On a hot summer day this summer with temperatures over 100º F, Imgur poster Joelalmeidaptg was walking down the street playing Pokémon Go when he heard a kitten crying for help from behind a nearby electrical post. Months later, the cat, named Spock, is thriving in its new home thanks to an unlikely string of events

“As I was passing by an electricity post I heard what I thought it was a bird. But I found it very strange since I could not see any bird and besides that it should be way too hot for a bird to be chirping around. So I went back and investigated. What I found was a kitty crying for help. It had his head stuck in the junction between the top side and the bottom side of the post. It was hanging only by his head. We have no idea how the hell did it get in that situation. It must have been there for a long time, since it barely had energy to cry. Its mouth was open wide, it did not close it. I only knew it was alive by its cry for help.”

“I called my parents and we decided we would not let the kitty rot in that place, so we asked for the help of the fireman…When they arrived the cat was standing still and not making any noise and they first told us that the cat must have died. We insisted that the cat was alive, so they poked it with a stick and for our relief it did cry again!”

“After the police arrived they took a giant machine from the firetruck that would pressure the top side of the electrical post to try and tilt it. It would be too dangerous to try and bust the whole thing since there could be an explosion (we never know).”

“A whole perimeter was set around the area so other cars would not bother us.”

“One of the fireman was so upset for the cat’s state, behing so still for so long, with such a hot weather, that he tried to give it water. And it did drink! We were so happy when this happened. Still, we didn’t know how to take it out.”

“Then someone had the idea to use the machine they previously used to tilt the post in the junction of the top and bottom instead of only on the top. After they did, BOOM, the post busted and there was just enough space left for the cat to be free!”

“As you can see it was already night when we took it out. The fireman stood in that place with 40+ºC for 3 HOURS to save a cat’s life. I’m so glad I had the luck of having these fireman to help. Some other type of people and they might not be willing to do it and just let the cat die.”

“My mother decided to take it home for the night…It hissed at us if we tried to approach it. It looked like a mad rat. My father started calling it Spock because of those big ears. My mother was saying that we would keep it for the night and then take it to a cat shelter. So it stayed the night in our porch until the next day.”

“Time for a bath. He was filthy from the oil we used to try and take him out, plus all the dirt from being a stray cat. The water took the dirt away and we realized he was a boy with golden hair!”

“My mother took SO MANY fleas out of him. Seeing my mother taking them one by one, so many, just made me feel sick. That poor cat should be itchy as hell.”

“This is him after the shower. My father kept telling us he was the ugliest cat he had ever seen…my mother did not send him to the cat’s shelter, where I insisted they would probably kill him after some days. So we kept Spock with us.”

“He was so young that we had to feed him “manually” with milk. We don’t have anything fancy to do so so we used a syringe. This is him obviously feeling full after a meal, ready to sleep.”

“Four months have passed and the cat my father kept calling ugly went full “The Ugly Duckling” mode. He is the most beautiful cat I have ever seen. And he is HUGE. Look at his tail! The vet (when he went for vaccines) said he was about 6 months old and would keep growing for another 6 and that he would become huge.”

“I don’t live in my hometown (I study in Lisbon) so this Christmas break was my first real interaction with him. He barely knew me since I only come home very occasionally on weekends and that’s not enough time to build a relationship.”

“I fell in love with this cat. He is SO BEAUTIFUL. Look at his pink paws!”

“TL:DR Found a dying cat while playing Pokémon Go, saved him, he was ugly, turned out to be beautiful, I’m in love with him.”

Congratulations to Joelalmeidaptg for catching a meowth! Now all your pends and socks will belong to the cat. If you liked this story, share it with your friends!