Thomas - A Kindred Spirit

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A Kindred Spirit
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Thomas' Tragedy
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THOMAS - A KINDRED SPIRIT

Background

Thomas was a Cinnamon Abyssinian and was born on February 20, 1998 in Wamboin, Australian Capital Territory. His Pedigree name was Aureate Sidhu. He was one of four in his litter and had one Tawny sister and two Tawny brothers. One of his brothers also came to live with us (Edward). We had only planned to get one cat and we had viewed the litter when they were six weeks old to make our choice - at that stage Thomas was already spoken for and we had wanted a tawny. When we went to collect Edward, we were told that Thomas' sale had fallen through and that he was being taken to a cat show on the following weekend in the hope of finding him a new family. On the drive back to Sydney my husband and I both voiced that we would love to have taken the little cinnamon boy.....we new we had to act quickly so two days later we went back to Canberra to pick him up!

Thomas was named after Thomas Dolby, the British pop music artist. As time went by he also became known affectionately as, "tommy tipee", "psycho kitten", "possum magic", "hyped-up loon" and "little sun". He was a large and muscular adult cat, weighing about 6 kilograms. One of my favourite things about him were his beautiful pink paw pads - mmmmm...

Character

Thomas was a purrsonality plus cat. He was always close by to lend a hand or just closely observe. He had a hunger for adventure and an endless supply of energy and enthusiasm. Perhaps one of the most endearing aspects of his nature was his strong sense of nurturing and mothering, both towards both human and feline members of the family. However, for the first year of his life he was quite reserved and his body always felt tense when we would give him a hug. Fortunately, after the tree incident, he became extremely affectionate - always seeking our hugs, kisses and snuggles. He slept with us most nights in the middle of us both, and loved being completely covered by the doona.

Health

Thomas was never really in the best of health. He suffered from a chronic skin condition and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) as a result of severe food allergies. About 12 months before he died, we managed to find one type of dry cat food (Iams Lamb and Rice Formula) which he was able to tolerate. His IBD improved greatly and we managed to keep his skin under control with daily cortisone tablets.

It seemed like we were always rushing Thomas to the vet for some reason - feline acne, infected anal glands and a bite to the tail (as a result of one of his escapes), just to name a few. However, one of the more serious issues was a tremor which developed suddenly. A series of tests were conducted by our vet, all of which were inconclusive, so Thomas was referred to a neurologist. She too was unable to find a cause for the tremor which eventually disappeared shortly before he died.

His Special Role

It is really hard to express in words the dynamic little character that he was. For me, he was someone I never thought I would be able to live without. I have suffered from depression for some years and he and his brother were bought for me as part of my therapy. Thomas always new when I was really low - he would just come and sit next to me, cuddle up and give a caring meow. In many ways I came to depend on him - his unconditional love and his strength. Some days I would just lie my head on his tummy and cry - not once did he try to pull away but rather, would comfort me with his purr.

Thomas faced many of his own hardships throughout his short time here with us (see Health and Thomas' Tragedy) but it always felt like he put my pain and suffering before his own.

I could never begin to explain how lost and empty I feel without him. He gave me strength, joy and a reason to carry on and has enriched my life in a way that will change me forever.

He was my baby, my companion and my friend. May his precious soul rest in peace.

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