Tom trapping
TOM
Tom was one of many cats that I trapped, neutered, and released in the spring and summer of 2004. Tom was one of two virtually identical orange tabbies that I trapped, brothers perhaps.
Tom settled down in my back yard, while the other cat moved on. Tom became very friendly with Silver. Tom was also very friendly with me, but wouldn't allow himself to be touched. When I tried to trap other cats, Tom would go into the trap and eat the food. He would sit there unperturbed until I released him. He may be the most trapped cat in the world.
He was comically aggressive towards other cats in the yard, running off when they failed to be impressed. He liked to live dangerously, baiting dogs and cars. These activities seemed to be his version of extreme sports.
One night, after I pulled into my parking place, Tom came running up, stopped and looked at me, then shot up a tree. An enraged dog was right behind. He watched as I shooed the dog away, and then dropped down. His luck ran out in March of 2008. He turned up one morning with a badly injured foot, apparently having cut it too close with a car. He had never let me touch him before, and it took three days before he finally let me pick him up to go to the vet (in a snowstorm on a weekend night, of course). Fortunately, his foot was not as badly injured as it seemed. No bones were broken, and little blood had been lost. After minor surgery and antibiotics, he has recovered perfectly. Unfortunately, he tested positive for Feline Leukemia. (He had tested negative in 2004.)
I was living in a small apartment with four cats, so this created a difficult situation. I had to keep Tom in the bathroom until he recovered. Tom had never been inside or been handled before, so this was very difficult for him. Within a few weeks, he had calmed down enough to lie in my lap purring. Normally, I take months or years to bring a feral inside, but Tom's accident and leukemia prevented that. I found a place for him to live with other FeL poz cats. It took him a few months to adjust to living with other cats and people, but Tom he eventually fit in.
Tom and Silver: Lions in Winter