The Passing of Tiger :(
Well, it’s been a difficult couple of days for myself and my faithful furry companion of 15 and a half years. Tuesday evening I went to pick up Tiger from the vet after his day long observation, exam, and xray. As it turns out, poor little kitty had a tumour growing in one of his lungs and the other lung had started to fill up with fluid - probably related to the tumour. His bones had really become frail and decalcified also. Doctor said it’s most likely cancer of some kind and there’s really nothing we can do about it. I kinda knew that sort of news was coming, but it still took a toll on me. The time had come to put Tiger to sleep, but as fate would have it, the vet wasn’t able to do it right away and I wasn’t quite prepared for it yet myself. So I brought him back home with me and made an appointment for today. Gave the kids a chance to say goodbye and understand that it really was his time to go. I spent as much time with him as I could, making sure he was comfortable, clean, fed and watered, and showered with as much love as he could handle. He slept most of the time and didn’t move hardly at all, but yet when I laid my head close to him, he still managed to purr up a storm. Loving cat to the end.
Not everyone understands the deep bond pet owners have with their pets. For me, often living alone, moving frequently, and far from family - having Tiger around really enriched my life in a lot of ways. Arriving home after a long day at work, being greeted with a meow and a ‘roll over and pat my belly’. hehe. Playing with him .. and boy did he love to do that. One of those cats what liked to hand wrestle, and was really good at it. Relentless really, wouldn’t stop until you yielded to him. lol. I think he tormented more than a couple of my roommates. Another important contribution to my life was knowing that Tiger was home waiting for me, depending on me - so all those ‘dark’ days when I was depressed and discouraged, Tiger pulled me back home and usually cheered me up as soon as I got there. Those two aspects alone, made Tiger a really important part of my life … and 15.5 years … that’s half of my life. Long time! Been a part of my life for a longer period than anyone else on the planet really … especially if you consider time spent together. So it’s no wonder I loved him so much.
So Tiger had a really long and adventurous life. I got him as a xmas gift from my sister back when I was starting college. She did a really good job picking him out at the pet store … out of all the kittens there, she pick the feistiest and most playful one. He spent his first couple weeks living with my mom so that he would be a surprise come xmas time. I need to go find that first picture of him at her place. He was so tiny! and spent most of his time playing in a paper bag .. he loved enclosed places like that for some reason. Crazy cat. For about the first year of his life, he was called “Terminator”. He was absolutely relentless in his destruction. not only clawing up everything in site, but also eating and digging every single house plant within his reach, and even those that were beyond his reach. When I was living in Verdun with 3 other roommates, Terminator had an unusual playmate. One of my roommates, without asking the rest of us, brought home a ferret! And OMG, Terminater HATED that thing. He spent every waking hour hunting it when it was out of it’s cage, and when it was in the cage, he just sat there and taunted it. lol. Didn’t lat long though, at that years end, we moved, as we did almost every year for the next 12 years. Each time, a new apartment, new roommates, and new adventures.
During one of those years while I was at McGill, we lived with Sandy and Kim … and Sandy’s cat (Bailey). I’m still not sure if Tiger and Baily got along or not. I know one thing though, they certainly beat the crap out of each other at times. lol. Baily was an older cat but was pretty tough … in fact, I think he was the densest cat i’ve ever known. Built like a brick. you could hear the thumps and bangs when they chased each other around. lol. It was during that year that Tiger used up one of his 9 lives. I’m still not certain what transpired that day, but it was pretty amazing. We lived in a 4th floor apartment in downtown Montreal. Tiger used to spend a lot of time sitting in the window, ready to pounce on any bird that came close. We had windows ans screens, but he seemed to pretend like they weren’t there. One day, I returned home and realized that tiger wasn’t there. WTF? where could he have gone? on closer inspection, I noticed that one of the screens in my bedroom had a huge hole in it. That window faced the ally, which was literally filled with pigeons. As near as I can figure, little tiger had just about had it with those damn pigeons tormenting him, and jumped through the screen to get at them. And then quickly plummeted down 4 stories onto the cement alleyway below. lol. Realizing this, I quickly ran down there to see if he had survived the fall and if he was still around. Luckily he was … a little bewildered, but completely unharmed. no broken bones or cuts or anything. Crazy stuff. Also on the ground was one dead pigeon. lol. Perhaps he rode the thing down from the 4th floor, I dunno. It’s remarkable that he survived either way.
I have lots of great memories of Tiger .. he was truly the best cat anyone could ask for. Loving, playful, smart, and tough as nails. Loved him dearly for his companionship and loyalty. Today he really demonstrated just how good of a cat he was, one of his last acts on this earth … and it really hammered home what kind of a pet he was. There he is, basically dying on my bed, unable to eat or drink on his own. barely able to roll over or even adjust his position … and he’s got to go pee! Now, in perfect honesty, if it was me lying there in that condition … I’d just let it go and hope I’d understand. But no. This little guy literally drags himself off the bed and across the room to his litter box! imagine that! That is true dedication and kindness … no way was he going to pee in my bed, he was just too good of cat to do that. 
That little act totally blew me away … I didn’t even notice him doing it until my nephew told me …. and I was shocked. Crazy cat.
Hopefully he passed on knowing how much he meant to me, and how much joy he brought into my life … and to those around me also. He had some great roommates also, and was always the centre of focus at the parties we hosted. Loved by all he met. I also hope that his passing was as peaceful to him as it seemed to be for me. I’m glad I had the chance to be at home with him in his final days, certainly made it easier to handle for me and hopefully I was able to comfort him as well. At the very least, he got to spend his last days in the company of loved ones, and not in the cage at the vet’s office. For that I am grateful. He will live on in my memories for the rest of my life.
February 17th, 2006 at 2:21 am
R.I.P. Tiger.