OMG, Matthew, don't do this to me.  <tears>
I would try and take a cat like this in a moment.  I decided a while ago
that when KFC is not with me any more, I will try to adopt a disabled cat.
One eye, three legs or something.  One who no-one else wants.
I cannot afford vet's bills for more than two or I might have got one
already.

Tweed

That is reminiscent of how my friends out in Ohio got their first cat.
They were just out of college and thinking of getting a cat or maybe a
d*g and there was a feral tom in the neighborhood. Everyone talked like
the cat was incorrigible and mean, etc but he never ran from people. He
would just stick around until someone threw something at him, which was
always, and then move away far enough to avoid the thrown objects. The
kids in the neighborhood had been told not to approach him.

One day, Elaine saw the "intractable evil cat" being petted by a little
girl. He seemed to be in ecstacy. The little girl was alarmed and asked
Elaine not to tell her mom. Elaine asked if she could pet him too. By
the time Glen got hom they had a cat.He did not resist capture or act
shocked at being indoors.  He wasn't as bad off as Ugly Cat but he
needed a LOT of work at TED's. He got fixed without a fuss. Glen
thought that he had already had so much action that the rest was
welcome.

It seems that he was already six or seven years old and he lasted for
nine more very happy and fairly healthy years. He was an indoor-outdoor
but he spent most of his time supervising his house from a kitchen
counter. He didn't know from litter boxes but he was naturally
house-broken.

The other people in the neighborhood could not believe how well it
worked out.

Will in New Haven

Today is my birthday and I do not want to shed tears today  I'll read it
in a few days because I know how it makes me react.  MLB

[[This was shared in another newsgroup by catfish2006

Warning tear jerker

http://www.angel9oh7.com/ugly.html ]]

It's a tear jerker, all right. Whether Ugly the Tom Cat was a
flesh-and-blood feline or a character made to illustrate a point, it's a
touching tribute to a beautiful spirit concealed in an unattractive
exterior.

And IMO, the point is well made. To heck with outward expressions of
"beauty" -- it's better to emulate the example of individuals who are
beautiful on the INSIDE.

BTW, in my opinion, there's no such thing as an ugly cat. :o) But I wish
(as I'm sure we all do) I could've taken the poor, beat-up-looking cat
from the story in, and turned him into "Spoiled the Tom Cat".

Donna and the two current contenders for the "Spoiled the Cat" nickname,
Captain and Stanley

On Sat 16 Sep 2006 03:22:41p, Matthew wrote in
rec.pets.cats.anecdotes (news:5aYOg.59038$bZ6.50596
@tornado.tampabay.rr.com):

I'm not reading it again. :( I read that years ago, and it really is
a tear jerker. All domestic animals need to feel love, even the anti-
social ones made that way by circumstances being their control.  Poor
Ugly. Rough life.