I think I'm going to have to give the cat a bath. I have been brushing it and used waterless shampoo, but I think given its previous living arrangements and flea infestation, this will be insufficient.

I also have a few more questions for cat people. Is it necessary to trim cats' nails? What is the best way you've found to minimize litter going everywhere? I only have one bathroom, so I can't even put the box somewhere out of the way. Do cats have particularly smelly poop? The cat's excrement is the foulest smelling stuff I have ever come across - and I have had the displeasure of picking up the fresh poop of about 50 dogs. I haven't ever been exposed to fresh cat poop, but when I have scooped cat litter boxes, I never noticed anything remarkable that I remember, though I supposed this could be due to the litter. Anyway, the smell is so noxious that I'm actually wondering if it indicates a medical issue. I intend to make the cat an appointment with the vet anyway to get it checked out and so I can finally have someone competent tell me if it's a boy or girl.

I wonder if I could take it somewhere where they could just tell me for free. The thing is, if I need to get it fixed, I would want to do that at this local nonprofit place that does neuter/spay procedures as well as shots and is really low cost. But if it is a neutered male, I would probably just take it to my vet for its checkup and get the shots there. Idk. Maybe I'll just go to the vet, get the shots, and find out how much it will cost there if needed.