Update 9/22:

Thank you all so much who have already donated!

My friend's daughter's named him Theo and he is doing great! His leg is totally healed up, and he is assimilating well into his new home with his new human and cat sisters. My friend is going through some financial hardship right now so I am not asking her to pay for any of the vet costs. If I could fundraise a little bit more to cover the remainder of the costs, that would be awesome :)

I'm hoping we can raise a little extra to get him microchipped as well so if he goes outside he will find his way home.

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Hi! I’m Aya, and I’m helping my friend and coworker rehabilitate a sweet stray cat who recently wandered into her life. It seems the cat distribution system was at work again, and he may have found his forever home. In the meantime, I’ve been helping cover his medical expenses and was encouraged to start this GoFundMe to help with the costs.

This kitty has been well known in the neighborhood as a friendly outdoor cat. He’s a sweet little gentleman and has clearly been cared for at some point, but when he showed up injured, we knew he needed more help than a casual check-in could provide.

One Saturday, I was visiting my friend when her own cat slipped outside. We were walking the property shaking a treat bag, trying to lure her back. Instead, this little guy emerged from the bushes, looking hopeful. He happily trotted alongside me, soaking up attention. I gave him some belly rubs, and that’s when I noticed his back leg looked swollen.

We weren’t sure if he belonged to someone, so we decided to keep an eye on him. But the next day, the leg looked worse, now with a visible bite wound that was actively bleeding. My friend gently cleaned and bandaged it, applied some topical antibiotics, and let him back out, just in case he did have a home. By that evening, the bandage was in the driveway, and he was nowhere to be found. We started to post on several social media pages looking for an owner/ more info.

When we didn’t see him at all on Monday or most of Tuesday, we started to worry. My friend left food on the porch that night, hoping to lure him back.

Around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday morning, her daughter spotted him on the Ring camera and he came right up to the door, crying softly, clearly asking for help. They brought him inside, and he was calm and sweet despite his injury, like he knew he was finally safe.

I took him in first thing that morning to be scanned for a microchip, but unfortunately, he didn’t have one.

He later had an official vet appointment where he was treated for the wound, neutered (since he was already under anesthesia), and given a rabies vaccine. He’s now healing indoors with my friend’s family, who are strongly considering making him a permanent member of their home.

Through it all, he’s been an absolute angel... calm, affectionate, and incredibly patient. I’ve been covering his care out of pocket, but it adds up quickly. I thought there would be programs to help stray cats, but I didn't have any luck getting him urgent medical care that was covered for strays. Any help at all would be incredible.

Thank you so much for reading, sharing, and supporting this sweet, resilient boy. ❤️