A’Lana Bates and her father asked their mother what she wanted for Mother’s Day in 2020 in January. Her response? a white and orange cat.
Bates told The Dodo, “We had a stray turn up in the early ’90s who was an orange and white female and she was the finest cat. A few years after her passing, we got Spooky, an orange and white barn cat who was a pure delight. Mom had been wanting another since his death in 2008”
Naturally, everyone felt the request was adorable and decided to adopt her a kitten in May. Tom, however, arrived.
A stray orange and white cat entered the family’s yard in the middle of a downpour just a few weeks after Bates’ mother made her wish known. At first, he was definitely not what anybody had anticipated, so they couldn’t believe that the sort of cat they had been hunting for had unexpectedly emerged.
Bates said that at initially, the dog was “quite rough-and-tumble and just wanted us to bring him food and drink on the deck.” “Slowly he began to enter the home, but we were unable to touch him.”
It took a very long time to win Tom’s trust, yet he kept returning. He obviously wanted to be a part of the family and felt at home there. It was all a little unfamiliar to him. But his new family was extremely kind with him. He still has his eccentricities, but he appears to have accepted that he is now a part of the family.
Tom enjoys being petted, but if you do so for a second longer than he would like, he will bite you as a warning. Only Bates’ mother is authorized to take him up. That’s how he acquired his name—he is unquestionably more her cat than anybody else’s. Teresa’s Orange is referred to as Tom.
Despite it all, Tom’s family loves him so much, and somehow, they wouldn’t have him any other way.
“Tom wants to be a lover but isn’t sure how,” Bates said. “I am pretty sure the moment he showed up, my folks knew they were keeping him.”
Tom the orange cat showed up exactly when he was needed, and both he and his family are so grateful that they found each other — even though Tom occasionally forgets to show it.
