Very recently, one of our colony feeders in Long Island City found Elmer crying near the area where she feeds. At a first glance, she could see that he was very skinny and clearly asking for help. Elmer’s finder happened to have food on her, and she gave him a full can which he gobbled down without stopping. She put down a second can and he finished that one right away, too. Observing him for a little while longer, she happened to notice that he was covered in some kind of substance. When she touched him, she realized all his fur was completely hardened like cement. We believe Elmer was an indoor cat who lost his way after being placed outside and possibly fell into a bat of industrial glue at a nearby construction site. Our poor boy did not know how to feed himself as he clearly had not eaten in a long time. We immediately started efforts to bring him indoors and get him to safety for further assessment and care. We later noticed that Elmer was missing a lot of fur on his legs. We believe that he was trying to groom himself and in doing so he removed a lot of his own fur, all of which was stuck in chunks because of the adhesive substance Elmer was covered in. A couple of days later after taking him in, we were able to get him fully shaved. Now that the hardened fur which was likely tugging on his skin and causing discomfort has been removed, he’s much calmer and much happier. He has now shown us how sweet he is. Despite going through such a traumatic and painful experience, he is an extremely friendly cat; following his foster parent's around, curling up on their laps. Elmer is FeLV/FIV negative, caught up on vaccines, fixed, and ready for his forever home!