In 2013 we adopted Tonka. He was about 7 or 8 years old then, which would make him 12 or 13 now. To recap the linked thread, we’d lost Harvey in November of 2012. Mrs. L.A. thought she wasn’t ready for another cat, but four months later she was searching the NOAH Spay & Neuter Clinic’s website to find a large cat that had been in the shelter the longest. She found two: Emerald (F) and Tonka (M). She decided we would adopt them both. We went to get them on a Saturday, but Emerald had been adopted just that morning. So we came home with Tonka.
Tonka had a difficult life. He’s missing at least half of his tail. He’d been at NOAH for six months, and he’d been in a shelter in Spokane before that. NOAH was giving him sub-q fluids once a month. We brought him home and took him to the vet. She gave us medicine for his ear mites and eyedrops to cure his eye infection. She couldn’t do anything about his asthma. But his coughing lessened over time. He still coughs, but not as often. And he’s needed no sub-q fluids. He began to thrive in his forever home. We think he just needed humans of his own.
Tonka has never been especially affectionate. He sometimes slept with one of us, but he was just as likely to sleep in the living room. He liked to lay and sleep on the ottoman next to ‘mom’s’ feet. Sometimes he’d like to lay and sleep on the back of the couch behind me. Sometimes, more often in the last year or so, he liked to curl up on the other end of the couch from me. Creamsicle was his polar opposite. She liked nothing more than for me to cradle her on her back in my arm while I petted her face, head, belly, and tail. Get near Tonka’s broken tail, and you’ll think you’re petting Freddy Krueger. He began being more ‘friendly’ when Creamsicle adopted us (a year and a half after we adopted Tonka). Still… not exactly cuddly. He’d tolerate being held for ten seconds, and then want to get down. Put him on your lap, and he’ll jump right out.
In the weeks before Creamsicle died, Tonka started doing something he’d only done a couple times before. He climbed into my lap. Since Creamsicle left us, he’s been doing it more often. Since he started this before she died, I don’t think it’s because of losing his best friend. Nevertheless… Creamsicle stopped Tonka’s roaming. They pretty much stayed near the house. Now Tonka barely leaves the yard. He’ll wander off somewhere, but he still stays close and his excursions are of shorter duration. He’s taken to curling up on a chair on the deck and staying near his humans.
This morning Tonka sat on my lap for about five minutes, purring away as I stroked him. (Oh – He’s purring more, and audibly. Before, you’d have to put your ear on his side to hear it – unless he was eating. You could hear him purr then.) I want him to be a happy cat, and I like that he’s becoming a lap cat. 
