When Stephanie Perfect moved into her new home four years ago, she didn't realize that the property would come complete with an abandoned cat. She first noticed the cat shortly after she settled in her house, and he noticed her, too. Slowly, the gray cat came closer to Perfect's home, hoping for some food. What the cat got was much better than that.
Perfect brought up the cat to her new neighbors right away. "I asked the neighbors about him, and I was told he had been left behind by his previous owners about four years before I moved in," Perfect said. Taking pity on the abandoned cat, Perfect began to put food outside in a bowl for him every day. Soon, he was a permanent fixture in her yard.
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For a year, the cat would show up for food but would not eat any of it until Perfect went back into her house. Then the hungry cat would wolf down the food as fast as he could.
"Gradually he stayed longer as long as I did not go outside. I made a house for him out of a Rubbermaid container and some warm blankets. He eventually learned that it was a safe place for him to go on cold and stormy nights," Perfect explained. "As he started trusting me more, he would lay on top of it during the day and just hang out and enjoy his new 'home.'"
Finally, after a year, the cat showed up on Perfect's porch – and stayed there. "I slowly bent down, and gently started to pet his head, then his ears. He rolled over onto his back and let me rub his belly," Perfect said. "From that day forward, he was my Buddy."
When she completely gained Buddy's trust, Perfect took him to the veterinarian for an exam. Unfortunately, Buddy tested positive for feline immunodeficiency virus, or FIV, but he could still live a long and happy life with an owner who would care appropriately for him. Luckily for Buddy, he had found that owner.
Buddy began to make himself at home. "Eventually, he started coming inside and sleeping in the house on cold or stormy nights. He slowly got more and more used to being indoors [...] After he learned to trust me and let me pet him, I introduced him to his first feather toy and he went crazy, jumping and flipping all around to catch it, " Perfect said.
Perfect gushes about her cat: "Buddy is loving, affectionate, purrs really loud with a 'sigh' sound. Now that he doesn't have to scrounge for his food, he is the pickiest eater. He will only eat canned food in lots of gravy and he usually just licks around the chunks of food to gobble up the gravy. [...] It was a lot of fun to watch him blossom from timid and scared, to such a fun and playful, loving boy!"
Now, six years after finding Perfect, Buddy has become a fully indoor cat. The life of luxury inside Perfect's home has changed this formerly outdoor cat's tune.
"I have now had him for six years and I can say, I'm not sure who rescued who," Perfect said. "He fills my heart with so much joy. I'm so lucky he chose me as his person to trust."
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Follow Buddy's adventures on his Facebook page and enjoy the loving life this sweet cat has found.