UPDATE: Not sure if some of you remember couple months ago, I shared that my mom and I were trying to catch a cat in the neighborhood. For those of you who dont know the story, we first spotted the cat in -35 freezing temperatures last winter, so about a year ago. The snow banks were so high you could barely see over them and it was freezing the day I first spotted this cat trying to find shelter. The wind and snow squalls were so bad we could hardly see when we were in the car, but we spotted something black running across the road. My mom said, Is that a cat out in this weather? I said, Yes. Stop the car. So I got out to try and find him, but he would not come near us because he was afraid. This went on for the entire winter, and we would even take walks around the neighborhood in the hopes of finding him. As the following Spring came, we would see this cat alone, and sad looking just aimlessly walking down the sidewalk. We noticed his one ear was completely melted off from the extreme temps it went through in the Winter. My mom saw him walking down the street one Spring day and quickly ran outside with kitty food and cream. She called Kitty kitty and he stopped and looked at her. She placed the food onto the porch and she went back into the house. This went on the entire Spring and the entire Summer. This kitty would stop by and sit in front of the porch and wait for the door to open for something to eat, but we had to put the food down and go back inside for him to come up onto the step and eat and drink. She fed him 2-3x a day and she would keep watch for him, or I would go over and wait for kitty to show up if she had errands to do. A few times when we saw him he was bleeding really bad and limping but he never would let us near him. Now winter was coming, and we could see by his melted ears, and the massive bald spots on him, and he only had 2 whiskers left, and the side of his face, on the one side was rather weather ravished we were worried about the winter. We wanted him to let us near him. It has almost been a year. Anyways, he showed up a week ago, almost dead, and completely frozen, and soaking wet. He could barely walk, and was pressed up against the side of the house, almost falling over. Was he finally going to let us help him? My papa saw him and put on his boots. It was freezing that day. My papa walked over to the cat, and the cat went limp. My papa picked him up, and the cat did not struggle, or even put up a fuss. He held him as ravished as he was, and set him against his chest and came into the house! We were so excited. The kitty stayed still and closed his eyes. Immediately my mom made kitty a bed in one of the bathrooms, and we put canned food and milk inside with a litter box. We did not let our other pets around him as we monitored him for 3 days, and since we used the washroom, it gave the kitty time to get to know us all, so we could talk to him, and so he wouldnt be afraid of us. On the forth day...he let out a big meow. He had been resting and sleeping and eating for a number of days. So we opened the door, and waited to see if he was ready to explore his surroundings, mind you we have 2 german shepherds and 6 other kitties in the house. But you know what? All of the other pets had seen him so often sitting on the porch over the last year, they accepted him right away. The one german shepherd even knew that the kitty was not all yet better and he inched over to the kitty and laid very still and gentle letting him know it was alright he was in the house. The other cats leave him alone, and didnt even make a fuss. They have been just as polite with our new guest. For the last 4 days now, the kitty lays in the livingroom where he can see all of us, and see the company of all the other pets. He lets out a meow to say good morning and at night, he goes to his own bed on the blanket in the washroom. He is warm, and fed, and he lets us pet him. And his eyes are so sad looking but he still nudges a little to say he appreciates us. His still loves love after all he has been through. We assume he cant hear properly out of the melted ear, and his cuts and bald patches seem to be healing. He has no fleas, and no signs of runny eyes and we monitored his bowl movements. He uses the litter box, and he is really quiet. He seems to be resting for hours on end, and has not once even gone towards the door to leave. The poor thing looks like Stephen Kings kitty, but it does not matter. We love him, and our home is his. And, the rest of our pets feel the same way. They are all rescued animals, and they are spoiled and in return they are silly, playful and very cuddly. Poor little thing was almost dead, and went to the only place that never turned him away - our house. For a year he never let us near him, but we would faithfully feed him and give him fluids and talk to him from a distance. I think when he showed up on the last day, he would have died within a few hours because he was falling over onto his face he couldnt even hold himself up anymore from the extreme temperatures. He was to the point where he surrendered and knew he had nothing left to lose. And we thank God for the opportunity to make one of His creatures part of our family so we can be good to him.
Posted on: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 18:29:25 +0000