My husband and I are in a difficult situation regarding a cat that has been in our care for the past eight months. A friend of mine called me up asking to temporarily or permanently take in her two year old cat, for she was moving home from California and didn't have an apartment nor did she have money for one. At first I said no because we one, we had already gone through this with her with one of her other cats that was once hers, and two, another of our cats had just gotten back from 10 days in the hospital for renal failure (she's still going strong... Our little fighter!). I tried to find a home for her little guy, and when we couldn't find another solution, my husband and I came up with a possible resolution, she move in with us and take care of her own cat!

Well, it didn't really work out that way... He got dropped off, but she never moved in. Being the people that we are (huge animal lovers), my husband and I had no choice but to integrate him into our family. Everything was going well, he slowly bacame friends with our other three cats and really became part of the family.

About a month and a half ago, we noticed some reddish liquid spots on his bed, we confirmed that it was him and immediately took him to the emergency vet. He was diagnosed with FLUTD (feline lower urinary tract disease), and both vets on duty said they didn't think he should go back to her, simply because changing his environment that drastically could be potentially fatal. We brought him in the next day to our normal vet (who is highly respected in the veterinary community, she's been in the business for 30+ years, and is on numerous feline veterinary boards) and she agreed. We have made many sacrifices to make sure he has proper care and that he is happy and healthy.

Now she wants him back. A little background on my friend is that she's gone through who knows how many jobs in the past five years, has gone from the Midwest to New York to Los Angeles in two years (with kitty in tow), again has given us another of our cats (twice actually, she gave her to us, took her back, and then permanently gave her up a few months later), asked me once already when she lived in New York if I could take him in (I said it wasn't a feasible option at the time), and even though she has a job now, she is already job searching after a few months at her current company.

I really don't think she's responsible enough to take him in, the cost alone is close to $200/month, she mentioned that she wanted to take him off his meds and treat him only if he gets sick, not to mention that everyone I've talked to has strongly recommended he live with us.

Sorry about the novel, just wanted to give as much background info as possible. I really don't believe we're making a bad decision on his behalf and want whats best for him. Does anyone have any knowledge on what grounds we could have (besides the obvious veterinary recommendations) to fight for "custody"?

Thanks!