Larry's Little Lori

There were 17 cats living in Larry's basement. There were cats of every shape, size, and colour, fat cats, skinny cats, and even some kittens. There was never a shortage of cats in Larry's basement, and he loved them all. Larry couldn’t stand the thought of a stray cat roaming around hungry, cold, and afraid.

Some people thought Larry was a bit odd and called him Crazy Larry, the Cat Man because he sometimes spent days inside without coming out of his house. The truth was Larry was quite intelligent, he was a retired professor and was well off. Having no close relatives he decided to use his money to help the cats.

First Larry cleaned out his basement, then he put up shelves at different heights across one wall so the cats could climb, jump, and exercise. He stocked up on cardboard boxes because he knew cats loved to play in them. He went to a pet supply store and bought enough beds, litter boxes, water bowls and food bowls, for 20 cats, which he decided was his limit.

When the basement was ready, he began to rescue cats. He would take them to the vet to be spayed or neutered, checked over for fleas or ticks, have their shots, and a physical to see if they had any diseases. He lovingly nursed the sick or thin cats back to health, then he would try to find them loving homes.

Soon the story of Larry’s cats spread across the county and he had great success finding homes for the cats. Families came to choose a cat or sometimes two and this made Larry happy. As his cats found new homes he replaced them with other strays he found.

Larry looked down at Little Lori, she was a pretty cat with shiny grey fur. When he had rescued her, she had been very sick with an upper respiratory infection and eye infection. The vet started her on antibiotics and eye antibiotics, but the eye infection left her blind in both eyes.Little Lori was a friendly little cat, but she was frightened of the other cats. Nobody wanted poor Little Lori because she was blind.

Larry bent down and scratched behind her ears. Little Lori flopped over onto her back hoping for a nice tummy tickle. Larry chuckled and picked her up for a cuddle. As he stroked her soft fur he decided that this was his cat. He gathered up a litter box, bed, and two bowls. Then he carried Little Lori upstairs to her forever home.

At first Lori was a bit confused as she wandered around this strange upstairs land that she had never visited before, but Larry took her to her bed, her food bowls, and litter box, and soon she sniffed out out the lay of the land and settled herself down on her bed, content to be Larry’s special little companion.

Larry chuckled fondly at her, happy the problem was solved and his little friend would keep him company. It was a perfect solution for both of them. A thought crossed Larry’s mind. Now there were only 16 cats in the basement leaving room for four more. He would soon fill those empty spots, but first he would pay special attention to little Lori, who was happily washing her paws at Larry’s feet.

558 words.