Peppe gets the most air time on this blog, mostly because he's the gorgeous orange and white Persian, not to mention a bonafied LOLCat.
But Peppe has a little friend, a spritely stray I picked up back in April when I was in PetCo, shopping for some cat food. This little guy, Valentino, was in a tiny box, about three months old and all of three pounds. He was scruffy, hungry and gave everyone within a five block radius of him ringworm, but I took him from the young guy at the store nonetheless. He found Val in his backyard earlier in the day, and there was no way he could keep him.
Thanks in very large part to my friend Kim, who is a vet, we de-wormed and de-loused little Val, a process that took weeks. In August I got him fixed. $1,000 in vet fees later, Val's now 10 pounds of lean muscle and the sweetest little beast you could ask for. True, he's an oddball: he likes to hop into the shower and drink water straight from the tap on the sink. Everything for him is a toy, from plastic milk tops to Christmas ornaments. He likes to run out into the hall and into other people's apartments. (I've met all my neighbors!) He'll chew on your toes in your sleep. But he'll join you for a nap any time of day and purr ferociously throughout.
My point? Always give the scruffy guy/animal/cat a chance. Even if he gives you ringworm at first.
