Tommy, a one-and-a-half year-old Tabby, is in love, but not with another cat.
He grapples with the object of his affections, making loud mewling noises that are both adorable and pitiful.
The noise he makes can be spelt phonetically – “oh-ngaaa?” – with a lilt at the end, as if he is asking a question. It is the cutest sound, one that never fails to make his human family smile.
Tommy, or Tommycat as he is often called, is head over heels with a stuffed cow, Moo-Moo.
He has clearly forged a bond with the toy, nuzzling and licking it, gripping it and tumbling over with Moo-Moo in his paws. Needless to say, his other toys don’t receive the same amount of affection.
His human, Nick, likens Tommycat’s Moo-Moo to a toddler’s “smelly blanket” – a source of immense comfort.
“Once, Moo-Moo fell into the drain and had to be given a bath,” Nick says.
“Tommycat went about the house looking for Moo-Moo and when he saw Moo-Moo soaking in a bucket, Tommy stood on his hind legs and tried to reach for his toy, meowing as he did. It was the cutest, and saddest, thing,” Nick says with a laugh.
Nick tells FMT that Tommycat had been abandoned at around three weeks of age.
“He must have been the runt of the litter as we found him on the road in front of our house in December 2019. We were worried that he might be run over, so we picked him up and brought him inside.”
Nick’s family very quickly had to learn the ropes of taking care of a kitten. They had two dogs at home, Ashley and Kerbie, but they had never looked after a cat before – much less one that was so tiny.
“When we found him, he had barely begun to open his eyes. We had to learn how to feed him from a bottle, and how to massage him to help him relieve himself,” Nick explains, referring to how mother cats lick their babies to stimulate their reflexes.
It wasn’t long before Tommy was learning to walk and, over time, began to explore the area of the house that was “his”.
Nick explains: “We had gated off a section of the living room so that Ashley and Kerbie wouldn’t get too excited and cause him any harm or alarm.
“We needn’t have worried – the dogs were good girls who observed Tommy curiously but calmly.”
As the months went by, Tommycat got bigger, braver and stronger, eventually venturing beyond the boundaries of the gated section and exploring the house.
He also began interacting with Ashley and Kerbie. The dogs were fascinated by their new furry friend who was growing before their eyes.
Kerbie, the more playful of the two, was especially delighted to have a new playmate. “Kerbie and Tommy very quickly became fast friends, chasing each other around the house and generally making a ruckus,” Nick laughs.
Today, Tommy is a confident adult Tabby who shows no sign of ever being the runt. The dogs are not allowed upstairs, but the rule does not apply to King Tommycat, who even sleeps in his humans’ bedrooms as he desires.
He is always the first to rush out of the front door when the furkids are let into the garden and is the last to go back in, always keen on exploring new ways to escape the confines of the front yard.
“We’ve had close calls where Tommy escaped,” Nick says, going back to the reason Moo-Moo fell into the drain and had to be bathed.
“Tommycat had found a way out of the garden and we were worried about his safety. So, Moo-Moo became the unwitting bait to lure him back home.
“Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn’t – Tommycat learns fast and is anything but gullible.”
Tommy might be their first cat but Nick is hopeful there will be more felines in their future. With Ashley and Kerbie literally and figuratively nipping at Tommy’s heels, however, the family is in no rush for any more additions.
They are content with the sound of Tommy’s scampering; the knocking of items off the edges of things; the claw marks and 3am “zoomies”; and the affectionate, almost indignant “oh-ngaa?” as Tommycat wrestles and cuddles his Moo-Moo – feline and bovine wrapped in a furry embrace.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR PET: FMT Lifestyle readers are invited to send in pictures (landscape format) and a short video (if any) of their furry, scaly or feathery friends to [email protected]. Don’t forget to include details like your pet’s name, age, breed and a short story about them.