Mutt came to us a little over a year ago, in the company of another outdoor cat; as "the other" cat was a little prettier, we named him Jeff and the one being discussed here, Mutt. Anyway, Jeff was passable, but Mutt looked awful: he was skinny, would scratch himself behind his ears until he'd bleed something awful, had an infection, his fur was thin and matted, and he seemed angry. We took pity on both of them and fed them on our deck; Jeff was more of a wanderer and later took off, but Mutt stayed and eventually came into our house, where in the evening he would lie on my lap or next to me on the couch, mostly sleeping or resting, but also purring and wanting attention: he was a very sweet animal. We fed him and spoiled him, and he made himself quite at home: he even had specific places in the house where he would stay and sleep in the daytime. We took care of him for over a year, and he really perked up: his fur looked so much fuller and better, we treated his bleeding problem with antibiotic ointment in his ears (which completely took care of that problem!), brushed him and gave him flea treatments. When it was time for us to move to a different town, we wanted to have Mutt checked out before we took him along; alas, our vet said that he suffered from feline HIV, and upon our inquiry said it would be better if he were put to sleep. This was done, I believe in June of this year, but we really miss him, he was such a sweet and patient guy; and even if most everyone called him ugly, we loved him and didn't see any ugliness at all: he was just our sweet Mutt, a true friend, and we are grateful that we were able to provide him with a loving home and good care during the last 1+ year of his life.

John & Catherine V.