Gandolf Needs Your Help

So... Remember me saying that DNL kept pulling me aside to show me how skinny Gandolf is? (Not that she calls him Gandolf, but you know what I mean.) Well, I hadn't seen him in a few days, but it turns out that's because he's been hanging out one block of buildings down, where my neighbor (the one who called me about Bozo/Waffles)) lives, and is feeding him wet food. She called to ask about him (She thought at first it was Walsingham.) I said that I knew about his plight but couldn't get anywhere near him. She said she'd keep an eye on him and keep me up to date.


Tonight she's called to say that while he's still skittish, he comes up to her and lets her pet him. (This was a message she left.) This means that he's friendly enough to go to the vet and get checked out. I'm ... really quite nervous about this, knowing that both FIV and FeLV run in the colony, and if the vets test him for those and he has either then the only real answer is to put him to sleep, which sucks. But there's no way to treat a cat who is semi-feral, and I certainly can't bring him in with my cats, or ask my neighbor to do that with her cats. (She had to put James to sleep a bit ago, because his kidneys had failed, but she still has two others.)

But, it's even more unfair to not take him to a vet if we can, especially if the answer is something treatable like worms. (That's a best case scenario, of course, but that's a single pill and poof, he'd be better in a few days.) He's eating, eating constantly in fact, and the neighbor says he's getting a bit of a belly.

Anyway, looks like there's a vet trip in the future, and where there's a vet trip, there's a vet bill. I know times are tight for everyone but feel free to hit the donation button on the left if you have a few extra dollars. Or take a look at my Etsy site, should you be in the market for handspun yarn.
(pictures are from earlier-- I don't have more recent ones, unfortunately.)

EDIT TO ADD: Just talked to the Neighbor. He lets her pet him when he's eating, but is still, understandably skittish. The plan is that she'll keep feeding him through the weekend (and being there with him and getting him used to her/people.) Then we'll chat again on Sunday to see 1) how he's doing and 2) make a plan for taking him to the vet (she doesn't drive, so that's on me.) It could be that he just doesn't know how to survive out there, that he was obviously a family pet and dropped off, but since he's been eating a lot-- here and at the Neighbor's, I fear it's something more than that. So, even if you can't donate to defray the vet cost, please keep Gandolf (or Skinny Kitty, as the Neighbor calls him!) in your thoughts.