Zorro came into our lives 5 years ago when we first moved back into the city. We lived in a basement apartmet..a big one..as I had my 5 kitties with me. He began coming around our back window in December of 2001. I figure he was maybe a year 1/2 or 2 no older than that. He wasn't neutered and constantly showed up with cuts and battle scars. As the cold winter passed and I fed him he gradually came to my hand..by early spring he was stepping in the window..one day he showed with a horrible abcess on his cheek area and damage to his ear.
He was a big sturdy cat and looked to be a pure bred Chatruex (later had that confirmed by a Chartuex person).to the best of his ability. I followed him a couple of nights because it appeared he was either missing someone and returning to one place out of habit..he smelled of musty old carpet or something...and saw that he went and hung around the garage area of a duplex a few blocks away..the next day I knocked on doors asking if anyone knew who this cat belonged to or may have belonged to. No one did.
The abcess needed anti-biotics and lancing..it grew every day and if not attended to soon he would die of blood poisoning. As if he sensed this he came in the next morning and this time stayed for longer than 5 minutes. I loaded him up in the car and off to the vets we went. He was unbelievably gentle and gave the vet no trouble..even when she lanced the abcess..he just stood there stoically. She told me if you hand't brought him in he would've been gone in 24 hours maybe less. He had a high fever and was quite weak. She had to give him an anesthetic to get to the rooot of the abcess it was the size of a golf ball or larger..his beautiful face was twice it's size on the right side..or so it seemed. That night I picked he and his meds up...made an appointment to have him neutered.
He's been with us ever since.
This breed of a cat (Chartreux) I'd recommend to anyone looking for a gentle giant whose just too too cool with kids.