About twelve years ago, our beautiful white persian cat came to live with us in a very extraordinary way. A pack of stray cats hung out in our backyard then. At the time,we had some cat food in a bowl near our back door for our tuxedo cat that occasionally went outside. The food attracted a few interesting critters including an occasional opossum or racoon. It became a problem, however, when stray cats hung around because they wanted to stay permanently. During this feline visitation, a particularly scraggly and motley crew showed up. We tried our best to discourage them, inquiring of ownership among the neighbors to avoid calling the pound. With their usual overload of cats, sadly many are euthanized.
Two of the cats in this pack looked like they had been in a cat fight. One had a partial ear that apparently was injured during a brawl. We heard them outside our window at night hissing and howling at each other. One night we noticed an interesting white addition to the pack. We began to see him show up with regularity. We noticed that he was a persian although his coat was quite matted. We tried to get near him but each time we came close, he would run away. He was very skittish around us. We referred to him as the “ghost kitty” as he would appear and disappear quickly around the house when we suddenly came upon him. He looked like a ghost as he whizzed by us like a white streak in the dark.
My son began to befriend the little cat that was so shy and scared. He gradually got closer to him until one day he was able to pet him. Of course he wanted to keep him and because no one claimed him, he soon was ours. We had to have him completely shaved down to regrow his now beautiful white fur. We had him neutered as he was spraying outside and we wanted to make him into a house pet. The vet made an astonishing discovery. This poor kitty had no front claws and had been fairly defenseless outside. No wonder he was so scared! His skin was full of scratches under all the matted fur. There was a total transformation between the shy, matted creature before and the gentle, loving beauty that he has become. My daughter suggested the name Pushkin because of his pushed nose and rather grumpy face.
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