The Joys, Surprises, and Small Victories of Welcoming Tommy
There’s a special kind of anticipation that fills a house in the days leading up to welcoming a new family member. For us, that excitement was palpable as we prepared for Tommy’s arrival with deep, curious eyes and a tail that seemed to wag with hope itself. After months of waiting, paperwork, and countless dreams of what life would soon become, Tommy finally came home. Now, reflecting on his first month, I’m overwhelmed by the transformation we’ve witnessed, both in Tommy and in ourselves.
Day 1: The First Welcome
As I mentioned through the point of view of my parrot, Elsa, Tommy was a bountiful ball of energy and curiosity. He had to check everything out. One month later, he’s still checking everything out.
Upon reading online about cats in this age range—six, now seven months old—we’re talking about an animal in its adolescent stage of development. He is quite playful, and desires much attention from me and Elsa, who I believe would rather I’d gotten a bird for her to befriend than another cat.
Week 2
Three weeks ago we visited the vet to get him a variety of medicines, topical ointments for ticks and fleas, and vaccine shots. I went again this past week, and he got another booster and was told he needed one more to compensate for the one given him three weeks ago. The vet assured me it would be his last one for two years. I’m sure Tommy liked that more than me, though it cost me in the pocketbook.
Taste of the Outdoors
The day following his shots he got his first taste of the outdoors. As for anything new, there was that moment of reluctance on his part whether he really wanted to go outside. He found some tall grass leaves that he decided to nibble on and then just stepped out and down the steps from my trailer. He cautiously went about sniffing everything around him. He didn’t venture far though and went back inside after maybe five minutes.
Throughout the day though, he went out again two more times, staying out just a little longer each time until I let him in for the evening. He was plenty tired and slept pretty much throughout the night. He got up occasionally to graze on his kibbles or drink water out of his dish or use the litter box.
Yesterday I let him out before leaving for work and he stayed pretty much underneath the trailer until I got home after four. He was definitely happy to see me, and so was Cato, my stepdaughter’s cat. He too is a tom and was remarkably close to Cosmo. He missed him dearly, which was why I got Tommy in the first place.
At any rate, I slowly introduced the two and now are good pals who play all the time. He also likes to eat Tommy’s food. I don’t mind but I think my stepdaughter does since her concern is the different diet Cato has in his home opposed to the kibbles I feed Tommy.
Today, I did the same thing, letting Tommy outside when I left for work. Cato was looking over a mound that I assumed was a recently dug burrow belonging to some rather large rodent such as a gopher or Marmet. Tommy immediately beelined to where Cato was, and I went off to work. This evening when I got home they were both sitting on the steps leading inside the trailer waiting patiently to be let in.
Idiosyncrasies
Tommy’s personality is incredibly unique. He talks all the time and expects me to answer his questions. I see what happens to what he wants or thinks he needs. For the most part he seems to want to ask me about my day. Then there are those times when he wants something: playfulness, pets and rubs, or food that I’m making for myself.
He thinks that my sleep patterns should be like his. I generally am in bed by nine, but he has gotten his second wind by now and wants to play. Then after ten or fifteen minutes he’ll settle down.
After my early morning potty routine, Tommy thinks it’s play time again, in which case he’ll attack my hands or feet, not meaning to bite down hard but on occasion he does, and I promptly punish him for that.
Then at 4:30 he thinks I’ve slept long enough and it’s time for that ball of boundless energy to go running about my bed and meowing at me to get up and go to work. I’ve never experienced a cat like Tommy. Cosmo was quite laid back in comparison.
Jerry Schellhammer 