A Tribute To My Sweet Tiger

Life isn't fair - ok, I know that. "It doesn't rain but it pours." I've heard that one all my life, but I wasn't ready for this - I really really wasn't. Thursday evening after we'd lost Moki to old age that morning, I noticed that Tiger was acting funny so the next morning we called for an appointment with our vet not really thinking that there was anything serious wrong but it seemed prudent to have him checked. Between 1 and 2:30 that afternoon, we discovered that his abdomen was full of fluid, not just bulging some from his eating better over here at Mom's than he did at home when I wasn't there. The next shock was from the ultrasound and the tube of bloody fluid they withdrew from his abdomen. The ultrasound showed a mass on his liver and the fluid was full of cancer cells. So, because we didn't want to prolong his suffering, we had him put to sleep. In the space of 36 hours, we lost two beloved members of our family.

Tiger was a very shy cat. If someone came to the house about all that they'd see of him was a tail vanishing up the stairway. That shyness made our first meeting very unusual. Someone had dropped 4 or 5 young kittens along the road out by the farm. All but Tiger were hit and killed by cars, but Dad found him and carried him home. Mom describes Dad looking like he'd found the "Hope Diamond". When I went for a visit a few weeks later, I was sitting on the couch when two small brown ears appeared at the screen door. Dad warned me that Tiger might not come in if he realized I was there or if he did, he would probably hide. Dad opened the door and 15 seconds later I had a kitten in my lap. It was as though he could see that big "SUCKER" sign blinking over my head.

That fall, I convinced Mom & Dad to take Tiger to the vet and I'd keep him for them while they were in Florida. He was a very cuddly cat and helped me get through losing Patches, our almost 23 year old cat that next spring. When Mom & Dad came home from Florida, I took Tiger back out to the farm but he was moping - much like he moped and quit eating during this last month when I was staying with Mom and he was over home with DH. Back then Mom called and asked if I would consider taking him back - my reply was that it was a 45 minute drive & I'd be there in 10 minutes. Ok, an exaggeration and I didn't break any speed limits, but I was that eager to have Tiger back. That was in 1994 and he's been my companion ever since. I called him my "velcro kitty" because, like Patches before him, he was usually with me - sitting on my lap while I blogged or web surfed, curled beside me on the couch while I read or next to me under the covers of the bed while we slept. It seems so strange not to have him on my lap as I sit typing this but I don't think he would have appreciated my tears falling on his head. He was almost 14 and I'd hoped to have at least a few more years of his company but I'm so thankful for the ones I had and especially for the last few weeks when he was living with me at Mom's. Without those, I'd be more of a basketcase than I am now. Rest in peace, sweetheart. Mommie misses you so very much.

An Ode To My Monster

We lost our oldest cat last night. He passed away in his sleep sometime between 3 a.m & 7 a.m. Moki (aka The Monster) would have been 18 on the 2nd of April. He was one of a litter of three kittens that were born to a friend's female cat and at the time we were working at a shop with an abundance of mice. The owner wanted to have a resident cat so at age 6 weeks, Moki took up residence. He wasn't all that much bigger than the mice, but he grew rapidly with all the pampering. DH & I were usually the first ones there in the morning and even before we pulled into a parking space, Moki would be running from window to window to greet us. His morning treat was canned cat food and I'd divide the can like a pie into six wedges for Monday - Saturday. But Moki was a con-kitten - one Saturday he managed to convince the various co-workers who showed up at different times that no one had been there yet to feed him. As a result, he managed to scarf down 5/6th of a fresh can over the course of the day - something we didn't realize until we compared notes on Monday.

When the company went out of business a couple years later, we volunteered to take Moki and he was part of our family from then on. He grew into being a large cat, affectionate, loud, at times exasperating, but lovable. His early housemates, Patches & Sparky, passed on at 23 & 18, and he was joined by Tiger (who will be 14 this year) and Callie (approximately 12 or 13 now). We often described Moki as being "dumb as a box of rocks", but it was said with affection. I'm going to miss waking up to find that my neck is cricked because he stole my pillow in the middle of the night. Rest in peace, my sweet Monster.