You know I’ve been spending time befriending Chira, a stray cat who lives here by the lake.  He’s very sweet and generally in good health from cursory exams by a non-professional (moi).  Given more time, I believe I can capture him so that he can be taken to the vet for treatment (shots, general exam, testing for significant illnesses [FIV, FeLV, FIP, etc.], appropriate treatment, and so on).  Depending on those results and his disposition, I am willing to adopt him and bring him into my home to join the rest of my spoiled fur people with official membership in The Kids club (right now, he’s an unofficial member).  As of this morning, I have dramatically changed my plans.

I mentioned a black Persian feline I’ve also been in contact with here in the local area.  He’s terribly sweet: if I’m on the patio while he’s around, he’ll jump the fence and proceed to engage me in all manner of lovin’.  He rubs against my legs, rolls over and exposes his belly to me while inviting me to pet him, incessantly talks to me, trusts me to touch his food while he eats, and shows no great fear of The Kids by way of sitting just outside the open windows and meowing to them as they stare at him from the other side of the screen.

I can’t proclaim he’d be a perfect addition to the family or that such an attempt would be without risks.  Likewise, I can’t imagine the costs associated with trying to adopt my Persian friend.  His fur is matted and knotted to a degree that defies imagination; he has knots that have grown so tight that they now pull the hair from his skin, thereby leaving him with massive bald spots reminiscent of mange; there are knots so tight under his front legs that attempts to wash his face with front paws result in tripping and falling, a direct result of involuntary action associated with lifting his leg to his face which painfully pulls across the chest and abdomen.  As you can see, he’s in pretty bad shape in that regard, but he seems otherwise healthy.

Given his condition, I intend to focus on capturing him first while continuing my efforts with Chira.  The Persian needs care and grooming.  He’s also such a friendly cat that I am inclined to believe he’ll have less of a problem with my attempts to get him to the vet.  Since I don’t see him as often as I do Chira, this will undoubtedly be more difficult than I’m assuming.  I’ll keep you posted on that.

In the meantime, I should come up with a name for him.  Snaggletooth is out of the question even if he is missing one of his top canines.