Like most great souls, McNulty is more complex than he first appears.

What McNulty “first appears” is utterly, irresistibly darling – and he’s certainly that. His noble features, soulful eyes and penchant for giving and getting hugs have made him a fast favorite among Tabby’s Place staff and volunteers. You might think, at first, that a cat this sweet has led a charmed life.

But behind McNulty’s kind eyes and sweet spirit is a story we can scarcely imagine. McNulty knows what it’s like to walk this earth alone. In his pre-Tabby’s Place life, McNulty was a lonely, wounded stray.

When he first arrived at Tabby’s Place, McNulty’s personality danced, but his tired body limped. Something was amiss with his shoulder, and our vet team first suspected an autoimmune disease. When a trial of steroids failed to help, they began to think this was an old injury. We believe that McNulty must have sustained significant trauma – a history all the more shocking given his current sweetness.

That sore shoulder isn’t the whole McNulty story, either. Sometime in his street days, McNulty found himself on the wrong end of a cat battle. Courtesy of another cat’s attack, McNulty acquired feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV).

FIV is a non-fatal, lifelong condition contracted through deep bite wounds. The virus compromises a cat’s immune system by disabling or destroying white blood cells, so McNulty is more prone to infection than the average cat. FIV+ cats can live normal and healthy lives; we just need to be especially vigilant when it comes to catching infections early.