New family member.

That's really kind what you did Patrick. 

Patrick;

 I think that is a wonderful story. Every animal we have is either a gift or rescue. We would NOT have it any other way.

Thanks for the responses and kind words everyone, it's clear there are other animal lovers out there. At a personal level, I hold anyone that deliberately abuses or mistreats an animal in major contempt, and doing it just out of ignorance is only marginally better. People that fight pit bulls are unspeakably horrid. 

Pets bring so much affection and loyalty into a household, the little we give them is returned in multiples. Bert and our black lab Ellie were very soon inseperable, if you want to find one, look for the other. Ellie senses Bert doesn't see well, so she goes at a pace where he can easily follow her lead.

My wife and I were talking about Bert today, as sad as it is to think of the inevitable, she said at the least we bought him some more time, happiness and comfort. All of our other pets were cremated, Bert will join them when it's time, all together in the family room.

Hope there is plenty of room at the Rainbow Bridge.

Patrick

I really think there’s a special place in heaven for people that help animals like that. 

Tojo72

Did you say he was 23 yrs old,thats pretty old even for a cat,mine was a little short of 18.I hope you get some good years with him around.

 

My wife's Mom and Dad had a female cat that made it to about Bert's age, like us they were very careful to feed her well, so some can indeed last a good while. We do hope to have him with us as long as possible, but we also realize what waits around the corner. Day by day we just make sure to do whatever we can for him. 

Patrick 

fox

Way to go! 

Don't have any time for animal mistreaters. When his time comes, he will certainly be waiting for you at the rainbow bridge.

Jim  

 

Way to go! 

Don't have any time for animal mistreaters. When his time comes, he will certainly be waiting for you at the rainbow bridge.

Jim  

That’s good karma on you dude!  Sometimes I think the world has gone insane, but there are always people like you who convince me that there is still hope.  Acts of love, kindness and compassion will save us as a species.  This is coming from a pragmatic, usually cynical, non fru-fru kind of guy.

And as Roger Moore said in Ffolkes - “I like cats.  And I don’t like people who don’t like cats.”

And that’s not a dig against dog people, as dogs are very special too.  It’s the stupid humans who mistreat animals that need the spray bottle and a whack on the head with the newspaper.  See?  The cynicism is returning already.

23!  Wow.  Good on you.  Lucky kitty 

Don’t you just hate people that mistreat these poor animals!!

That kitty is very lucky to have met you guys and will enjoy his remaining years living in a caring and loving home. Great job Patrick.   

LOVE that story Patrick!

Nice story, thanks for sharing.

Lucky cat, good people. Nice match.

Congrats,you did something real nice,he will certainly reward you with his presence 

Wonderful story!  A similar thing happened to us, our neighbors totally neglected their cat, kicked it out into the woods behind our house to fend for itself.  But he was very friendly, and visited us for food and water.  We took him to the vet to get him checked out and get his shots, and he became our outdoors cat.  He would come in the house every morning to have breakfast with our other two cats, but when finished, he would fuss to go back outside.  So we enjoyed his company for many years, until one day he didn't come home.  I fear he became lunch for some critter in the woods or swamp behind us.