Occupational hazard? Or am I just a sucker?

The Story of "Roy"

Well tonite's shift was unusually slow and the triages just trickled in. It's harder for adrenaline junkies like us when it's slow- there's too much time to look at the clock and wonder why it's not closer to the end of your shift. I could have single-handedly seen all the patients tonight but since there was three of us we took turns and I saw every third patient or so. I had a cat with flea allergies and a cool eosinophilic plaque on her tongue and kind of weird owners that of course had limited funds (which was OK because their cat was stable and the steroids and Frontline will make her feel better for probably a month). Then I saw a 10 mo old Boxer with a 106 temp and severe neck pain and an infected uterus (pyometra)- owned by a young Army girl with some money but not enough to do everything that the dog needs. I had a sweet black Lab with an abscessed puncture wound who got surgery and will be just fine. Then I got an injured stray cat brought in by a good Samaritan.
We get a lot of stray cats and dogs that are sick or hurt that the general public find. We provide basic supportive care and transfer them to Animal Control to go to the shelter the next day. Some are so sick or hurt they need to be euthanized. This cat was a dirty skinny intact male Tom cat probably less than 2 years old. He had multiple infected oozing old wounds on his body. The end of his tail (probably at least 3") was missing and the stump was scabbed over. And his left front leg was broken. Dangling. It had been that was for some time because it had oozing wounds all around it that he was licking. And here's the kicker. This darn cat would not stop head butting and arching his back with great force and enthusiasm while we petted him. In the kennel he was making 'biscuits'- trying to even with his broken leg! He had been out there all broken and infected on his own.. no one even ever bothered to neuter him.. and all he wanted was to be pet and loved. I was amazed by his spirit and his will to live.. He was so excited to get food he didn't even care that we made him wear a big Elizabethan collar so he couldn't lick his wounds.
All night I kept telling myself 'stop thinking about him, you can't afford to rescue him (having recently spent quite a large sum on a rescue) and there's too much paperwork involved in fostering a stray'.. 'besides, he probably has FIV (kitty AIDS)'... But I kept going back to check on him (because it was so slow) and little by little he crawled deeper into my heart. Because if he goes to the shelter tomorrow he will just be put to sleep. He needs an amputation and they just can't afford to do surgeries like that down there. So finally I asked one of my techs to test him for Felv/FIV- thinking.. if he tested positive then he was not adoptable.. But lo and behold.. he tested negative.. So, now i ponder at 2:40am.. will i deal with all the red-tape/paperwork to foster him? probably. will i come in early for my shift tomorrow and do his surgery? probably. will i find someone to help find him the perfect home?? i need to make some phone calls in the morning...
Some may call me a sucker, or a crazy cat lady.. And maybe they are right. But there are some animals that are just worth saving.. And loving animals is part of why I do what I do. Should I be spending a lot of money on rescues? No. I should be saving it for retirement or establishing an emergency fund or paying off my credit cards. I know that. But sometimes I sleep better at night knowing that I can offer some great animals a second chance at life. I think I'll call him "Roy" (the name of the town he was found in).. Anyone looking for a new best friend??