Tommaso, the former stray cat from Rome, is the world’s richest cat.

Since the death of his 94-year-old staff last month, he has become a property magnate — or perhaps mognate — with flats and houses worth millions scattered from Milan in the north to Calabria in the south.

Tommaso’s staff person and primary carer was the childless widow of a successful builder. She searched for a suitable animal welfare organisation to which she could leave her fortune, but she couldn’t find one that guaranteed the loving care she wanted for her precious cat.

One afternoon she met a fellow cat-admirer – named only as Stefania – in a park. “Sometimes I’d go to her house so my cat could play with Tommaso,” Stefania said.

As the old lady became increasingly frail, Stefania, a nurse, began to take care of her.

Under Italian law, animals cannot inherit directly. But they can be beneficiaries if a suitable trustee is found. The elderly widow decided to entrust the cat – and his fortune – to Stefania.

Tommaso’s trustee, who is now looking after him an undisclosed address outside Rome, said: “I had no idea the signora had such wealth.”

But the fortune pales by comparison with that of Gunther IV, an Alsatian who inherited from his father Gunther III, the pet of a German countess. According to the Pet Gazette, he is worth around $372m.

The richest cat was previously thought to be Blackie, who was left $9 million by his reclusive British owner in 1988.

Jack the Cat, the feisty feline who has been missing at New York’s JFK Airport for two months, has been found in the airport customs area and is doing well.

According to a post on the official Facebook page for American Airlines, a team of workers found Jack yesterday – and he is doing fine at a local vet after his lengthy airport adventure.

“American Airlines is happy to announce that Jack the Cat has been found safe and well at JFK airport.

Jack’s Twitter account, which sprung up following his disappearance, read “Well it was a good run. See you soon, California ”.

In the middle of the daily routine of dodging bullets and ducking from airborne bombs, these stunning Big Cats also have to contend with poachers, murderous shepherds and being trapped for the illegal pet trade.

Would you buy a Snow Leopard for a pet? Lots of people do. And lots more people insist on a coat made from the fur of a once living, and beautiful, creature.

Snow Leopard fur is thick of course, it’s pretty cold up in the mountains and this is what appeals to the gross humans who wrap this hacked-off fur around their own bodies when they don’t need to! No, people have clothes but they insist on wearing furs because they think it makes them look attractive. Fur is more attractive on the Snow Leopard, take my word or it.

Why can’t the fur coats be made with blood and lumps of gristle still on?

Why can’t these coats drip blood as the wearers swan down the street?

Snow leopards live in really high places, up between 3,000 and 5,500 metres (9,800 and 18,000 ft) above sea level in the rocky mountain ranges of Central Asia. There are about 3,000 to 6,000 of them left – which is a lot more leopards than there are tigers.

You can clearly see that they’re superb examples of adaptation. All cats are extremely well adapted but these wild cousins of mine who live in the cold places really have my respect.

Their bodies are stocky, their fur is thick, and their ears are small and rounded, all of which help to minimise heat loss. Their paws are wide, which distributes their weight better for walking on snow, and have fur on their undersides to increase their grip on steep and unstable surfaces.

Their long tails fascinate me. In their rocky home, a cat needs a long tail for good balance. The tails are nice and thick too, (fat storage) and with even thicker fur. With a tail like this, a cat can wrap it around his face for extra warmth and protection from the snow when taking a nap.

Can Big Cats win the war in Afghanistan? Can they last longer than the humans who kill each other there?

If no person wore a fur coat ever again, there might be some hope.