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A story, by definition, is a depiction of a journey. Sharing the bits and pieces from of our life-long adventures has an immense power to bring us all together, strengthen our bonds and fortify our friendships. And today, we are taking you for a stroll through one more meowical journey from the family of Basepaws. Dear furriends and pet hoomans, please meet Stacey and her fur-baby Basepaws cat Tom Petty.
Tom Petty, or better known as Thomas, is a curious pet who never fails to riddle his favorite hooman Stacey. He shares his warm home with three incredible furballs: a baby feline sister Hermione and two canine siblings, Milo and Maizie. Sadly, the pawesome quartet recently lost two darling additions, Stacey's senior cats:
"Delilah, who I recently put to sleep, was my best girl and my ride or die. My heart hurts so much. And it is with a heavy heart that I tell you that we also lost Samson (Delilah's littermate) shortly afterwards. His health (and spirit) declined quite rapidly after we lost Delilah. And even more so the last week that we had him. " – confided Stacey in us.
Luckily, together with the rest of his fur-siblings, Tom Petty is doing the World's best job to instill within Stacey and her family a tremendous amount of love and happiness.
Baby Basepaws cat Tom Petty getting to know Delilah and Samson
Tom Petty is a rescue kitty found and saved by his hooman when he was just 5 weeks old: "Thomas was found under some pallets on a loading dock at my old office. Someone else tried to take him home, but her boyfriend disagreed. I took him home the next day, which happened to be the day Tom Petty passed away (RIP). I am a huge Tom Petty fan, so I named Thomas after him." – still getting adjusted to the new family, he seems to have found a soft spot in everybody's heart already – "He becomes more and more like a house cat each day. He is more and more affectionate with me (boops and rubs)."
Basepaws cat Tom Petty: "The day we found Thomas" – pet hooman Stacey
"Cat rescue is like a virus." – says Des placidly about the cat obsession that has taken over his life – "And once you're infected, it's incurable." ~ Denise Flaim, Rescue Ink: How Ten Guys Saved Countless Dogs and Cats, Twelve Horses, Five Pigs, One Duck and a Few Turtles.
Thomas loves to climb and purr his days off on the top of his cat tower. Although a "mama’s boy" who "suckled on Stacey's night shirt before bed time every night since she brought him home.", Tom Petty is a true wild child with a silly personality. His wild nature, improbable personality and unique appearance have always tickled Stacey's curiosity.
"I was told by several vets that he looks a lot like a Bengal. He has a lot of the characteristics of a Bengal (wild, talkative, etc.), so I was curious." – to Stacey's biggest surprise – "Thomas is not part Bengal at all! His DNA was a close match to Abyssinians! He looks nothing like an Abby. But the description of the Abby is dead on. It describes him purrfectly!"
Basepaws cat Tom Petty Now
While the miniature cougars of the cat world were Thomas's closest match, his was also found to be similar to Egyptian Maus and American Shorthair cats. Even more impressively, he is more alike to "The King of the Jungle" than 100% of cats too! And what a privilege for us to get to know him!
Basepaws cat Tom Petty playing with his new baby sister Hermione
"Thomas is a little chatterbox. He is constantly making noises and talking to me." – told us Stacey about her cat's silly personality – "He is my wild child". Tom Petty is a healthy and happy young cat who chose just the right family to spoil him. Because he is a rescue, nothing is known of his familial history.
With the little bit of meowic of sequencing, hopefully the Basepaws science team can come to the rescue very soon. Stacey, thank you for bringing Thomas over to our side and thank you for sharing your touching story with our community. Meow!