A little stray cat was meowing for love when it stumbled into a fire station. The man understood he had to help when he climbed up onto a fireman’s shoulder.
The following is the account that Reddit user Ephraim325 shared with the Love Meow community: “We are a rural volunteer/paid by call department, normally only have one guy that stays at the station, and over the last month or so he had been feeding a pack of kittens that a mother had hidden in our charcoal grill midsummer,” he wrote. I believe that this little guy was one of them. When I first encountered him, he was unmistakably a runt and appeared to be living alone.
When this tiny guy rolled up, he began following me and two of our other firefighters as we went about our daily responsibilities outside and inside the station after returning from a water rescue team training that morning. We were cleaning up our boat outside one of the vehicle bays.
He was a total sweetheart and had no fear whatsoever about what we were doing. He had a terrible cough, lots of mucus, and congestion, and I realised as we were cleaning that the poor little man could hardly breathe.
I contacted my parents to tell them about Ash (that’s the name I and another firefighter there named him; I knew I couldn’t care for him for more than a few days before I returned back to my apartment and my other cat).
He hadn’t done anything but attempt to get on my lap, climb onto my shoulder, and rub against my legs while purring as loudly as he could since I first met him a few hours before I contacted them.
My mother finally consented to look after him for a few days, or at the very least until he recovered, after some persuasion.
Ash spent the majority of the night sitting on my lap coughing and sneezing, but you could tell he was grateful, especially when you fed him—it was probably the first time he had ever been able to discern when he was full. So I took Ash to my parents’ house and let my mom meet him.
He was diagnosed at the vet a few days later with fleas, four different species of worms, including lung worms, several different types of parasites, an infection of the respiratory system, and an unpleasant ear infection. He was therefore in poor health.
Once again, with the intention of donating him to a family member who had lately encountered financial difficulties, my parents were kind enough to cover the cost (lost their house to a fire, and their cat). But it took a long time—nearly two to three months—for him to even be healthy enough to behave like a kitten rather than a worn-out elderly cat.
Even my dad, who generally didn’t like cats, had already developed feelings for the little cat. He is currently residing at my parents’ home where he enjoys playing with Lucy, their 13-year-old Pekingese.
Lucy has undoubtedly been worn out by Ash in her advanced age, but she appears to appreciate it more and more these days.
He turned out to be the nicest and loveliest cat my parents have ever encountered, and he is now a permanent resident of their home.
Cats think that love may be found right away.
