Cat update →[More:] We took Kira to a proper vet checkup yesterday; stem to stern and all of that. She's "remarkably healthy," which is nice to know, and "unusually affectionate," which wasn't news to us. We have to replace her clay-based litter because the dust is irritating her breathing a little bit; that's fine with me, since it doesn't do mine any favours, either. We're going back in a month so she can get her booster shots at the same time we chip 'er and fix 'er.

In addition to the fact that, you know, we found her taped into a fucking box, she shows other signs of abuse: the missing bits of fur on her back aren't from overgrooming, as suspected, but scarring from deep cuts; there are also many other scars that the fur's grown back over. The vet found a burn—almost surely from a cigarette—on the back of her neck and evidence of frostbite damage to her ears, the tip of one of which isn't just a little misshapen but actually missing in an unnaturally straight line.

I'm sick to my stomach typing this and feel like I'm about to cry, as I have since my girlfriend relayed the news last night. She is the sweetest cat I've ever met (and I've met a lot of sweet cats) and she wasn't just abandoned, she was horribly abused first.

Join me in some outrage, okay?