It was a cold Winter in Chicago back in 2008. Ok, not as cold as now, but that was the year I had to buy an ice pick to dig out my car out of a really thick slab of ice...
That winter, I noticed this cute gray cat hanging out by my back porch, and I started putting out food and water for him. After a few days, we started having regular dates when he'll inhale in one sitting the same amount of food as my other three cats would eat in one day. He was really dirty and I barely could differentiate between the natural gray color on his back and his gray from dirt on paws and nose. Slowly, I was trying to attract him towards my kitchen, to get a better look. He was adorable, had some attitude and walked in like he belonged there (to the dismay of my other 2 boys).
His nose and paws were dirty, he had a chipped tooth, but other than that he looked to be in good shape. During one of our dinner dates in the kitchen/porch he used the litter box, sign that he was housetrained. Just after Thanksgiving he showed up with frost and tiny icicles on his back. That was the turning point, when I couldn't send him back outside. He only struggled for a few minutes before he just settled in the nice warm and clean house, and with enough food and water. He adjusted really fast to the indoor life.
After a short vet trip, I found out that he was a male of unknown age, neutered and front paws declawed. He cleaned up really fast and started enjoying his brothers and sister. His name, Frosty, is a daily reminder of that cold winter night.
A couple weeks after making him an indoor cat, I found out that he belonged at some point in time to my neighbor. She was a psychic, very superstitious and very bad with pets. She kept him as an indoor/outdoor cat and, over the Summer, he had brought a dead bird in my neighbor's house. If you ask me, I think that's a very sweet gesture, but my neighbor, being the superstitious person that she was, saw it as bad omen and kicked the poor kitty out of the apartment. While I can't believe that someone would do that, I am glad she did, because Frosty is the sweetest cat ever, and I am happy every day that he's part of the family!
