Hello! I'm Thomas, a very easy-going Norwegian Forest kitten. I was born and raised at a very nice and dedicated breeder somewhere way up north in Holland. The lady who cared for me during my first weeks was extremely kind and she made sure that I'd grow up in perfect health and with the best of care. Then, one day in August 2009, two people came to visit my cat family. They were Christine and Peter and they had driven for more than three hours all the way up here to collect my half-sister Chloe. But in a sense also for me because they had already seen my cute little smoke-black muzzle on the internet and they were very much inclined to take me with them as well. It took some convincing because i was only eight weeks old at the time and for a pedigree cat this is a bit too young. But the lady clearly saw what a big heart Christine and Peter had for cats so eventually she gave in and I went into the box with Chloe for the long trip back to Belgium. I have to admit that i was very much afraid and all of the time I was making squeeky little noises. But Chloe wasn't afraid at all and her presence comforted me, together with the kind words Christine and Peter said in order to put me at ease.
Once we had arrived at their Belgian house, I already started to feel a lot better. The house was really big and had those enormous windows all the way down to the ground so I could look very far into their garden. I also got to meet Canelle and Blu, their other two cats, and since I'm so relaxed I immediately became everybody's little buddy. I always patiently awaited my turn to eat and hungrily emptied all of the little saucers of food. I'm not picky at all and all the leftovers always disappeared in my little tummy.
Then, six months later, disaster struck for the first time. Chloe, my dear big sister, was run over by a car and died. Oh, how much did I grieve... how much did I miss her... Certainly, there was still Blu with whom I got along so well and who omforted me, but things were never really the same after that.
Another couple of months later I suffered another big trauma. Four big men came with a huge lorry and they barged around the house all day long and made a lot of noise. I was so scared that I hid in the back of the garden, under the hedge. Eventually they left late in the afternoon, but still I was stiffened of fear and didn't dare to leave my hiding place, even when Peter started calling me. After half an hour or so he found me and he stretched his hand out for me. I was a bit in doubt about what to do. He called me friendly names but I sensed that something was wrong. When I indicated that I'd rather hide a bit further away, he suddenly grabbed me. I panicked... Why did he grab me? Why did he drag me back to the house where all of these men had been making so much noise all of the time? No... I didn't want to go back there! I scratched Peter... hard... so hard that he's still bearing the signs... But he didn't release me and dropped me inside, making sure that I couldn't go out anymore. What I saw devastated me. The whole house was... empty. Gone were my big cat poles, my sofa, my little carpet... everything was just... gone. I ran upstairs and hid in the only place there was still left: in the shower. There I spent a dreadful and sleepless night, knowing that the nightmare wouldn't end right there.
And I was right. Very early the next morning I heard sqeals from Canelle and Blu. I ran out of the shower and tried to hide behind the bathtub. It took Peter quite some time before he found me and I heard in his voice that he was getting a bit desperate. But eventually he spotted me, dragged me out and shoved me in the biggest cat box, together with Blu. And then we were all carried away. We all cried but to no avail. We were put in a car and drove away... far away... Then we arrived at a very busy place. We couldn't see where we were because the boxes had been covered with a piece of cloth in order to keep us as calm as possible. But I could clearly hear that the place was very big and that there were a lot of people there. Hundreds, maybe thousands! Oh no... I was soooo scared... The worst still had to come! I heard that Peter abandoned us and that our boxes were suddenly grabbed by someone who didn't care as much about us as Peter. The man carried us a long way down, outside to a very noisy place and then inside a kind of trunk. We were in the belly of an airplane!!! The flight took an hour and a half and I've never been through anything so scary in my whole life! It was bumpy... we couldn't see what was going on... the air pressure went down and then up again... We were all so terrified that we didn't make a single sound anymore. And then everything went quiet. We were abandoned again. The place was empty. And then... I heard Peter's voice again!!! He had come to collect us!!! Hurray!!! He opened the cloth a bit and said hello to us! And a couple of minutes later, there was another big surprise: I saw Christine again! She had left us nine months earlier for a reaso which I didn't understand, but there she was! Again we were put in a car and drove for an hour and a half. But I already started to feel a little better because I sensed that the torment would soon be over. We arrived ad a small house. Just a couple of rooms, but reasonably cosy. There we were to stay for three months. I didn't like the idea at all and wanted to go back home. But Christine and Peter made sure that we wouldn't be able to get out for at least a couple of weeks. There I also met another lady cat: Flora. We all hid under the sofa's and didn't get out for days. We didn't make any noises either, apart from the occasional hiss at eachother. But in the end I started to appreciate Flora. After all, she's a very beautiful girl and we started to get along quite well.
Would this be the end of it? No. After three months, we were all put in the car again and we drove off. Only ten minutes this time. And to a place far beyond any of my dreams. To a truly beautiful little house, in the middle of the woods and with a vast field in front of it. It was cat's paradise! It didn't take me long to adjust to this new place and slowly I became happy again. Yes... I was truly happy.
And now... I don't know where I am anymore. My beautiful home, my little paradise has gone. It has been exactly two weeks. From time to time, I think I can hear Christine and Peter call my name in the far distance. But they can't hear me. I really want them to hear me, but they can't. In the meantime the mild spring weather has gone and half a metre of snow fell overnight. I feel lonely... hungry... scared... Where is my warm little home? Where are Christine and Peter? What happened to me? And why? Can anyone please help me? can anyone please bring me home again?
