On Valentine’s Day, a woman heard faint cries coming from her backyard. When she went to investigate, she found an orange tabby standing in the snow, clearly worn down by life on the streets.
The cat walked up to her door and began pawing at it, meowing as if he were asking to be let inside. The woman, a foster volunteer with Un Chat à la Fois, a kitten rescue in Quebec, took a photo of him and sent it to Marie Simard, the organization’s founder. She explained that although the rescue didn’t usually take in adult cats, she desperately wanted to help him.
Simard told The Dodo: As soon as I saw the picture, my heart [br.ok.e], I told her to bring him to our partner clinic immediately so he could be evaluated.
Simard added: The look on his face said everything, He stayed in front of her door for a long time, and when she finally picked him up, he didn’t try to run away at all.
At the clinic, veterinarians discovered just how much the stray had been suffering. He was covered in [bi.te] [w.o.un.ds], fleas, and ticks, and was also [de.ali.ng] with [fr.os.tbi.te], severely [de.ca.yed] teeth, and diabetes. Simard knew that if he hadn’t reached out for help when he did, he likely wouldn’t have [su.rvi.ved] another [ha.rsh] winter.
Simard said: Despite his fragile condition, the cat showed nothing but gratitude. He was incredibly sweet with the clinic staff, He would stretch his paw out of the cage just so people could pet him.
Simard named him Aslan, after the noble lion from The Chronicles of Narnia. After several days of treatment, Aslan’s health improved enough for him to move into a foster home. There, he quickly bonded with his foster mom’s cats and settled into his new life.
Every day, Aslan made sure his foster mom knew how thankful he was to be safe and warm.
Simard said: He’s a very affectionate cat, He loves sleeping close to his foster mom.
When the time came to find Aslan a permanent home, his foster mom couldn’t imagine separating him from his best friend, Cleo — another rescue cat.
Simard explained: He would sleep beside her and groom her, and she would groom him back, Keeping them together just felt right — two rescue cats who had both been through so much.
One year later, Aslan has become the most perfect Valentine’s gift his forever family could have hoped for. ❤️🐾
