in September 2015. However, his legacy lives on for other unloved stray cats that periodically cross my path and who I do my best to help. The two Harrys that we have adopted in 2016 have Monty to thank for their now safe, and happy, lives.