About 40 years ago my Grandmother had a Tom cat. She never bought cat
food etc. She always fed this old Tom in a cast iron skillet on the back
porch, menu every day was biscuits & gravy.
Well this old Tom took off Tomming for about three weeks or so. We
thought he was dead as he had never done this before.  Well one day as
my grandmother was cooking dinner I was looking out the window across
the fields ( we lived on a farm) & lo & behold here comes that old Tom.
He was beat up, dirty, skinny as a rail, he just looked terrible . I sez
to her " Grandma, Here comes your old cat & he looks like heck."  She
made him fresh gravy & crumbled up biscuits  & put out for him. My
Grandmother sure was happy to see that old cat . Well a few minutes
later I looked out the door & that old Tom had fell plum asleep while
eating them biscuits & gravy & his face was nose down in the gravy. I
thought he had died, from suffocation. I got his head up & cleared his
nose & tried to blow in his mouth, don't know if it helped but he woke
up .

Michael Lane

" in vino veritas "
                 Pliny  100  A D