The story of Loren the cat.

Although this cat looks a LOT like my cat Leo, it's not Leo, it's a cat in Spain whose name is Loren.
I only know him from his story and these pictures. Behind the apartment in Zaragoza is a school whose grounds shelter a number of feral cats. Staff and neighbors feed them so they survive, although they are very scruffy, and not all of them make it. It's distressing, but at least they get some attention.

Apparently, some people have taken to dumping or abandoning cats there because they know there will be a minimum of care for them. One day, Loren was looking out the window, and saw a young man with a backpack approach the fence, take out a cat, hug it, and then leave. He was clearly unhappy to be doing it, but he had left his cat there to fend for itself. This made us very sad!

Loren told our neighbor Marta, a lovely and tender-hearted soul who rescues animals, what he'd seen and she and others who keep an eye on the animals there saw that this cat was not adapting to its new life. It was a house cat that was not going to make it because it couldn't compete with the feral cats for food. It became skinny, matted and was clearly struggling to survive.

Our neighbor managed to get the cat to come with her (it seemed happy to be rescued) and put an announcement up. A family adopted it, had a vet look at it, and shaved off its matted fur. They named him Loren after the person who helped start the rescue, but although he's a kitty that loves people, he didn't get along with their other animals, and they had to put him up for adoption again. Luckily, now that his hair had grown back, you can see how these pictures helped find him a new home.

We're happy the story turned out well, but we wish there were some way we could let his original owner know that he is OK. I wonder if his new family has given him a new name?