Gimpy showed up meowing pitifully in my garage in October of 2000. He was limping and the skin was off of his paw. He was also terribly thin. He was very friendly and eager to be held and pet. I took him to the vet right away and he thought he probably got caught in a fan belt. He didn't think he was ever regain the use of his leg it had so atrophied.

We brought him home. This brought the total of cats up to 7. I had thought 6 should be the limit and had found other stray cats that I had given to farms. But I didn't think Gimpy with a bad leg would do well fending for himself on a farm so we adopted him

 

 

 

Gimpy put on weight and was a very affectionate cat that always wanted to be held and pet. His leg even healed so he could walk on it. But there was another problem. Apparently the nerves that control his bowels were damaged and he became terribly constipated. After several treatments it became clear that this was not going to get better. We could not be taking him to the vet to be cleaned out every few days, so sadly, this summer we had to put him to sleep. We were comforted by the knowledge, that whatever bad things had happened to him, the last months of his life were filled with comfort and love.