This is the late, great Sylvia. My family adopted Sylvia from friends about 10 years ago. These friends got her when their own black cat was missing. The father of the family came home one day and opened the door, and a black cat cat came in after him, so he called out to his daughter "Hey, the cat's back!" His daughter came running in and said, "Uh, that's not him..." For one thing is was a FEMALE cat!

She just walked right in the house as if she owned the place, and she stayed. Their cat did turn up, and I'm sure he was surprised to see another black cat had taken over while he was gone! She was a very sweet, loving cat but very shy with anyone outside her family. Most people who came to our house didn't even know we had a cat since she would hide whenever there were any people over. Sylvia was diagnosed with kidney disease (Chronic Renal Failure) in March 2002, and with lots of care including high quality food and regular hydration via IV, she thrived until she passed away in 2004.