Valentine was a stray tomcat when he showed up at a friend's house on Valentine's Day, 2010. He was bold and friendly, but had a large abscess on his tail that needed medical treatment. Since my friend didn't have a place to keep him quarantined, I took him in and ended up keeping him.

Val is a very handsome buttercream-colored tabby. He's a very interactive cat, who just has to put himself in the middle of anything I'm doing that catches his interest. He is completely unperturbed by water, and will jump into the shower with me or lie in the kitchen sink with the water running full blast onto him. When not assisting me, Val spends a lot of time playing, both with toys and with the other cats. He is rather fond of intimidating some of the more timid cats, and has to be reprimanded for that every so often. He's affectionate and talkative with me and enjoys being petted, but is too active to be a lap-cat.