In the fall of 2013 we received an email about a three-legged stray cat struggling to survive in Toronto. “3-Legged Cat Seeks Sanctuary” the subject line said. The email detailed the very sad case of Joe, a beautiful white and black cat living on the streets in a busy urban area; living the hard life of a stray cat, but with the additional burden of having part of his back left leg missing.

A group of compassionate Torontonians wanted to save him and was looking for a rescue group to help. After confirming we had a wonderful and committed foster home available, we offered Joe sanctuary here in Kingston. It took a while to catch Joe – he is a street-savvy cat who is all too aware of his fragile state – but, finally he was captured, vet checked and arrived in Kingston in November.

His injured back leg is the result of a major trauma that somehow miraculously healed. When Joe arrived he was very wary of human contact. He wasn’t feral or aggressive. He was simply scared. His amazing foster home gave him the time he needed to settle in and the menagerie of animals he lives with – a dog and three cats – showed him the ropes of living the good life inside.

Allowing Joe to set the pace, as the months passed he became more and more at ease. He still didn’t want to be touched, but he started doing normal cat things like sleeping on the bed and responding to the crinkle of the treat bag.

Fast forward seven months and Joe has decided that humans are actually quite great. Slowly he allowed brief petting until one day he reached out to his foster mom and gently patted her hand, asking for more attention. In the weeks since that happened Joe has discovered the joy of full body pets and belly rubs. So much so that he has started to purr!

And with that, it’s quite clear that Joe has found his forever family – human and furry – he was recently adopted by his lovely foster mom. His temporary haven is now, truly, his home.