Freddy appeared out of nowhere in my alley last winter. It was pretty cold and he'd developed a hefty coat of fur making him look much bigger and more nourished than he actually was. Of course I started feeding him. The gals downstairs told me they took him in, so I stopped leaving food out for him. One day, riding my bike down the alley I saw him again. They let him back out because he was stinky. If you look at his left ear in the 'before' photo, you can see it's crusty and pretty gross. He had a wicked ear infection that made him smell like he'd been rolling around in rat carcasses. He was so sweet when he was outside. He would wait on the deck at the house next door. I would call his name out the window and he'd come running up the fire escape for his breakfast. He was so sick that I thought he was much older than he actually was. One day, on a day when Gordon was scheduled for a vet visit, Freddy was waiting on the fire escape in really bad shape. He was covered in burrs, his ear was in worse shape than ever, and he had cuts all over his face from a fight. I knew I had to take him in. Vets here in Toronto aren't cheap and Chris is a fucking champ paying for vet bills for the random strays that I pick up. I got Freddy neutered, got his ear fixed up, and tried to find him a home. He stayed with the gal upstairs for a bit and had a few almost-new-homes, but he just kept finding his way back to us. I've never been much into tabby cats, but Freddy's really changed my tune. He's such a fun quirky (big) guy.
Before:
After:
Look how orange his little nose got!
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