It was late June when a northwest Tucson apartment complex called us about a massive cat who was languishing in their hot parking lot, barely able to move or breathe. The caller said the cat did not respond when they tried to shoo him away with a broom. 

Obviously, the cat needed our help -- so we immediately sent Danielle Hinte, one of our animal care officers, to rescue him.

Officer Hinte brought JoJo right back to our medical team, where Dr. Sarah Rios was ready. She and our staffers immediately gave JoJo IV fluids, surrounded his plump body with cooling packs, and gave him a much-needed shave. Thanks to support from friends like you, JoJo received the watchful care in our ICU that he needed to survive. We were also able to help him deal with a recurring paw injury that was caused by his former family declawing him. 

During his stay at PACC, JoJo charmed everyone with his over-sized personality and ability to make fast friends with pets and people alike.

Once JoJo made it through his critical phase, one of our devoted cat volunteers, Sandra Holland, volunteered to help him through his next chapter: Losing weight and finding a forever home. She placed him in a foster home with her friend, Greg Strang.

"The first memory I have of JoJo is him trying to crawl into bed with me on that first night and him not being able to get himself up into bed," Greg tells us. "He was huffing and puffing and only jumping about a foot off the ground."

Using a cooler and storage box, Greg constructed steps so that JoJo could make his way into bed with him that night -- and, it turns out, every night for the rest of JoJo's life.

"It became apparent to the people around me that JoJo had found his forever home long before I accepted it," Greg says, adding that JoJo has already lost 10 pounds, or nearly 30 percent of his body weight.

Your support means that we can always be the one shelter in our community you can count on to help stray pets like JoJo.