Approaching him was out of the question. He would vanish as soon as I started towards him. Slowly I would move from watching him eat all the way back by my office door, step by step to waiting within an arms reach. Even then, any sudden moves would make him vanish. Three month’s of this and I was rewarded with him eating his meal right next to me.

 
It was now the end of the winter of 2021 and getting warmer. He decided to stand in the snow next to me
and enjoy the sun for a moment. I looked down at him, and he leaned over and rubbed his head on my leg.
I guess I was finally his friend.

 
I continued to feed him, and kept moving the food closer to our building and a large tote we set up for him with some comfy straw bedding inside. (Eventually building him a super solid brick “cathouse”, well insulated and solid for his future.) 
   

Petting him was easier now, and he started talking a lot. Sometimes I would sit on the ramp and he would come over and sit with me. That’s when I noticed how stinky he was. Finding the fleas and some pretty big ticks in his fur was next. Hard to do with all the matted fur he was sporting that resembled body armor.
He was a wreck.

Asking for help, we found a wonderful vet that was able to make a house call to treat him. That was lucky, because I was surely not going to be able to get him in a pet carrier, or in a car. He was still pretty wild!
He got a shot that made him very sleepy, and then vaccines and a nice tight shave and removal of
insect guests.

After his shave, we really could see what he had been through. Scars covered most of his body, and a couple broken teeth, including one of his canines. Crooked tail and lopped ear to top it off. He had obviously been in the wild for a while, fighting for his survival. We named him Streetfighter.

He has come a long way since then. He will still startle with sudden loud noises or fast movements, but generally has learned to love the attention he gets from our guests at Sanctuary. When especially needy of attention, he will drape himself across one of the stairs by the back door or on the ramp so you can’t miss him. He may even roll over so you can rub his belly. He is very talkative, and seems to answer almost everything you say to him. Kids and dogs don’t seem to bother him, he tolerates most anything.

He likes to be outside when he can, but spends nights inside our office, where he has a comfy bed, food and
a litter box, but still prefers to do his business outside. Customers have brought him treats and toys, which he likes, but his favorite seems to be empty cardboard boxes, which are plentiful at Sanctuary.

Street gets a yearly shave in the first part of the summer to stay cool, and slowly grows out very long hair that
I have a hard time keeping up with the brush. A customer recently suggested that he was a Norwegian Forrest cat. Look it up, you tell me. It looks pretty similar. I don’t know where he came from, but he made it out of some bad times, and is living his best life. Say hi to him when you stop by.​