Before SHUA was founded, Kay lived in Pontcanna. A little feral girl called Fluff moved into Kay's front garden and so we put a shelter up for her and starting feeding her. She was pregnant so we had to wait a while before we could have her spayed. All of her kittens were rehomed.
One day Fluff came back to the garden with Tomas (shorthaired tabby) in tow. There was no hissing or slapping; it was as if they knew each other already. You can just imagine Fluff visiting her friend Thomas (who looked like he had lived on the streets for years) and saying 'Hey, your place isn't so tidy is it? Here's an idea - why don't you move into my gaff? It's really nice and they even bring you breakfast in bed!'
So Tomas moved in. He was a street-hardened feral but although he intensely disliked humans, he came to an understanding with Jacqui & Kay and after a while, they were even able to stroke him. Visitors weren't so privileged though and, in fact, if they got too close they would get a good slap! Friends got used to having to phone Kay from outside the house because Tomas wouldn't even let them get to the doorbell!
One day Tomas came home with another female cat in tow who he invited to move in. 'Mummy-Cat', as we called her (longhaired calico - see picture, right, taken in 2004), was very feral and was pregnant. One morning when we came out to check whether she had given birth yet, we found both Mummy-Cat and Tomas standing guard, a little way away from the shelter. We looked inside and found one perfect, teeny kitten. Normally, a feral queen won't let you near her babies and would defend them at any cost. We can't help but wonder if Tomas and Mummy-Cat had had a chat and decided that it would be for the best if the kindly humans raised their baby and found it a better life than they would be able to offer it. So that's what we did.
Mummy-Cat and Tomas were like an old married couple and were inseparable. They slept, ate, lazed around in the sun - did everything - together. Tragically, Mummy-Cat passed away early in 2005. Tomas was absolutely devastated and grieved for many, many months. He became quite introverted and didn't know what to do with himself. He had been alpha-male and leader of the feral colony at SHUA from the outset but after Mummy-Cat died, he lost interest in everything. He stepped down and passed the reins over to a little female called Fabia, who has been head of the colony ever since.
With time, Tomas adjusted to life without his partner. Fabia would often still come to ask advice from time to time and he would always gladly oblige, passing on his wisdom to the young feline padawan. He also made an important decision - to move indoors. He had always, by choice, been an outdoor cat (mainly because Mummy-Cat was far too nervy to come inside and he wanted to be wherever she was) but had obviously decided that the conservatory (or 'silly old sods' wing, as we call it) would serve well as a comfortable retirement home. He was far too old for all of that outdoors malarky!
Over the years, Tomas became more and more tame. Over the past few years he enjoyed cuddles from all of the volunteers but would still very occasionally slap you - and then look at you as if to say 'Hey, why did you stop fussing me? What did I do wrong?!'. We joked that it must have been because he was going senile and so only in his most lucid of moments did he remember that he was a feral cat and that you were the enemy!
Tomas put to sleep on Friday the 10th of November 2006. He had lung cancer. We reckon that Thomas was at least 7 years old when we first met him 7 years ago - which would have made him nearly 14 years old when he died. This is double the estimated life-span for a feral cat and so not a bad age at all. We buried him with his beloved Mummy-Cat, next to Leo (Kay's beloved woofums who also died earlier in 2006.) Thomas will be greatly missed by all of us. Rest in Peace.
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