Tough Street Cat Shows Up On Porch One Day β€” And Decides He's Staying

"He actually took over my backyard" πŸ˜‚πŸ’•

Individuals with the toughest exteriors are sometimes actually hiding the sweetest personalities.

A perfect example of this is the story of a tough feral cat known as Orange Boy.

Boston street cat who adopted family
Lynne Gramer

Just a few years ago, Orange Boy β€” also known as OB for short β€” was a feral cat living on the rough streets of Boston.

Lynne Gramer β€” who is involved with Boston's Forgotten Felines (BFF), a group that helps care for the feral cat colonies of the city β€” had seen OB when she was out feeding some of the feral cats on her street. 

"OB started coming around three years ago," Gramer told The Dodo. "One of the cats would pick on him when he would come to eat. I had to feed him at a different spot."

OB showed all the behaviors of a feral cat β€” he was skittish of people and wouldn't let anyone come close.

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Lynne Gramer

Gramer decided to trap him to have him neutered, to help decrease the stray population. After the procedure, the vet said to go ahead and return him to the street β€” OB seemed to be a feral cat who couldn't really be tamed. 

"So I released him back out," Gramer said. But it wasn't the last Gramer saw of OB.

"He would continue to come to eat," she said. "There were times when I would see him out on late nights and times when I wouldn't see him for days."

Hardened street cat in Boston
Lynne Gramer

Then one day OB showed up and did something a little surprising.

"I was sitting in my yard [and] OB came up to me, rubbing against my leg," Gramer said. "I was shocked."

From that moment on, OB just got closer and closer. 

"He would attack my leg if I walked away, especially if I would go in my house," Gramer said. "He actually took over my backyard."

Street cat in Boston shows up on porch
Lynne Gramer

OB's sudden affection was making Gramer's life a little complicated. She was already fostering a cat in her house, and had a little dog, whom OB liked to, well, kind of attack sometimes. 

"At the time I had nowhere for him to go so I put a small shelter in the yard," Gramer said. "It broke my heart every time I would look outside where he would lie on my stairs. He would meow as if to say, 'Let me come in.'"

Finally, the cat Gramer was fostering in her house found a home, and OB got to move inside.

Boston street cat becomes cuddle buddy
Sophie Higgins

A short time later, Gramer's friend Sophie Higgins came over and met OB.

"When I sat down he plopped into my lap and it was love at first sight," Higgins told The Dodo.

Street cat who adopted family
Sophie Higgins

Then Higgins came to visit OB again.

And again.

Boston street cat becomes cuddle buddy
Sophie Higgins

"I cared so much for this big orange boy I wanted to make sure he found a perfect home," Gramer said. "I asked [Sophie] if she would want to foster him and without any hesitation she said yes."

Street cat becomes couch potato
Sophie Higgins

Foster ... right. 

When OB arrived at Higgins' house, he "immediately hopped onto the couch, snuggled up with my boyfriend, and made himself at home," she said. 

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Sophie Higgins

​​​​"We fully intended to just be a stop on OB's journey to his forever home," Higgins said, "but looking back ... I can see immediately that we were doomed (in the best way) from the start."

Boston street cat becomes cuddle buddy
Sophie Higgins

Now it's hard to imagine OB as anything but the loving and affectionate furry family member that he is β€” a far cry from the street cat he once was. 

Or perhaps OB always had that soft spot inside of him β€” he just needed the perfect people to bring it out. In any case, once people showed that hardened street cat some kindness, he learned to return the favor. 

Boston street cat becomes cuddle buddy
Sophie Higgins

"The rest," Gramer reflected, "is history."

You can help give more cats the opportunity to live loving lives by making a donation to BFF