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AnimalsTranscript
00:00 My heart just melted because he looked so sad.
00:02 He'd given up on life and you could just tell he really needed some help.
00:06 Mr. Belvedere was part of a small outdoor cat colony and he was estimated at over 10
00:12 years old, which is unusual for tomcats to stay alive on the streets that long.
00:17 When Mr. B finally walked into the trap, I think he realized he needed help and that
00:28 maybe we're helping him.
00:29 He had really bad mange.
00:31 He had ear mites.
00:32 I remember him looking at me through that trap with his big old eyes, just looking at
00:37 me like, "Alright, what next?"
00:39 When I took Mr. Belvedere to the vet, they took one look at him and they said, "He's
00:42 really sick.
00:44 You need to test him to see if he's positive for FIV and probably euthanize him."
00:49 I remember waiting on my phone all day and all of a sudden I got a message, "He's FIV
00:54 positive."
00:55 So I went back to pick him up and I just looked at him and he had this look in his eyes that
00:59 was telling me that he had a little bit of fight left in him.
01:02 I knew to even treat him, socialization at some level had to be part of the equation.
01:10 The big one was treating his ears and he needed eye drops.
01:13 I'm like, "How am I going to do this to this cat that won't let me touch him?"
01:17 So I started to use a wooden spoon to kind of scratch his paw or scratch his back and
01:22 after a few weeks of that, he started to trust me.
01:25 It was amazing.
01:26 It was an incredible experience.
01:28 Just talking about it is emotional.
01:31 And eventually the wooden spoon led to a garden glove and then I started treating his ears
01:36 and he let me.
01:37 All of a sudden though, as he was getting better, he was really enjoying what I offered
01:42 him.
01:43 He was enjoying being with me.
01:44 I realized at that point that he could stay indoors forever and maybe he did deserve an
01:49 indoor retirement.
01:50 Then I got this email from the perfect person and the rest is history.
01:56 I saw those big Tomcat cheeks and I just instantly fell in love.
02:03 I cried when I saw him.
02:05 We brought him up to my apartment and let him roam around.
02:08 Just thinking about the moment, I get teary because it was so special.
02:13 I wanted him to live a good, long, happy life and I wanted to be a part of that.
02:20 After a couple of days of just sitting with him and talking, I would play a lot of classical
02:24 music.
02:25 I would sing to him and just a lot of TLC and he just really opened up.
02:31 He's just so open to love.
02:35 He loves to play.
02:36 He can play all day, every day.
02:39 He never played really when he was living outside.
02:41 It was a really rough life for him.
02:44 So being inside and having that security and then introducing him to all these toys, it
02:49 was so much fun to see his reaction.
02:51 He also sings a lot, which is probably my favorite part about him.
02:55 It's a different song for each emotion.
02:58 I love it so much.
02:59 It's so unique.
03:00 I love how Mr. V is spreading awareness about senior cats and senior FIV cats and cats that
03:06 were former community cats outside.
03:09 All the hard work and patience and time and money and everything it's going to take to
03:14 rescue that animal is going to be 100% worth it.
03:17 I don't think I will ever meet an animal quite like Mr. V in my life.
03:21 It's worth every single second.
03:23 [MUSIC PLAYING]