Man befriends 8-year-old asthmatic stray cat that lives in the woods, after being abandoned by the previous tenants, gently coaxing him closer until he's able to offer him the home he deserves: 'Nowadays, he can't get enough company'

Author image for Mariel Ruvinsky
Mariel Ruvinsky • Writer and Editor
Feb 18, 2026 10:00 AM EST

Gaining the trust of a stray cat is hard. Gaining the trust of an abandoned asthmatic 8-year-old cat is way harder. 

Abandoning a cat is a terrible enough thing to do. Abandoning an asthmatic 8-year-old cat after you were the ones who caused his asthma in the first places… we could not hate people like that more. We could never imagine doing that to an animal. And yet, despite how unthinkable it is, some people actually do it. Some people decide that these innocent, adorable animals are more trouble than they are worth. And instead of looking for a different home for them or for someplace to take them, they just abandon these cats, leaving them to fend for themlseves. 

Gaining the trust of cats like that is no easy feat. And still, some people - some genuinely good people - try. They work hard, for months, to slowly coax these cats close, to get these cats to trust them. And then they work even harder to get them used to living indoors. They do it because they know it is the right thing for these cats, that it will give them the best chance at survival. They do it because they know these cats are worth it - every second of it. 

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  • 01

    "Befriended this little guy that lived in the woods around my house. Now we're inseparable."

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  • 02
    Meet Leo, my CDS buddy I took in around May 2024.
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  • 04
    I've never spent much time around a cat before Leo. I grew up in more of a dog-owning family. But I'd see this one hanging around on a sunny hill outside my window, or sheltering from storms in my garden shed, and eventually I decided to break the ice with an offering of my dog's kibble and a bowl of clean water. After that, he started showing himself more and more often.
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  • 05
    I'd go sit out there with him and let him get used to my presence... and in a matter of weeks, he was perfectly at ease. Even let me rub his belly. Sometimes I'd come out there and towel him off after it rained, or pick the burrs out of his fur when he came out of the woods.
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    Then came one stormy night. He didn't shelter under his usual fallen tree or in the shed, and instead sat there shivering under the eaves of my roof. I was stoned and I got very emotional about it, so I picked him up and locked him in my basement once and for all. He was real upset about that for a while.
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  • 07
    Spent almost a week meowing at the sliding door, sounding sadder every time, or hiding under furniture. He was never anything but friendly, though. Just upset.
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  • It's not an easy task, to get an outdoor cat used to living indoors, but we are glad that you did it. There was so much potential there. The fact that it was someone else's cat before, that it most likely knew what it was like to be indoors, probably gave you so much hope. We are so glad that you stuck it though, that you were able to pull him off the streets and into a warm home, especially at his older age. He deserves to live his retirement in peace, not searching for scraps of food every waking moment. 

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    I took him to the vet to discover he was not a female, but instead a neutered male of eight-ish years. With asthma that I suspect may have something to do with the fiberglass insulation the previous tenants taped around a cat carrier they left behind.
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  • 11
    If they did expose this absolute sweetheart to fiberglass and then abandon him, I hate them way more than I already do for all the junk mail I still get for them. And for stealing my grandmother's curtains from this house, but that's getting off topic.
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  • 12
    During those first months, I spent as much time as I could in the basement with Leo to get him acclimated. I learned a lot about him, and cats in general, during that time. He's no fan of playing with toys or climbing on things.
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  • 13
    The only time he really "plays" is to rip up any paper left on the floor. He mostly just likes to lounge on chairs and beds... which is fine by me, even though I bought him that expensive cat tower he never used.
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    I also found that he's a total cuddlebug. He'll never pass up an opportunity to get on my lap or sleep on my chest at night. I even had to buy a little set of pet stairs so he'd stop clawing the sheets on his way up onto the bed.
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  • 15
    There were a few expensive incidents early on. For one, he tore a skin tag off his shoulder and developed an abscess. Then there was his UTI, and the enema the vet had to give him. Those visits were so rough for him that my vet's office now recognizes him by his distinctive "let me out" yowl.
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    But he got through all that, and the love and care he needed along the way helped us bond more than anything. He's been very happy and healthy since then.
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  • The fact that you were able to get him used to it at all tells us that it was the right decision for him. It does not work with every cat. Some cats truly never stop fighting to get out, looking for every way out that they can. For him, it is better to be inside. And it may have taken him a while to realize it, but we are sure that he is making the absolute best out of his situation now. 

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    Nowadays, he can't get enough company. My scrappy old rescue dog stopped trying to attack him eventually, so now he hangs out upstairs where everyone else is.
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  • 20
    The basement remains his private domain, but he spends most of the day curled up on a backpack he's taken a liking to in my home office's closet. (Dunno why but he really likes nylon.) He's got as much physical affection to show me as any dog I've had before, and that's saying something. Dude loves me to no end.
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  • 21
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