Winnifred's Mysterious History

I noticed not long after she moved in that Fred had a couple of odd stripes on her back and flank. One is a white stripe from knee to bottom, and the other, a little harder to make out, is a wrinkle of a black stripe near her spine, starting near the point of the main patch of orange on her side and extending back to the base of her tail.

As Spring has rolled in, and she's lost her thick winter coat, these stripes have become a little more obvious (these photos were taken three weeks ago, after they started revealing themselves). It turns out that the "stripes" camouflage fairly large patches of bare skin -- a couple of squarish patches on her thigh, and a long strip of bare skin up her back.

The veterinarian says they are burn marks: scar tissue. The fur may or may not ever grow back. She said that the pattern of them is typical for cats who have curled a little too close to the exhaust pipe, or who have crawled up into the engine of a car -- for warmth, in the winter. The vet didn't say how long ago this happened -- certainly when she arrived, Fred had no active wounds. We reckon that she is about 3 winters old (although she could be as old as 6 -- but she's very playful, so I tend to put her on the youngish side).

I notice that even when Harry and Tasha sleep on the front porch during the balmier nights of summer, Fred sleeps inside. She clearly realizes a good thing when she has it.