Loki showed up at the feral colony as a very territorial 2 year old cat, apparently abandoned, who was being called Shi-kaki-bobo by some local kids. That was shortened to Kiki fairly quickly and became Loki when he went to a new home.
He was a problem at the colony for two reasons. The main problem was that he wanted to claim the food for his own, and he would drive away all of the cats who had been there before he showed up. This was easy for him to do because he was twice their size.
The other problem was that he was not careful with crossing streets. He almost got hit by cars twice that we saw. After one of these near misses with a car, he was limping a bit for a couple days. It is possible that he was distracted by our presence. Despite being gruff with us (including biting and scratching a lot), it became clear that he welcomed the company/companionship.
In March 1998, we noticed that Loki was limping a bit, favoring one front paw. The next day he was almost entirely avoiding using that paw. We scooped him up for a visit to the emergency vet, which brought a diagnosis of celulitis, possibly caused by a small bite. He got antibiotics and a prescription for rest.
That is when he became a foster.
He spent a couple weeks living in a catshow cage in a bathroom. Initially he was just in the cage, then expanded to having the run of the bathroom (once his foot seemed better).
After that, he got the run of the apartment, along with one other cat. At least, he had that freedom when he wasn't in trouble for being a bully. Loki, we soon learned, was very sweet but also very strong willed. He did not play well with others.
This only got worse when he moved into the new house, along with the rest of the cats. He wasn't the only strong will there, and ended up getting his own room, taking shifts in the rest of the house while certain other cats were closed in a bedroom.
He ended up with a nasty absess (complete with drainage tubes) after the door didn't get latched correctly once.
On 26 June 1999, after we'd almost given up hope that he'd get a less crowded home, Loki went to a new place in San Francisco. He is living as the only cat of a household that is spoiling him as much as he can handle.
We kept telling him that he deserved a good home. It is nice to see him get one.