About Tom’s Obituary
Tom. Sweet Boy. Thomas. Buddy. Tommy Two Tone. Little Dude. Tommy Boy. Fuzzy Boy. Goofy, quirky, tough, tenacious, gentle,sweet and a fighter. He’d run past me, stop in my path and roll over wanting a belly rub. Tom would catch twist ties with his front paws. My little gymnast would jump from table tops to the tops of doors, make vertical leaps attempting to catch birds flying low and once made a graceful leap, like a basketball player making a slam dunk, grabbed the edge of the hanging bird bath and ended up with a faceful of water!
Tom was handsome and often seemed to be posing. He was a cheese connoisseur, the costlier the cheese, the more he begged. Oddly, he loved pastries, coffee cake, donuts, croissants.
Never a lap cat, Tom would snuggle next to me for hours, twisting under my hand until he achieved the perfect belly rub position. Always on my left side, one of his quirks.
He loved being out in the sun, rolling in the grass and making a bouncy walk to the catnip. One summer day the cats were outside (on a tie outs and supervised). I had stepped inside for a moment and looked out to see a coyote approaching! I raced out the door just as Tom charged! The coyote turned tail and ran.
When I put my old throw rugs in the basement, Tom did not approve. He kept dragging them up the steps and tried tried to drag the through the cat door. Of course they got stuck. Repeatedly. After a couple weeks I gave in and let him have a rug back.
Two and a half years ago he became suddenly, severely ill and was diagnosed with kidney failure. The vet didn’t think he would recover. He did. Seven months ago he had a stroke, vet wasn’t optimistic. But he was alert, turning his head when he heard noises in the hall, enjoyed eating and was happy, purring when held. I brought him home hoping to have a few more days. He could only crawl. Everyday he became stronger, after a few days he could stand and walk. After a little more time he managed stairs and jumping on the couch. Soon he was back to his pre stroke condition.
His eyes were those of an old soul. On his last night I held my sweet boy as he purred, looking at me with trust and love until he gently passed away in my arms.
