Goodbye, pretty kitty cat
My cat Tiger Lily, was put down today. She was eleven years old, and this is the first time she's been unwell. She spent all Thursday sleeping on my bed, then when Nathan put her off it when it was our bedtime, he noticed her back legs were not holding her up. He put her on the couch, and she stayed there overnight. I actually ended up "sleeping" on the couch with her, partly b/c I was worried. I didn't get much sleep b/c of the way she always tried to merge with me when we were cuddling, and her very loud purr. The next day I made a cozy nest for her out in the garage after she peed a couple of times; I figured that when cats are ill they like to hide away to heal anyway.
So there was no improvement over the weekend. Today I booked a vet visit, and were able to get in basically straight away. When I picked her up to put her into the box, I noticed her eyes were all gunky, then when I looked closer, they looked all milky white.
The vet said she had a lump in her belly the size of a golf-ball; that coupled with the blindness probably meant lymphoma, and that steroids wouldn't do much to help. He suggested putting her down; I had already prepared myself for the possibility. Thank heaven Nathan was working from home today so he could come with us. He wasn't going to, but when Tiger tried to climb out of the box when it was in the car, I asked him to drive so I could have her on my lap. Also, he was able to take Josh out of the surgery so I could stay with Tiger in her last moments. My hands were shaking so much when I was signing the form.
I found Tiger Lily on New Year's Day 1998 in my backyard, this so pretty kitten, white and gray, a colouring I'd never seen before. She'd been tossed over the fence by a neighbour's kid. Another neighbour told me who she belonged to, and she said she'd go and let them know I had their cat. Well, they didn't appear until the next day, by which time it was too late - Tiger Lily had stolen my heart. I'd already given her a name and had booked her in to the vet for her shots, so I lied and said she'd gone. They said her name was Lily! How's that? I've always said she and I had a special bond. I knew her sex and age (3 months) before the vet confirmed it, and I also knew her name. (And no, she wasn't named after Tiger Lily Hutchence - she was named after the Indian Princess in Peter Pan.)
A couple of months later the neighbours cut open our flywire and took Tiger Lily away. As we arrived home that evening, we saw the girls walking by, holding something, and we made some joke about them having burgled our house. Then we heard a car leaving their property. About a week later we heard them nailing a board over their broken window, and we figured they were bringing her back from whereever they'd spirited her away to; I felt confident we'd have her back soon, b/c I knew these people would never have the self-control to be able to keep her indoors. Lo and behold, a couple of days later I was opening a tin when in through the back door walked a very dirty and hungry flea-ridden kitten.
She chose me.
I allowed her plenty of opportunity to go back to them if that's what she wanted, but evidently she did not. So for eleven years Tiger Lily has been my cat, and I have been her human. I know full well I was her favourite person in the world, and I loved her. The suddenness of her illness has been both a shock and a blessing - she didn't suffer much.
This video was taken only a month ago: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=SHVRwB8Mqvw
Princess Tiger Lily Bad-Ass Jones (she was called Jones before I ever knew Nathan!)
October 1997 - October 2008
Some songs we used to sing to her:
"Tiger Lily, Tiger Lily, tiny little thing; Tiger Lily dance; Tiger Lily sing. Tiger Lily, what's the difference if you're very small? When your heart is full of love you're nine feet tall."
"Ti-iiii-ger Lilyyyy, I remember yoooo-uuuu. Every time I hear this song, Tiger Lily roll along, until the end of time."
So there was no improvement over the weekend. Today I booked a vet visit, and were able to get in basically straight away. When I picked her up to put her into the box, I noticed her eyes were all gunky, then when I looked closer, they looked all milky white.
The vet said she had a lump in her belly the size of a golf-ball; that coupled with the blindness probably meant lymphoma, and that steroids wouldn't do much to help. He suggested putting her down; I had already prepared myself for the possibility. Thank heaven Nathan was working from home today so he could come with us. He wasn't going to, but when Tiger tried to climb out of the box when it was in the car, I asked him to drive so I could have her on my lap. Also, he was able to take Josh out of the surgery so I could stay with Tiger in her last moments. My hands were shaking so much when I was signing the form.
I found Tiger Lily on New Year's Day 1998 in my backyard, this so pretty kitten, white and gray, a colouring I'd never seen before. She'd been tossed over the fence by a neighbour's kid. Another neighbour told me who she belonged to, and she said she'd go and let them know I had their cat. Well, they didn't appear until the next day, by which time it was too late - Tiger Lily had stolen my heart. I'd already given her a name and had booked her in to the vet for her shots, so I lied and said she'd gone. They said her name was Lily! How's that? I've always said she and I had a special bond. I knew her sex and age (3 months) before the vet confirmed it, and I also knew her name. (And no, she wasn't named after Tiger Lily Hutchence - she was named after the Indian Princess in Peter Pan.)
A couple of months later the neighbours cut open our flywire and took Tiger Lily away. As we arrived home that evening, we saw the girls walking by, holding something, and we made some joke about them having burgled our house. Then we heard a car leaving their property. About a week later we heard them nailing a board over their broken window, and we figured they were bringing her back from whereever they'd spirited her away to; I felt confident we'd have her back soon, b/c I knew these people would never have the self-control to be able to keep her indoors. Lo and behold, a couple of days later I was opening a tin when in through the back door walked a very dirty and hungry flea-ridden kitten.
She chose me.
I allowed her plenty of opportunity to go back to them if that's what she wanted, but evidently she did not. So for eleven years Tiger Lily has been my cat, and I have been her human. I know full well I was her favourite person in the world, and I loved her. The suddenness of her illness has been both a shock and a blessing - she didn't suffer much.
This video was taken only a month ago: http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=SHVRwB8Mqvw
Princess Tiger Lily Bad-Ass Jones (she was called Jones before I ever knew Nathan!)
October 1997 - October 2008
Some songs we used to sing to her:
"Tiger Lily, Tiger Lily, tiny little thing; Tiger Lily dance; Tiger Lily sing. Tiger Lily, what's the difference if you're very small? When your heart is full of love you're nine feet tall."
"Ti-iiii-ger Lilyyyy, I remember yoooo-uuuu. Every time I hear this song, Tiger Lily roll along, until the end of time."