Last week on Tuesday morning, I found a cat sitting in the communal stairwell outside my flat.

And when I say sitting there… I mean not moving at all.

For hours he stayed curled up in the same spot, shaking and terrified. I left the door open thinking he’d run off when he felt safe enough, but by 5pm he still hadn’t moved. Security told me they’d actually seen him hanging around the building for several days.

So naturally, after spending the entire day worrying about a random cat, I ended up attempting to bundle him into a carrier and take him to the vet.

No microchip. Not neutered. No owner reported missing him. But apart from being absolutely terrified, he seemed healthy.

I took him in “just for the night.”

He got food, water, a litter tray, and a new name: Merl.

By the next morning he’d eaten everything, used the litter tray perfectly, and was letting me pet him a little. Underneath all the fear, he was clearly a sweet domestic cat who’d somehow ended up lost and completely overwhelmed.

We posted him everywhere, Facebook, Reddit, lost pet groups and even after a thousand shares and over 100,000 views nobody ever came forward to claim him.

I also contacted numerous Charities to see if anyone could help and that’s when Glasgow Pet Collective stepped in.

They helped arrange a foster home and are now working on finding Merl his forever home.

Although in classic Cat fashion, he did decide to cause one final bit of drama by escaping from his carrier while being handed over to his foster. Thankfully he was caught safely but he definitely kept everyone on their toes.

I wanted to raise a little money to cover Merl’s initial vet costs, but I’d also love to raise extra for Glasgow Pet Collective so they can continue helping other animals who end up scared, lost, abandoned, or just needing a second chance.

If you can spare anything at all, it would mean a lot ❤️

Glasgow Pet Collective