Ferdinand (originally blackcat) came into our garden to get fed. We left food out for him and eventually he would sit right by the back door waiting for it. Over a year or 2 he became a regular visitor irrespective of the weather. He was a big, black (hence the name) bruiser Tom with a huge head and narrow hips.
One day he arrived with a huge, infected wound on his head. We forced him into the cat basket and took him to the vet. Long story short, we took him on, had him neutered but he tested positive for FIV. As he was completely non-agressive (even when entire) towards our other 2 cats, we decided that we would take him on. All 3 cats happily co-existed and never an angry hiss was exchanged.
Ferdy was prone to illness - serious money was spent with the vet. He came through some heavyweight procedures but it was the sudden loss of Ferdy when he failed to come through a routine dental op in Oct '04 that took us all by surprise; had the vet AND the nurses in tears and took our dear Ferdy from us.
For many months I missed his heavy weight on my legs at night. However I know that one day he will be there again
This was my Ferdy-cakes, as you can see, once the dirt washed off he was actually a gorgeous very dark brown
And this is how he is with us now . . . in the room where we spend most of our time and where the other cats mostly hang out. He's still there with us all!! Sleep well my darling