Thomas
We adopted Thomas from an animal shelter in the South Side of Chicago.
When we got to the shelter, they said that they only had one kitten left from the litter, a little black one. We had really wanted two (to keep one another company while we’re at work), and were very diappointed. When we mentioned that, the volunteer conceded that there was indeed one other kitten from the litter, but they had him in their medical observation area and they weren’t sure if he was going to make it.
Apparently, when the kittens were brought into the animal shelter, this little guy was found with a chicken bone lodged in his throat. They had removed the chicken bone but weren’t sure if he would eat and were keeping him in observation rather than in the viewing room.
They brought him out to see us and we fell in love with him (and his brother!) immediately. That day, we went home with the black kitten and two days later they gave the orange tabby their seal of approval, and we were able to bring him home to join his brother.
I’m happy to report that now, almost 2 years later, other than having a squeaky meow from the ordeal, Thomas is doing great!
What a handsome brave little fighter. You are wonderful for taking both of them.
Great story and a really sweet & cute kitten. I know they must brighten up your lives.
What a beautiful little kitty and a strong one to boot! What a great story. I love how he is ALL ginger! I’ve never seen one without a little white in there too. How handsome.
he is beautiful! he looks so soft!
That’s a very nice story. I’m glad that Thomas is doing well.
What’s his brothers name and where is his picture? 
ahhhh - what a wonderful story - I love happy endings!!! What a little cutie too - I love orange babies!!!
He’s absolutely adorable!! Love stories like these - you did a great thing - good for you!!!! Does he have double paws?
He has a philosophical look!
I also have an Orange baby names Thomas! Only my boy does have some White on him. Your Thomas is beautiful. Enjoy him and his squeaky meow!
He looks like my ginger kitty, Rattlesnake. And it sounds like he’s just as determined. I love how this story has a happy ending. Enjoy your ginger cat — they truly are quite special.
Both your little guys have happy endings and furrever homes. I’m so glad for both of them and thank you for being an angel to them.
Now that is a seriously ORANGE kitty! Gorjus!
That’s a wonderful story, and bravo for you for not having a lonely kitten. It’s the greatest when they have someone to pal around with. Thomas is absolutely adorable and from the looks of those ginormous paws, he’s going to be a big boy! I’d love to hear his squeaky voice mewing at me!
Thomas is a cutie. Looking at him just makes you all mushy and the heart just go awww! He could break a few hearts with all that cuteness.
Totally reminds me of my kitties. I got the black one first and felt so bad for leaving her littermate at the pet store, I went back for my orange one a day later. When we got him he was very sick, and most of my family thought he wasn’t going to make it…now he’s full of energy and affection.
Seriously waiting patiently for something
Another long anecdote, but surely apprciated by most.
If you have raised kids (or been one), and gone through the pet syndrome including toilet-flush burials for dead goldfish It’s a long story but one that will have you laughing out LOUD!!
Overview: I had to take my son’s hamster to the vet. Here’s what happened:
Just after dinner one night, my son came up to tell me there was something wrong with one of the two hamsters he holds prisoner in his room. “He’s just lying there looking sick,” he told me, “I’m serious, Dad. Can you help?”
I put my best hamster-healer look on my face and followed him into his bedroom. One of the little rodents was indeed lying on his back, looking stressed. I immediately knew what to do. (Call my wife.)
“Sweetheart,” I called, “come look at the hamster!” “Oh, my gosh,” my wife diagnosed after a minute. “She’s having babies.” “What?” My son demanded.
“But their names are Bert and Ernie, Mum!”
I was equally outraged. “Hey, how can that be?! I thought we said we didn’t want them to reproduce!” I accused my wife. “Well, what do you want me to do, post a sign in their cage?!” She inquired. (I actually think she had the gall to say this sarcastically.)
“No, but you were supposed to get two boys!” I reminded her (in my most loving, calm, sweet voice, while gritting my teeth together). “Yeah, Bert and Ernie!” My son agreed. “Well, it’s just a little hard to tell on some guys, you know,” she informed me. (Again with the sarcasm, you think?)
By now the rest of the family had gathered to see what was going on. I shrugged, deciding to make the best of it. “Kids, this is going to be a wondrous experience,” I announced. “We’re about to witness the miracle of birth.”
“OH, Gross!” They shrieked.
“Well, isn’t THAT just great! What are we going to do with a litter of tiny little hamster babies?” My wife wanted to know. (I really do think she was being snotty here, too. Don’t you?)
We peered at the patient. After much struggling, what looked like a tiny foot would appear briefly, vanishing a scant second later. “We don’t appear to be making much progress,” I noted.
“It’s breech,” my wife whispered, horrified. “Do something, Dad!” My son urged. “Okay, okay.” Squeamishly, I reached in and grabbed the foot when it next appeared, giving it a gingerly tug. It disappeared. I tried several more times with the same results.
“Should I call 999?” My eldest daughter wanted to know,” Maybe they could talk us through the trauma.” (You see a pattern here with the females in my house?)
“Let’s get Ernie to the vet,” I said grimly.
We drove to the vet with my son holding the cage in his lap. “Breathe, Ernie, breathe,” he urged.
“I don’t think hamsters do Lamaze,” his mother noted to him. (Women can be so cruel to their own young. I mean what she does to ME is one thing, but this boy is of her womb.)
The vet took Ernie back to the examining room and peered at the little animal through a magnifying glass. “What do you think, Doc, a c-section?” I suggested scientifically. My son appeared impressed by my observation.
“Oh, very interesting,” he murmured. “Mr. and Mrs. Cameron, may I speak to you privately for a moment?” I gulped, nodding for my son to step outside.
“Is Ernie going to be okay?” My wife asked. “Oh, perfectly,” the vet assured us.
“This hamster is not in labour. In fact, that isn’t EVER going to happen Ernie is a boy.”
“What?”
“You see, Ernie is a young male AND occasionally, as they come into maturity, like most male species, they um …. er … masturbate, just the way he did, lying on his back.” He blushed, glancing at my wife. “Well, you know what I’m saying, Mr. Cameron.”
We were silent, absorbing this.
“So Ernie’s just … just … excited?”! My wife offered.
“Exactly,” the vet replied, relieved that we understood. More silence. Then my vicious, cruel wife started to giggle. And laugh. And then even laugh loudly!
“What’s so funny?” I demanded, knowing, but not believing that the woman I married would commit the upcoming affront to my flawless manliness. Tears were now running down her face.
“It’s just … that … I’m picturing you pulling on its … its teeny little …” she gasped for more air to bellow in laughter once more.
“That’s enough,” I warned.
We thanked the Veterinarian and hurriedly bundled the hamsters and our son back into the car. He was glad everything was going to be okay.
“I know Ernie’s really thankful for what you’ve done, Dad,” he told me.
“Oh, you have NO idea,” my wife agreed, once again collapsing into laughter.
Enough said.
LOL- omg that was funny! I can see it happening in our house….;-)
Too funny! I do not remember this happening when I had hamsters or when my daughter had hamsters….but maybe I’ve just blocked it out of my mind…. ;- )
Is that a Froidian block
I cracked up thanks for the good laugh. One New Years Day many years ago my aunt thought their cat was dying so she called the vet at home and he said to bring in the cat Juda to his office. She put a coat on over her pj’s and she and my uncle with serious headaches from the night’s revelry took the cat to the vet. The vet examined the cat and proclaimed the cat was just fine the moaning and rolling around was she was in heat not dying!
Tee-hee-hee… when I bred Maine Coons I had one breeding male and 4 breeding females…there was a brief period of time when all four females (Cassie, Phaedra, Lylah, and Bunny) were in heat and Booger (stud trooper that he was) was trying to attend to them all. I was embarrassed to have company over because of all the amorous goings on! The girls competed for his attention…VERY VOCAL and VERY..well…desparate for love. After the “heats” abated, Booger could only be seen slinking from one hidey place to another to avoid contact with the females and nap!
Oh, how wonderful!!!! Finally, someone else who’s had a cat named Booger!
My cat Booger never got the opportunity, neutered male that he was… just as well, though. I think they broke the mold after he was made.
That’s just too funny! In ‘78, when I graduated 8th grade, my sister gave me a hamster. A couple of weeks later I was concerned about her behavior, and upon looking closly at her, she bit me on the nose! Apparently, she was preggers when my sister got her. I think she had 5 babies. Ended up taking them on vacation since they had to be seperated during that time. We vacationed at the Jersey Shore each year in a bungalow and there’s no TV (yes kids, no TV!) so they were quite the source of entertainment. I also have some great pictures of the hamsters hanging out with Jinx, the cat who owned us at the time.
That happened to people I knew of; the cat had just snagged some cooked mushrooms from her humans, and shortly afterwards was rolling about on the floor, obviously straining herself. Worried at this uncharacteristic behaviour, help was consulted - but before advice could be given, Madame had given birth to kittens…
THis is too funny. Do you publish your stories?
That is absolutely hysterical! You poor thing.
This story reminds me of when I was teaching a mixed class of 9-11 year olds in London in the late 80s. We had a pair of hamsters who in the eyes of the children were happily married. And the female started getting larger. So the deputy head asked one of my children how he knew Mrs Hamster was pregnant. ‘She’s larger’ he replied. ‘But where is she larger’ asked the deputy head, who was not quite convinced that the child knew what he was talking about. ‘There’, said the boy proudly, pointing to the hamster’s cheeks…
No bones about it FUZZ
Orange IS the new pink FUZZ
Thomas is adorable! He looks so soft and sweet. I’m glad he’s doing well now. Are you sure they didn’t just want to keep him at the shelter because of his cuteness?
What a gorgeous little marmalade boy! My Sammy is a stub tailed marmalade with an attitude that’s bigger than he is (something to do with the red head gene I think). Had the stuck bone thing happen to a puppy when I was a kid. He made it too.
If orange were a crime, he’d be on death row (I say that affectionately about my orange boy Charley).
love the picture, cute kitten!
What a hansome kitten
beautiful kitty story, I started to get tears in my eyes.What a handsome orange boy:) Love the hamster story too!
Thomas is lucky to be so loved. What a beautiful soft looking orangey. Is there anything better than cute kittens on a rainy day?
Or a partly cloudy or even a sunny day?
You’re right, of course. Nothing’s better than cute kittens ANYtime.
Even the not so cute ones when I got Taffy he had a half of a tail theother half was amputated and he had three stiches on the end of the stump and a shaved butt. He picked me out of the 10 kittens in the foster mom’s screened house. What is funny Petey was one of the other kittens my neice got him the next day after I told her hubby how much she like him and now I have Petey 11 years later.
How cute! And he looks like a little executive in the chair…
He’ll give you years of happiness.
He looks so very very soft! And oh so handsome…
Chicken probably is not his favorite food anymore. He is so cute and blessed to have a good family and his health. He looks like a little love bug!
How handsome and what a great name. Not informal “Tom” for this fellow
His paws are wonderful and I hope he retained the golden eyes.
Thanks!!! Here’s a more recent shot of him so that you can see his eyes.
WOW!!!! Stunning photo!
I’ll second that motion. But how about a picture of the black one?
Wow. He is such a handsome boy! You are all so lucky to have found one another!
What a stunning cat!
I am HIP-no-tized by those big kitty eyes! What a beautiful pumpkin fuzz-butt. Thanks Kate and well be looking for a post of his black brudder. They would make a perfect Halloween card couple!
He looks alot like my Knucklehead…. but Thomas is oh so much more dignified….. and Knucklehead has green eyes.
Katie! You have the most gorgeous orangie boy I have ever seen. Thank God mine can’t read.
Is there absolutely no white on him? Can I have him please…sigh..
he is even more beautiful now
Melt! He’s a Jungle Cat!
He grew up beautifully.
wow, beautiful as a kitten and majestic as an adult. Bless you for taking in the two little ones. Loved the hamster story, too!!
Thomas is one seriously beautiful cat. Orange cats are such sweeties.
One of the best TDK stories, ever! And I just read that the name “Thomas” is the Greek form of the Aramaic name Te’oma which meant “twin”. It was meant to be that he’d always be with his brother!
Evangeline: You have not posted yet—you did not faint from the orangey cuteness, did you? I know they are your favorite!
Yes Dee, in fact I may not survive this one..OMG! I want one just like Thomas!!!!!!!
No doubting this FUZZ!
Thomas’ story reminds me of my dear, departed Mittens. When we first adopted her from the shelter in Indian Rocks, FL, she was quite sickly. The shelter prescribed these “horse pills” (we called them that due to the size of the prescribed antibiotic relative to the size of our tiny kitten) and recommended that we coat the pills in butter to make them go down easier. By the time the shelter vet realized that Mittens had asthma, rather than an infection, and the antibiotics were doing no good, Mittens had developed such a dislike to the smell of butter that we gave her the nickname “Mantequilla” (Spanish for “butter”). Later, the nickname got shortened to “Monte.”
how cute! Do you still live in Indian Rocks??
Nope–now I live in Texas, in a tiny community called (get this) “Cat Spring.” It was named by the son of the founder who was startled on the family’s first night by the sudden appearance of a bobcat. Apparently, so was the bobcat, whose reaction to the boy gave the town its name.
how interesting!
He sure is one lucky little kitten!
I love orange furries too.
He looks like a miniature version of my Pumpkin.
A wonderful story!
interesting video/story here…
**’Jesus’ Image in Doggie Door Saves Pets**
http://www.local6.com/spotlight/10763493/detail.html
Okay I am just not seeing Jesus in the door it looks more like a pirate.
I don’t see Jesus either…. looks more like a guy in a fez…
Totally separate note.. I lived in that town for 28 yrs.
awwwwwwwwwwwww This cat is so adorable!!!!!
Amazing photo.. Haven’t seen better portrait of a kitten yet… Keep snapping photo shoots..
and most imp Thank god for recovery of Thomas..
awwww…. he looks so velvety soft! I really really love the ginger cats. My best friend, Rachel, has a Nino orangie
OMG!! I just love his color!! Thomas is sooooooooo cute! I wish I could hear his squeaky meow! I just love this picture!! I like how his tail is wrapped around his body!!
Anyone from Southern California here? You got snow? Amazing!!
I just talked to a friend in Costa Mesa, CA she didn’t get any snow just colder than a well diggers tush.
OVER COMER FUZZZ!!! Live and be happy kitty…
If I’m not mistaken, I think the cats that are a solid ginger are almost always male in the same way calicos are female.
What a sweet kitty. He looks like a little lovebug.
**Pooch gets prize for recycling**
A dog that collects rubbish to recycle while she’s on her daily run has been given a special award for her efforts.
Five-year-old border collie Tilly, from Exeter, collects discarded cans and plastic bottles in her local park which her owner then takes home to recycle.
The local council was so impressed with Tilly’s good work, they’ve given her a special certificate and goody bag.
Tilly’s owner Rachel Bratt said the lively pup treated collecting the rubbish as a game.
“It’s fun for her and me and I think it’s good for the environment,” she said.
I sure could use Tilly around my apartment!
We call orange tabbies FOT’s - short for friendly (0r fat) (or frisky) orange tabby…I’m sure you’ve got an FOt there !!!
**~~Make A Wish FuzZ~~**
Thanks everyone for the comments! I’m thrilled that Thomas was selected for the site. For those who asked, here’s a picture of his brother Simon… he’s not quite a kitten in this picture but it’s one of the only ones I’ve got where you can actually make out detail on him - usually in pictures he’s a big black blob!!!
He’s a beauty too! My first cat was a Siamese named Simon. He slept in the sink too. Until he wanted a drink. At which point, he would push the handle until the water came on. Unfortunately he didn’t turn it off when he was finished.
Katie–you have beautiful cats! And with an orange cat and a black cat, you are always ready for Halloween!
Believe it or not, the best estimates of their birthday put it around late October/early November. So we just HAVE to celebrate it on Halloween, given the fact that they’re already color coordinated!!!
I was commenting above about wanting to see his brother and about how they’d look good on a Halloween card!!! How cool that they are born on or close to that date. Thanks for sharing, Kate! They are VERY handsome boys!
He is another handsome one!!! I love the halloween kitties!
He looks like he is a velvet covered stuff kitty so beautiful. What a wonderful pair of furry feline friends you have.
wow you have two of the most purfect kitties
Well, hello there Simon-in-the-sink!
I have the same problem with my Sheba — all black and very tiny, she’s very difficult to get good shots of.
Katie, being an old Southsider where do you live? I grew up in the South Shore area about 2 blocks from Rainbow Beach. I went to grammar school at Bradwell and HS at St. Francis de Sales.
We actually live in Logan Square, on the north side. We were visiting all the shelters in the city to find kittens, and we were fortunate enough to find them at the South Side shelter.
I know your area I moved to Belmont/Harlem area in ‘77 moved to GA in ‘90. I being held captive by a band of crazy people here better know as my family!
he has the same eyes as his brother
i love thomas, he’s my favorite kitty in a long time . it was relaly hard to decide tho!!
Aww,Katie, his bro is beautiful too! Simon has the same eyes! Thanks for sharing..
Katie you have to send this picture of Simon to cats in sinks. It is perfect for that site.
You have beautiful kittys. I just love them.
What a cutie! And a great story too. Dreamsicle kitty
Great JOB- both simon and thomas are very handsome kitties. I bet they bring you lots of joy!
What a beautiful little guy! (He looks just like my cat Forrest, who’s a girl) Ok, I’m sitting here crying from the story. I’m so glad that everything turned out ok and that he gets to be with his brother! What kind caring people you are
Photographic question:
Whenever I take pictures of my darlings if the flash is on it reflects in their eyes, if the flash is off the picture comes out horribly fuzzy. The best I’ve done is lay on the floor on a sunny day with the camera held steady on a book. Is there a good camera or filter for kitty picture taking? What is the secret to these great photos? (Aside from the great subject matter that is)
Thanks for the nice comments.
If your camera has a flash hot shoe (the little bracket on top that a flash can slide into), you can dramatically improve your photos by purchasing an external flash (I use a Canon Speedlight 420ex, which I bought used for ~$150). Then, you aim the flash at the ceiling and it bonces down, creating much more natural looking light. AND then you’re not flashing your kitties in the eyes!
I do some professional photography on the side and that’s my number one most important piece of equipment - more important even than the camera or lens that I’m using.
They’re really easy to use and the results are dramatic. You don’t even need to adjust settings or anything, the camera will do it for you.
Katie, Simon is just as cute as Thomas! Congrats on your photography and keep taking more beautiful pics of your boys. You do a great job! Thanks for the tips!
Here is a petition to sign to support proposal to list Polar Bears as “Threatened”
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/384199995?z00m=9409368&z00m=9409368<l=1169141155
Thank you Dee for the info I signed the other petitions too.
Thomas is a very lucky kitten to be able to be with his brother they will share a bond unlike anyother cats can share. I have litter mate brothers that are never far from each other, groom each other and sleep together and have very similar habits. I d