As it is his second anniversary, I thought I would repost his story, hopefully it will help at least one stray.
GINGER'S STORY
Poor Ginger had a very sad history. He and his brother were acquired as kittens, but were unfortunately separated after a relationship breakdown. His brother was the lucky one, getting his forever home: unhappily, Ginger ended up with yet another couple who split.
In theory Ginger still had an owner but the little lad was left outside all the time, depending entirely on kind neighbours to feed him. Although there were people who gave him occasional attention or let him in for a short time, no-one was willing to give him a forever home and no-one thought to contact a rescue.
People in the area estimate he was living rough for three years. I had seen Ginger myself, but because he was on the plump side and, after all, cats are often out and about, I never guessed he was a stray. When this was pointed out to me, I decided to go and pick him up off the streets.
I took him to the vet and it turned out his teeth were in a terrible state and needed a lot of work. The person who had fed him most had noticed his odd eating habits, but had done nothing about it. The vet estimated Ginger to be 11 years old. I rescued him in August: I don’t believe he would have survived another winter living rough.
Ginger’s luck changed from that day forward. Despite his age and his bad teeth (left untreated, bad teeth can cause problems with internal organs), he was surprisingly healthy. He was somewhat overweight and had a slight heart murmur, but he went on to have four years and one month in his forever home. He would never have had that time – and certainly not that love, comfort and freedom from pain – if he had been left on the streets.
