Tough street cat shows up on porch one day — and decides he's staying

"He actually took over my backyard.” [View in browser]( January 30, 2019 *Header 728x90 [] Tough Street Cat Shows Up On Porch One Day — And Decides He's Staying Photo Credit: Lynne Gramer 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, or OB for short. Just a few years ago, he was a feral cat living on the rough streets of Boston. Lynne Gramer — who is involved with Boston's Forgotten Felines (BFF), a group that helps care for the feral cat colonies of the city — 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 — he was skittish of people and wouldn't let anyone come close. 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 — 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. Photo Credit: Lynne Gramer "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." 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." 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. Photo Credit: 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. Then Higgins came to visit OB again … and again. "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." When OB arrived at Higgins' house, he "immediately hopped onto the couch, snuggled up with my boyfriend, and made himself at home," she said. ​​​​"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." Photo Credit: Sophie Higgins Now it's hard to imagine OB as anything but the loving and affectionate furry family member that he is — a far cry from the street cat he once was. Or perhaps OB always had that soft spot inside of him — 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. "The rest," Gramer reflected, "is history." [See more of OB's transformation]( *728x300 Ad Banner [Tiny Stray Puppy Falls From The Sky — And Somehow Survives]( People couldn't figure out where the puppy cries were coming from. [Little Orangutan Who Lost Hair From Being Hungry Has Best Transformation]( He's so beautiful — and happy — now. [] [Pig Raised By Cats Thinks He’s One Of Them Now]( *Footer 728x90 [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [YouTube]( [Instagram]( The Dodo 100 Crosby St., 201 New York, NY 10012 [Forward]( [Unsubscribe](