This handsome dude is Matthew. I got a call from a woman who said that a cat she was feeding was sick. I took her some antibiotics, being in denial about taking in another cat; am trying to reduce my population. I got to her house, and met Matthew, looking as he does below. Obviously he needed a lot more than a course of antibiotics. He was thin, lethargic, matted, and coated with mud and dirt, and his mouth was badly infected. The sweet woman who had called me had been feeding him, and had given him a small bed beside her house. He let me pick him up and put him into my carrier.
Got him home. I don't give baths unless absolutely necessary, but...he let me bathe him at length. Lots of muddy water down the sink. Then wrapped him in a towel and spent maybe two hours picking the mats and burrs off of him. He let me do that too...what a blessing! When he'd had enough, I put him in a big cage in the living room, chest height, covered the cage, and let him eat and rest. Rest he did, bless him. I assured him that he was safe and would be cared for from now on. He had been with humans, it was obvious. How long on the streets? He was neutered and had his ear tipped. The tip suggests that he had been thought of as a 'feral' when taken to be neutered.