True Story of Tom.
It is a BREED of Cat known as the "Russian Blue". The First Ever Recorded appearance of this BREED was in 1875, which is characterised by its slate of bluish Silver color and it is the most expensive cat Breeds in the world.
The first reason of choosing this particular type to embody the character of Tom is that Jospeh Barbara was raising a cat in his house of the Russian Blue Breed & he named him as TOM.
Tom died while chasing a mouse inside a photo processing room, to commemorate his memory, Joseph created the most Famous Cartoons of the History named by "Tom and Jerry".