On Monday we had to say goodbye to our beautiful cat Tijger. I took her to the vet only the Wednesday before because she wasn't able to keep the little food she ate down and had actually stopped eating the days before the appointment. It turned out she had an inflammation of the pancreas and in the days that followed she was in and out the animal hospital and back again and our hopes that it was going to end well diminished quickly. But still... you keep on hoping that things will miraculously improve. Sadly they didn't.
Tijger wasn't very old yet although we don't know her exact age because we adopted Tijger from the animal shelter a few years ago. When we just got her I actually was a little afraid of her. She kept attacking my feet guerilla-style, when I least expected it. You can only guess at what happened before she ended up in the shelter. She had a fear of garbage trucks and vacuum cleaners but loved sitting in the sun and licking drops of water from the bathroom tiles. This seemed a little bit out of character as she was a stylish cat with a gift for giving the most delicate head bunting on the planet. We always called her walking to the bathroom after we had just finished showering 'the walk of shame', as she always looked at us as if to say 'yes, I know it's odd but I just got to lick the tiles dry'.
'Guerilla'-Tijger turned out to be a shy, but very sweet cat with a good dose of 'cattitude' and we all miss her a lot (except Milo our other cat, they never got along). I still expect to see her waiting on the stairs when I walk in the front door, or sleeping on our bed. Or waiting by the bathroom for her shower-inspection. We will miss her amazingly soft fur, the tiny dark patch between her white toes that made it look like she wore flip-flops, the white spot on her dark nose, the kitten-like 'meow' (she was quite small) when she was about to get her dinner.
We tried everything (well the vet and animal hospital did) to save her but couldn't. At least there is some comfort in the thought that we gave this fabulous, charming cat a good home for a couple of years. So...give your pet an extra cuddle today from me and keep an eye on your cat if they are not eating. Even if it's just for a day or two.
p.s. Many thanks to all the lovely people who commented on my Instagram post about Tijger. I really appreciate it. xo
