Hi,

In late 1999 - maybe it was late 2000 - I worked as a contractor on temporary assignment in Richmond, VA and rented in an apartment complex on the west side of Richmond off of West Broad St.  When I came back from Thanksgiving weekend I saw this beautiful "Siamese" cat hanging around the parking lot.  I said "hi" to him and he ran over to me and acted like I was his long lost best friend.  Just then a woman drove by and asked if he was my cat.  When I said no she said that he had been out there alone since Wednesday before Thanksgiving and that nobody around there had ever seen him before.  She didn't know if anyone fed him, so I thought I'd go over to my apartment and see if there was anything in the fridge that he might like and was going to bring it out to him.  He had a little different idea and followed me to my door.  I told him to wait outside and got some leftover turkey from an office party we had before I went back home for the weekend. With a certain amount of manners he attacked it like he hadn't had anything for months.  I said goodbye to him and went in to fix dinner.  About 2 hours later he was on my windowsill yeowling - at least it was 2 hours before I noticed him over the noise of the evening news on TV.  Then he went to my porch door and scratched at it.  It was really cold out and my easy heart and affinity for cats made me open the door.  He spent the evening on my lap and in my face, purring like a mixmaster. When I put him out for the night, with a blanket and some more food and water on the porch, he wasn't having it.  He meowed until I let him in.  Figuring he probably had fleas I quarantined him in the bathroom (I had gone to the grocery and got a litter pan, litter, some canned cat food, cat treats, etc.) But that didn't sit well either, and he ended up sleeping in my face all night - keeping me awake purring most of the time. (He now sleeps curled around the back of my wife's head and shoulders each night - since he joined us.) I gave him his freedom but he would always be back in 5 minutes and really didn't seem to want to be anywhere but inside. 

I took him to a vet to see if he was OK;  the vet said he was about 3 years old and about 3 lbs underweight and that his foot pads were worn, indicating he'd been gone a while. He suggested giving him all of the shots, which I did, and it almost killed him physically and me financially. I posted flyers on telephone poles, notified the SPCA that I had found him, faxed all of the area apartment complexes in case one of their residents lost him, and faxed or delivered pictures and description of him to all of the area vets in case someone saw him in the waiting room.  No relpies.  Nobody seemed to be looking for him. I had to fly home for the weekends and I had an office friend look in on him, but when I came back each Monday he was always mad at me for leaving him. So, when I went home for Christmas I took him home to live with my family and he has been an absolute joy;  best cat / companion we've ever had.  For a while he had to share the house with a large dog and two cats but they have all passed away and he now truly owns the roost - like he always demanded he did before!!

I'm writing all of this today in case you or another Virginia breeder might know of someone who was frantically trying to find this precious guy and was heartbroken at the prospect that he was dead.  He is not.  He's about 10 years old now, in good health, is quite the kittenish character and is very loved by my wife and I and our adult kids. If you know of other breeders in the area I would appreciate you forwarding this to them.  I could never give him up, but I have always wanted to let his former owner - assuming they didn't throw him out in the first place - to know that he is in good hands and health. Being so curious as he is, it isn't inconceivable to me that he got on a moving van and made the trip from elsewhere in or out of the state that way - perhaps he jumped out when they reached one of the apartment complexes in the area, or even a single family unit, I don't know.  But it has always bothered me that by his filling our hearts with so much enjoyment he has left someone else with a huge sad place in theirs and if I can reach them I and perhaps they will feel relieved.

As I said, when I found him they thought he was about 3, and I believe he is a "Champaign" Tonk but someone else said he might be a "lavender"?  Two distinguishing things about him is that he has "fangs" that are atypically long for cats (one since got an impaction under it and had to be removed), and that his "motor" is very loud, the loudest I've ever heard in a cat. His former owner must have brushed him with a hair brush as he loves that and cooked turkey more than anything (well, other than hours of petting and chin/throat scratches.)

Well, thanks for reading.  I hope you can network this to Tonk owners/breeders in case it might find the right set of eyes.

Bless you,

Dave (and Simon - well, I thought he was a Siamese!)