Reading through this thread again made me think of my old cats.

We used to have one giant black ferral tomcat we named "Sooty" who turned up on the doorstep one day and decided to hang around with us.

He was amazing. He'd only drink milk, would jump up on your knee to be stroked, but would bite you if you picked him up. I'll always remember my dad having to wear gardening gloves to flea spray him armed with a massive towel.

He had a broken tooth, a bit of an ear missing (I think he used to fight with dogs - he'd have eaten a domestic cat), and he refused to come into the house at all for at least two weeks when we crated him up for the vet to neuter.

The way he'd jump up to be let in at the window, the way he learned to rattle the letterbox with his paw to be let in the front door. We were just his servants. Though by far the most awesome thing he did was to sit on the windowsill above the radiator and growl at the binmen when they came.

Much missed. As a mostly wild cat would, one day when he was really old, he just went out and didn't come back. I hope it was peaceful.