It was a year ago today that Dan discovered a small orange-and-white kitten huddled in the field at the back of our 30 acres and brought him back to the house. He settled right in from the start, friendly with both us and Raven, and very quickly won us over, despite some initial reservation regarding adding another animal to the household. Since I posted about him the day he was found, I thought I’d do a follow-up on how he’s doing now.
When he first arrived, he was starving. He was nothing but skin and bones, so thin you could feel his backbone through his stomach. He had joint problems, his back legs walked stiffly. At the vet’s office, he weighed in at a tiny 3.8 lbs (1.7 kg). He was so small, I’d initially thought he was a three- or four-month-old kitten, but the vet examined his mouth and said he had all of his adult teeth, some of which were even starting to show a bit of tartar build-up, and so was most likely at least a year old. There’s no way to know how long he was wandering around out there, but it was long enough that the poor nutrition stunted his growth severely.
Despite his obvious hardships, he was still extremely friendly, not the least bit skittish. We got him on antibiotics, bought some high-cal kitten food to try to put some weight back on his frame, and quarantined him in my study for a couple of weeks until we were sure he had nothing bad that the other cats might catch. His runs cleared up, his wet nose improved a bit, and he started to round out a bit. We finally decided to keep him by default – while we waffled over what to do, we’d grown too attached to this charismatic cat.
We named him Charlie. Now he weighs about 7 lbs (3.2 kg), and he’s convex instead of concave. It took a couple of months, and a neutering, but the social dynamics have all smoothed themselves out among the other members of the family. Despite being half their size, Charlie holds rank over the other two cats, although Ollie still struggles to come to terms with this fact. He could even cause Raven to vacate a space for a while, the result of a few good swats in response to Raven’s misinterpreted friendliness (they’ve come to an understanding, most of the time). He had a very short fuse when he first arrived, but with lots of love and food security he’s mellowed out considerably.
I’ve never met a cat with so much personality. Charlie has two cats’ worth of character packed into half a cat of body. He’s so much a part of the family now, it’s funny to think we ever considered giving him away.
seabrookeleckie.com 
Such endearing photos! I love the one with your pets in front of the fire. Charlie is most fortunate to have found you.
What a lovely little animal. Lovely and lucky. I hope he’s ready to be a good big brother to your Boston pup!
I’m sure Charlie will have the little pup schooled on the social hierarchy of the house pretty quickly, Julie! That said, once the other animal respects their place in the chain of command, Charlie’s a sweetheart with them.
Enjoyed your post today! I love happy cat stories.
Super sweet!
It’s a rare animal tale that has such a happy ending, Seabrooke. What a delightful account of Charlie’s good fortune!
Delightful. =) What a lucky cat!
Sweet post, Seabrooke. I shared this with a friend who is a cat lover. It reminds me a little of a hybrid between The Incredible Journey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredible_Journey) and Harry the Dirty Dog (http://www.harpercollins.com/browseinside/index.aspx?isbn13=9780064430098).
I remember both of those, Katie. Another that comes to mind is Milo & Otis (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Adventures_of_Milo_and_Otis). I’m sure he had lots of adventures while he was wandering wild, though probably he was happy to leave most of them behind!
Lovely post and beautiful pictures of the furry family members. Charlie is a very handsome cat and lucky to have found such a nice home. We just took in a little stray ourselves…a wee little silver boy kitten we’ve named Patrick. Companion animals are a wonderfully entertaining and fulfuling addition to any home, IMO (we’re now up to 7!!!)
It’s hard to resist the strays, TGIQ. You don’t want to leave them outside, but neither is it easy to take them to the local humane society; older cats have trouble finding homes. I’m glad you were able to find space to take another in!
Thanks for the comments, everybody! Charlie’s a lucky cat, and we’re a lucky family to have him. It is a great thing when such stories have happy endings!
Character, charisma, and charm — yep, “Charlie” ‘s a good name for him, all right. What a beautiful cat, now that he’s doubled in weight!
Happy Anniversary, Lucky Charlie.
Love the story and the pictures!!
Perhaps you should call Charlie “Lucky”, because he is a very lucky to have found you!
All the best,
Gisela
Toronto- East
I always love stories where cats get adopted and end up part of the family. These pics are wonderful. Thanks for sharing!