When Paula Cuesta arrived at her local high school at 6:45 a.m. the other day, the hallways were still quiet. It was election day in Colombia, and Cuesta was one of the first volunteers to show up that morning. But as she walked down the empty corridor
to her assigned room, she suddenly noticed a small figure staring at her from a distance.
Cuesta instantly recognized the animal as a tabby cat. But as she got closer, she realized something was very wrong.
“I noticed he had a huge wound on the side of his head, behind his ear,” Cuesta told The Dodo. “He was missing one ear, and one of his eyes was injured, too. It was heartbreaking.”
Cuesta couldn’t take her eyes off the cat, who was staring back at her. The cat watched Cuesta intently, but he seemed too afraid to approach her at first. So, she crouched down in an attempt to gain his trust.
“That's when he started trusting me,” Cuesta said. “He came closer and closer.”
Cuesta hung out with the cat for a while, until she eventually had to return to her classroom to assist voters. But after just a few moments together, it seemed like the cat had already warmed up to Cuesta.
“When it was time for me to go to my classroom, he started walking in front of me, almost like he didn't want me to leave,” Cuesta said. “So I said, ‘Come on, let's go.’ We walked to the classroom together, and he stayed there with me for quite a while.”
As more volunteers arrived, Cuesta began asking around about the cat. But no one seemed to recognize him — and he appeared disinterested in everyone other than Cuesta.
“He didn't go up to anyone else — just me,” Cuesta said. “He kept rubbing against my legs, asking for affection.”
The cat stayed by Cuesta’s side until voters began filing in. Spooked by the commotion, the cat bolted and disappeared onto the school grounds. Cuesta tried to follow him, but he was gone before she could catch up.
“I went outside three different times to look for him, but I couldn't find him anywhere,” Cuesta said.
Cuesta returned to the room defeatedly. She finished the rest of her volunteer shift and was about to leave for the day when a familiar face suddenly caught her eye. The cat had returned, and she didn’t want to miss the chance to save him this time.
“The moment he saw me, I said, ‘Hi, my sweet boy! How are you?’” Cuesta said. “He came right over and started rubbing against my legs again. I asked him, ‘Where have you been?’”
An onlooking police officer familiar with the cat was shocked to see him act so warmly toward Cuesta.
“[He] said, ‘I can't believe it. I've been trying to catch that cat all day, and he won't let anyone touch him. But look at him with you,’” Cuesta said.
Moments later, the high school’s security guard showed up and confirmed Cuesta’s fears: The cat had been surviving on his own for a month or two, and he’d previously refused to let anyone save him. That’s when Cuesta decided she couldn’t go home without him.
“I couldn't just leave him there,” Cuesta said. “He was still so young, and he'd already been through so much.”
You can watch that moment here:
Cuesta wrapped the cat in her jacket, then headed home with the sweet boy in her arms. Once home, Cuesta placed the cat, whom she named Pocillo, in a bathroom to decompress and avoid spreading his flea infestation around the house.
Despite the fleas and head wounds, Pocillo’s checkup at the vet the next day went well. And as he began to receive daily treatments for his ailments plus nonstop affection, the sweet cat started to thrive.
“Now, he's doing so much better,” Cuesta said. “His wound has healed, and his fur is starting to grow back.”
Pocillo’s medical journey is still ongoing weeks after being rescued, but the resilient boy is improving every day. And his proud mama can’t imagine life without him now.
“He's the sweetest little cat,” Cuesta said. “He's incredibly affectionate. He sleeps with me every night, and he's always asking for cuddles, hugging me and wanting to be petted. He's such a loving little cat.”
