I have two cats, Nick Valentine and Steve Trevor. They are indoor/outdoor cats, which was not the original intention, but Steve is a formerly feral cat who spent the first two years of his life living with his 7 sisters in the parking lot of my apartment complex. He made it very clear that a condition of him coming inside was the right to go back outside, and trying to keep one cat in while the other went out was an utter failure. So they come in and out during the day until bed time when they both spend the night inside.

I have a pet door that leads out to my first-floor balcony so they can come and go, but Nick prefers to use the front door like a civilized gentleman, so during the day when I’m home working I sometimes prop it open for him. Last Monday I watched in surprise as a tiny, fluffy black kitten crept inside, looking longing at Nick & Steve’s food dishes. It ran back outside when it saw me, but I could see and hear it in the trees across the sidewalk, sadly meowing. Of course I got a can of food, put it on a paper towel, set it out, and retreated. It hopped up onto the sidewalk and eagerly wolfed down the food. “Poor baby,” I thought. “I wonder where it came from.”

I went back inside, and not 2 minutes later the baby was back, this time wolfing down the remnants of Nick’s breakfast. Once he had finished that, he set about exploring my living room.

Nick came sauntering in and was quite surprised to find a kitten wandering around, but didn’t really object – climbed up on his cat tree and watched the exploration. Any time I made the slightest move, kitten would panic and run back out the door – but a minute or two later, back in they’d come.

Steve had a different opinion – he was halfway in the door when he saw the interloper. He froze, then hissed, and turned and left. He came back later and was still clearly not thrilled with the little visitor, but he only hissed as a “stay away” warning – no overt hostility and no violence.

That poor little kitten ate so much food that day – I just kept refilling food dishes, and it kept wolfing it down. Once it got dark, however, it disappeared – I wondered if it had shelter somewhere? Maybe mom came and found it? Just in case, I made a little cold weather bed – the bottom of a cardboard box, with a few more layers of cardboard, a towel, a heating pad, and a blanket. I put it out in front of my door on my thick rubber welcome mat, ran the cord for the heating pad back in, turned it on high, and went to bed. I knew it would turn off after a couple of hours, but I usually wake up to use the bathroom at some point and I figured I’d just turn it back on and hopefully it would stay warm enough. I don’t know if kitten used it or not, but early the next morning, within a few minutes, of me waking up, they were back and hungry.

I don’t really want another cat, but the last gasp of winter was rolling in that night – temps below 20, with snow and sleet in the forecast for the next 4 days. I’m an animal lover, and I’ll be damned if I’ll leave this kitten outside to starve and freeze.

Much to my amazement, while the baby was eating, a large adult cat came in and began to eat in huge gulping bites. It was really friendly, but very thin and clearly very, very hungry. I thought at first it must be mom – but then Nick came in and amid the instant growling and hissing I realized that was definitely not a female cat.

I’d been texting my friends updates, and I asked what I should do – when I thought it was mom, my thought was I’d keep them both inside, but I can’t have an intact male cat in my house. Nightmare stories of spraying all over my apartment came to mind, plus both Nick and Steve wanted to murder this cat (and the feeling was clearly mutual.) My across-the-hall neighbor is a cranky old woman who complains at the drop of a hat, she is definitely not going to suffer yowling angry cats in silence. I’m only allowed two pets – I don’t think I can explain away four cats.

I shooed both adult and baby out. The male cat wandered off – I’d fed him 3 cans of cat food, so he was probably not starving for the first time in a while. I don’t know where the baby went, but a few hours later it started to rain and I went out to look for it. I found it right across the sidewalk, huddled in a pile of leaves, getting wet. It saw me and began crying – I told it to come inside and then walked back, leaving the door open. A minute later it came in. I just waited until it was exploring another room to get up and quietly close the door.

My friends told me to keep the baby in, but let the male cat fend for himself. I agreed, but I felt bad. If it wasn’t about to be so cold…he was so skinny. And he seemed so friendly – he came right up and let me pet him. He’s clearly been around people before. But I didn’t know what else to do – my apartment isn’t big enough to keep all these cats in & separated, and I can’t risk injuries from fighting or complaining neighbors or a hundred other reasons I can’t take in all these strays.

I told myself, you can’t help every stray cat in the world.

Meanwhile, the kitten was adjusting to life inside pretty well.

Later that night I heard the adult cat outside meowing. I felt terrible. It’s not right that he has to suffer outside just because he’s an adult. It’s not his fault he has all the parts nature intended him to have – he’s clearly been around people, who have obviously let him down or abandoned him or lost him. Why shouldn’t he get help, just because he’s not a fluffy adorable kitten? Wasn’t he a fluffy adorable kitten once? Doesn’t he deserve a chance?

I can’t help every stray cat.

The next day I was on a meeting with my boss. I happened to be looking at my security camera when I saw the cat walk up and try to push open my front door, and then peer in the window, meowing.

What kind of animal lover are you, I asked myself, if you don’t help an animal that comes and asks you for help?

He was gone by the time I was off my meeting, but came back about two hours later. I brought him a can of food on a paper towel, which he ate in about two seconds. I walked out with my cat carrier, having no idea how exactly I was going to get him in. He walked up to me and I took a deep breath….and picked him up & put him in. He didn’t object at all.

My idea was to take him to a vet, and see if they could keep him for a couple of days. I wouldn’t mind paying a vet bill for him to be safe, warm, and fed. I drove to the vet I take my cats to, which is about a mile up the street. He never cried or complained once. I took him in and explained the situation….and they told me no. They don’t have 24 hour staff. The tech scanned him for a chip (nothing came up) and said the only shelter she knew of accepting animals was in New Braunfels, 2+ hours away in traffic.

I took him back to the car, and called another vet. They said they would not take him. I called animal control for the city of Austin, and they said the shelter would take him….at 11am tomorrow. They only do intake from 11-1. I looked up the New Braunfels shelter….they closed in 20 minutes.

I looked down at this poor kitty who was sitting calmly in the carrier, not protesting at all. I think he was just happy to be warm. I thought again of how unfair it was and started crying. He looked up at me and I promised him I was going to figure out a way to help him; I texted my friends for help and they threw out suggestions of vets and shelters until they didn’t have anymore. I remembered another vet that Nick had gone to years ago – he spent the night, so I knew they had staff. Their website said they were open until 8. We drove over…and they were closed.

I sat in my car in tears trying to figure out what to do next. It was after 6pm, most other vet offices were closed. I couldn’t bear to take him back and just dump him back in the cold.

I remembered a 24 hour emergency vet had opened up a few months ago. It’s right up the street from where I live.

Fuck it, I’m out of other ideas.

I took him up there and explained to the vet tech I needed him to stay somewhere overnight. I said I’d pay. She told me they couldn’t take him, they only keep animals overnight if it’s medically necessary. She started telling me to take him to the shelter when I started to walk away. “They won’t take him until 11am tomorrow,” I said. I was barely holding it together at this point. She hesitated.

“He might be dehydrated,” she said slowly. I stopped.

“We might need to watch him overnight and keep him on fluids.” I felt a spark of hope. She still looked doubtful.

“It would be expensive,” she said. “Are you sure you want to pay for it?” I nodded.

“I promised him I’d help him,” I told her.

“Let’s get you checked in,” she said.

She led us back to a big room with chairs and then went to talk to someone. She came back a minute later and said she’d talked to one of the vets who was about to leave for the day and told him our situation.

“He said we can definitely work something out,” she said. I had a hard time holding back tears of relief. As she took down our info she told me she feeds a colony of feral cats and she knows how it is.

We went into the exam room and waited. I let him out of the carrier and let him explore. He had not complained or cried once – he actually seemed pretty happy, and was eager to be petted.

The vet came in and I explained for what felt like the hundredth time that he was a stray cat, I just needed a place for him overnight, and then I would take him to the shelter.

“Our company policy is we don’t take strays,” she said,

“I’ll pay for him.” I told her. She nodded. “Let me get you an estimate for his overnight stay and we’ll get him set up.”

The vet tech came in, and he got more pets and scritches. She said his suite was ready, and I laughed – put him back in the carrier and took him into a room with 4 large kennels. He was set up with a soft bed, litter box, and food and water.

He got subcutaneous fluids and food all night. I imagine he felt better than he had in a long time. The next day I went back to pick him up and he was chilling in his bed, watching bird videos on an iPad (I’m not even kidding.)

Back in the carrier and off to the animal shelter. The shelter worker took him back, and then came out to give me my carrier. She told me he was a little scared to go into the cage, but she just held him & petted him a bit, and he went right in.

It seemed like he just trusted that all of these humans were trying to help him. I know shelters are stressful, but it’s better than starving and freezing. I hope he finds a nice home – he definitely deserves it.

Telling this story to people, a few of them thanked me for helping him. I don’t think it’s a thing to be thanked for. It’s just what you do when you call yourself an animal lover.

If anyone is in central Texas and happens to be looking for a cat, I can’t recommend this sweet guy enough. I was genuinely sorry I couldn’t adopt him after seeing how bravely he handled this whole ordeal. Once he gets neutered, you can find him at the Austin Animal Center under ID A925163.

As for Floof, I don’t know if they’re staying permanently or not. I have checked my local lost & found pet groups and walked my neighborhood for missing cat posters, but so far nothing. I have to take them to a vet to scan for a chip once they’re not so scared of me they run & hide whenever I move. For the meantime, they are definitely enjoying indoor life.