So far in my life, I believe we had at least 20 something cats. Most of our cats were supposed to be temporarily hosted here until they found new homes, but none of them found them, so they ended up becoming ours.
Every single one of the cats I've had of the course of my life were all cast offs. They were the cats that no one wanted, because of age, or temperament, or they looked "odd", or the original owners just decided that having a cat was to much work and dumped them.
And every single cat we had we unique in their own ways, and all came out of their shells with a little time and effort. They were all sweet cats, even the formerly feral ones, and even the ones who remained scared and skittish for the entire time they were here.