Lauren & Esse
Member
Previous thread!
I will NOT be mentioning the decent amount of green we've seen the past couple days on 1.5u because I don't want Esse to hear me and get any big ideas. Instead, I will talk about how yesterday was Esse's (sort-of) gotcha day!
On 9/21 in 2020 I opened Sam's front door to grab some food we had delivered and Esse waltzed right in. Sam had seen him around the neighborhood before but hadn't ever interacted with him. I hadn't even moved into the house yet so he was totally new to me. Over the next few years, Esse gradually spent more and more time at the house, mostly hanging out on the porch. A neighbor moved out and left us with a heated shelter that he would use when it cooled off. At first he only wanted to come inside for a few minutes to eat a snack, then a couple hours, then sometimes even overnight. When we went out of town, he'd stay outside but we'd have friends come by every day to feed him. We were in denial about him being our cat, but it felt weird to claim ownership when he was already a relatively well-known presence in our neighborhood.
In January of last year, Esse sustained an injury in a fight that required medical intervention (cleaning/draining an abscess, gross!). He had to wear a cone while he recovered, so we decided it was finally time to make the leap and claim him full time. It was time to retire from his life in the streets. The first couple weeks were absolutely miserable--he didn't understand why he had to wear the cone and why we wouldn't let him back outside. He cried by the door for hours at a time.
But it got better! He healed up well and got better at living inside. He rarely even bothers running for the door now, and if he does get out, he doesn't go far. Sometimes I feel bad that his life now looks so different from when he was more of a community cat, but we're just trying to give him the best in his golden years.
Enough rambling, here are some pics of Esse through the years to celebrate his big day.
Earliest known photo, found while browsing Instagram content related to our neighborhood's cat population. He's actually wearing a collar here but it was gone by the time we met him.
Exploring the house, late 2020.
Enjoying autumn, November 2022.
Snoozing in his cone, January 2024.
Wearing a modified baby onesie and questioning the life decisions that led him here, September 2025.
I will NOT be mentioning the decent amount of green we've seen the past couple days on 1.5u because I don't want Esse to hear me and get any big ideas. Instead, I will talk about how yesterday was Esse's (sort-of) gotcha day!
On 9/21 in 2020 I opened Sam's front door to grab some food we had delivered and Esse waltzed right in. Sam had seen him around the neighborhood before but hadn't ever interacted with him. I hadn't even moved into the house yet so he was totally new to me. Over the next few years, Esse gradually spent more and more time at the house, mostly hanging out on the porch. A neighbor moved out and left us with a heated shelter that he would use when it cooled off. At first he only wanted to come inside for a few minutes to eat a snack, then a couple hours, then sometimes even overnight. When we went out of town, he'd stay outside but we'd have friends come by every day to feed him. We were in denial about him being our cat, but it felt weird to claim ownership when he was already a relatively well-known presence in our neighborhood.
In January of last year, Esse sustained an injury in a fight that required medical intervention (cleaning/draining an abscess, gross!). He had to wear a cone while he recovered, so we decided it was finally time to make the leap and claim him full time. It was time to retire from his life in the streets. The first couple weeks were absolutely miserable--he didn't understand why he had to wear the cone and why we wouldn't let him back outside. He cried by the door for hours at a time.
But it got better! He healed up well and got better at living inside. He rarely even bothers running for the door now, and if he does get out, he doesn't go far. Sometimes I feel bad that his life now looks so different from when he was more of a community cat, but we're just trying to give him the best in his golden years.
Enough rambling, here are some pics of Esse through the years to celebrate his big day.
Earliest known photo, found while browsing Instagram content related to our neighborhood's cat population. He's actually wearing a collar here but it was gone by the time we met him.
Exploring the house, late 2020.
Enjoying autumn, November 2022.
Snoozing in his cone, January 2024.
Wearing a modified baby onesie and questioning the life decisions that led him here, September 2025.
