Vanilla the Cat

Vanilla is what you would call a rescue. We picked him up of the street in front of our house. Of course, there is much more to the story. Out neighbors had two cats, one named Vanilla, and we'll call the other one Cookie. Cookie was happy enough living with our neighbors, but Vanilla wasn't. He would run away every chance he got. He would run away for weeks at a time, then they would see him running around the neighborhood and bring him back home. Then he ran away and didn't come back. A month later, as I was running outside to meet my dad so he could give me some food, I saw a dark shape run across our driveway. I walked closer, and saw that it was none other than Vanilla. I picked him up, and he immediately started purring louder than I had ever heard a cat purr. I brought him to my dad's car (my dad had just gone grocery shopping) and we fed him some turkey. Then we decided to bring him back to our neighbors house. About halfway there he stopped purring and started squirming, meowing, and trying to get away. My dad turned around, and he immediately started purring again. We decided that he would come with us.
We bought him new food, new treats, etc... and took him to the vet. We have had him almost a year now, and he is a great cat. He loves attention, will come when you call him, and loves playing with toys. He does enjoy being outside, thanks to the fact that he used to run away, but he always comes back. For anyone thinking that we should keep him inside, please understand that we have tried. Unfortunately, he won't accept it. He will meow for hours straight, knock things over, scratch at the door, etc... until we let him out. He usually just runs out and lays in the grass all day.