A sick, malnourished cat living on the streets got lucky for the first time in a long time when he approached a stranger and asked for help.
It was 21-year-old James David’s brother who first met Gnar, a skinny ginger tom cat, hiding under his car in late August last year and gave him food. The next day when cat-lover David came looking, Gnar was still there.
“He meowed at me,” David, a Filipino-American radiographer raised in New Jersey, told The Epoch Times.
“I was asking my whole family why there’s an injured cat in our backyard. I gave him some food and sat with him for almost two hours.”
David, who already had two cats, Max and Keko, said Gnar was in “very rough shape”—emaciated with matted fur—and had a huge open wound on his face. He is also a rare “polydactyl” cat, meaning he has extra toes on his paws.
“Gnar’s first reaction to me was a cry for help,” David said. “No fear, no moments of being defensive or on edge; he was completely helpless, and just from me sitting with him for hours and showing love, I was able to gain his trust very quickly.
“I gave him some food, and from then on he was very receptive to being touched. He loved the pets I gave him and was actually purring as I sat next to him.”
David didn’t know if Gnar had owners but says there is a large population of stray cats in his area. Gnar gobbled down his food, but since David didn’t know the little cat’s health status, he couldn’t yet bring him indoors for the sake of his other cats.
“It wasn’t until my friends told me that it was going viral that I began to notice,” David said.
“It really made an impact on my life at the time ... it took me a while to get used to the fame, but I realized that it wasn’t me that was famous, it was Gnar!”
The majority of David’s viewers supported his rescue. He received donations from a few and battled criticism from others for “doing it only for the money” but, throughout it all, he stayed focused on doing right by his new buddy.
As the weeks went on, Gnar’s health improved. When the vet gave the all-clear, David brought him into his home, where Gnar found his joy again. As his wound healed and his weight increased, the only visible reminder of his past life was the soft cone around his neck to stop him scratching.
It took Gnar a little longer to feel at home with David’s other cats but he got there in the end.
“At first, Max and Gnar didn’t get along. It took them almost half a year, as Max is a serious type of cat but also the biggest,” David said. “He was very cautious around Gnar, but as time went on they became accustomed to each other and can be found sleeping with one another from time to time.
“Keko, on the other hand, is a curious and naive cat. He and Gnar clicked from the jump and were often found playing with one another, although sometimes Gnar can take it too far and cause Keko to run away!”
Gnar, now around three years old, is the youngest of the cat trio and the most playful. His and David’s bond is unbreakable.
“I gave Gnar a platform that hopefully inspired others to do the right thing when an animal is in need,” he said.
