Then comes the blur – a streak of black-and-white fur tearing through the living room at full speed, skidding around corners, launching into mid-air turns, and play-fighting with the house dog Billie like they’ve been frenemies their whole lives.
“Tommy likes to pounce on Billie or scratch his tail and sprint off so that Billie will chase him! He loves playing catch with Billie, and he runs so fast,” Rebecca John told FMT Lifestyle.
Sometimes, she’s forced to double back just to make sure it was Tommy who zoomed passed her, and not something ghoulish!
You might, therefore, be surprised to learn that not long ago, vets doubted Tommy would ever walk again. As a tiny four-month-old kitten, he’d been bitten, dragged, and thrown around by two stray dogs.
By sheer coincidence, Rebecca had been turning into her neighbourhood after work when she witnessed the horrifying attack.
“I thought that was it for him. Thankfully a guy who was walking with his kid managed to chase off the dogs. After I got back home, I rushed to the scene and found that Tommy had tumbled into a nearby drain,” she recalled.
By the time her husband pulled him out – close to midnight – both of Tommy’s hind legs were badly injured. At the vet, the prognosis was grim. Surgery might be needed. Recovery was uncertain. There was a real chance Tommy might never walk again.
Worse, the vets feared he could lose control of even his most basic bodily functions.
And then came the bill – and with it, another wave of fear. The cost of saving Tommy felt overwhelming. They didn’t know how they were going to manage.
But when all seemed lost, kindness arrived from unexpected places. Friends, and even strangers, stepped forward to help cover the cost of his treatment.
“I don’t know what we would have done if our friends hadn’t helped us. That’s when we experienced kindness,” Rebecca said.
It was during those long, anxious hours at the clinic that Tommy was quietly given his name. For registration purposes, he was simply listed as “Cat”.
But when Rebecca posted about his condition on Instagram, a friend immediately noticed the shoebox they had used to carry him in – a Tommy Hilfiger box.
“He told us, ‘I’m going to call him Tommy from now on,'” she recalled. “And somehow, the name just stayed.”
Like the designer brand, Tommy proved resilient. A second vet suggested acupuncture and, against every prediction, Tommy started using his hind legs again.
“Watching him run now feels unreal sometimes,” Rebecca expressed. “There was a moment when we were preparing ourselves that he would never move properly again. Now he doesn’t even slow down.”
Tommy simply kept moving forward and, somewhere along the way, also decided he was part dog. He carries his toys proudly in his mouth, parading them around the house as if presenting trophies.
“I never thought I’d see a cat do that!” Rebecca added, laughing.
But for all his chaos and comedy, Tommy is also deeply, unmistakably affectionate. He follows her everywhere, like a quiet shadow with whiskers.
“He’s not like most cats at all,” she said fondly. “He doesn’t like being alone. If I leave the room, he follows. If I’m busy, he’ll scratch me just to remind me he’s there.”
Maybe Tommy knows that, if it hadn’t been for Rebecca, he might not have survived or would have been left permanently injured. Maybe he simply loves cuddles and attention.
Whatever the reason, Tommy has clearly learnt how to love without holding back.
This article was written by Dinesh Kumar Maganathan @ FMT Lifestyle. Read more pet stories here.
TELL US ABOUT YOUR PET: FMT Lifestyle readers are invited to send in pictures (landscape format) and a short video (if any) of their furry, scaly or feathered friends to [email protected]. Don’t forget to include details like your pet’s name, age, breed and a short story about them.