Thomas Thumb Guy - Over the Rainbow Bridge
Tommy was a real rescue cat. He was living under our porch at the old house. I'd see him peeking out every morning when I left and evening when I got home.
He was a very skitty kitty, would not let me near him. I started giving him food and water and talking to him. I'd try to pet/skritch him and I'd get a hand full of claws. He was a polydactyl (six toes!). After awhile he'd let me rub his face / skritch his chin.
Jen and the kids found out I was feeding him and said he needed to be brought in. So, to keep my hands from being shredded when I picked him up I put on some heavy leather gloves and we got him into a cat crate, took him to the vet and got him fixed up.
He took awhile to get use to us, but he did. He was never a pick me up kind of cat. He did not like to be held, but he did become a kind of lap cat, especially in the last several years. I'd be working at the computer and he would insist that he had to sit on my lap. He'd do the same kind of thing while I was watching TV.
He never really did get over being kind of feral, any loud noises or sudden movement and he would bolt. I have the scars on my legs to prove it. :) He loved to sleep on my legs in bed, up until the last few months.
He got us through some terrible times in our family, he held us together during a very difficult loss.
He started having trouble eating and started drooling, so we took him to the vet. His jaw was riddled with bone cancer and it was inoperable. We decided to make his last days as pleasant as possible and send him over the Rainbow Bridge when it was time. He left us this past Saturday and we are all lesser for his passing.