Dear Sue,

I wondered whether you would be able to add a note about a black cat (with a hint of red-ish brown in his fur in the sunlight) that appeared on my back doorstep shortly before Christmas (perhaps even around November 2003) in Plymouth, Devon.

He still lives with me today and is very happy..... and very, very adorable!

He was clearly very flea ridden. He’d lost all the fur at the base of his tail, I think from the fleas irritating him. He didn’t look extremely thin at the time but he was certainly much slimmer than he is now (he’s now a fine figure of a cat). My boyfriend gave him a few bits of ham and he kept us company for some time but we encouraged him back outside as we didn’t have a cat flap. He returned around the same evening the next night and we gave him some more food. By the third night we bought some cat food and felt a bit mean putting him back outside... he was looking very comfortable and content.

We thought at the time that he was quite young. We also thought he was a girl for about a year. I advertised in the local shop and kept an eye out for any leaflets that might drop through the door about a missing cat fitting his description. It became apparent that he had no intention of returning to wherever it was he came from.

I sorted out his flea problem, it took some months. Back then he had a big allergy to neck-ointment treatments and the fleas were clearly irritating him also. However, he made himself very at home and was great company for us.

The following year we had his teeth sorted out at the vets. That was when we were told she was a neutered ‘he’. Oops.... and he was a middle-aged to older cat

After he’d been with us for about a year we moved to another house in the same street. He didn’t appreciate the new garden at first and wandered home back to his old flat and territory a couple of times. In the end we had to keep him in for some time altogether before he settled. We acquired another cat at the same time and it was a bit of a confusing time for him (he’s a very sensitive little lad, very soppy). The house was different but all the furniture and objects were from the old flat and we were there, but there was another cat. Our newer cat, a female, is about half his size but he’s such a softy that she nearly always has the upper-hand. Over some time they began to tolerate each other very well. They still annoy each other very occasionally. They make an amusing pair.

I’ve had him for what is coming up to five years now a he really is a wonderful cat. He’s so affectionate. Unfortunately this year I took him to the vets for a check-up and they suggested he had another dental. They said that his teeth suggested he could be between 13 and 17 years old though he still looks youthful to us. The dental revealed a tumour in his mouth. That was back in April. It was a very upsetting time but he is doing much better than we all expected and although we have to take him to the vets every two weeks and he’s on various medication he looks fit and healthy and is very happy. His tumour does not appear to be growing at all rapidly and we’re all starting to think/hoping that we may be able to keep him going for some time.

I’ve been thinking about how much he’ll be missed and it got me wondering whether anyone else is still missing him.