A Cat Named Tommy Lived 16 Years, But Only One Week of His Life Inside — Pittsburgh Lesbian Correspondents

This is the story of a very specific feral cat by the name of Tommy. It is also parts of the stories of all feral cats.

It is a farewell tribute. It is a call to action.

Tommy first showed up in our backyard in 2017. He was sturdy and ate a lot of food. Having no idea what we were doing, it would be 2018 before we even considered TNR.

Tommy had a lustrous black coat and a proud stance.

In early 2018, he brought some friends from the space we now call Fort Faulsey. Back then it was a dilapidated house where an unknown neighbor occasionally dumped 20 lb bags of cat food on the rotting porch.

The front room of that house was filled with cat food bags. Some colony members slept between them. That house has its own story for another time. But know that it was home for many, many generations of cats who had nowhere else to live.

In early 2018, Tommy came to our deck with his lady friends, now dubbed Mamma Mia and Maylee, plus Mamma Mia’s kittens. Probably Tommy’s kittens, too.

One day, we found one of the kittens crying in distress near our feeding area. We rushed him to the vet, but he had a severe neurological…