Four years ago to the day, our family got a new member.
We had just gotten home from a trip to the beach when we found her. My younger sister had been putting away the beach toys in the shed out back when she heard the tired squeals of the tiny black cat. She found it stuck beneath the fence between the neighbors yard and ours, and ran inside screaming to announce her discovery. We all went out side to see for ourselves, and sure enough, the poor thing had lodged itself underneath the fence, seemingly abandoned by its mother.
It took a little bit of work, but we were able to free the cat. We rushed her inside and offered it some cat food and water, which she was too tired to accept. She wasn't moving much, and was just barely drinking the water we offered her via pipette.
But slowly, she began to recover. She began eating food, and began to walk(albeit with a limp she maintains to this day). She began to interact with our two other cats, much to their annoyance, and drinking on her own. Her recovery was slow, but sure, and she endeared herself to us. She wasn't the smartest cat, by any means, but we loved her all the same.
Christmas 2013
Four years later, she's still with us. She runs up to meet me when I get home, and snuggles up to my sister at night. She gets along with our other pets now, and has no problem eating all of the cat food in the house. She has become much bigger, much healthier, and much friendlier.
She just hasn't gotten much smarter.