Regal was a stray I'd seen for several weeks. He'd come near for food but always ran away. He started to run not quite as far. In the meantime we had rescued a stray husky/Shepard mix with a Have-A-Heart-Trap. I set up a doghouse with straw hoping the dog would go in as we had minus 20 weather in Jan. Nothing doing, but we eventually found her a forever home. So I left the doghouse out for Regal as it was still very cold. With the opening facing the side of the garage, it gave good cover from the cold. We also bought a heated bowl so fresh water was always available. He had gotten used to our dogs going out. I could tell when he was in the house because our dog Xena would sniff the house. I knew he wasn't feral, no feral cat would ever sleep that close to people in a dog house. Then a miracle happened, Regal smelled canned food! One of our kitty friends from down behind has 3 legs so he gets canned once in a while. Regal could not take the smell of the canned food any longer. He let me pet him, he purred so loud the whole neighborhood could have heard him. I thought he'd been in fights as his ears were all messed up. He was roomed at the HS. A week later I visited him and found out he had not been in any fights but had FROSTBITTEN ears. He lost the tip of one and about one third of the other. In addition he was coming down with an upper respiratory infection. We got him in just in time! Now he is up for adoption and is a happy healthy 7 year old!!!

Pam
Dulles, VA