TIGER
1982-2000
IN MEMORIAM

Tiger (pictured here on the right) was a member of my family for 14 years.  That may be hard for people who have never had pets to understand.  But surely it is a feeling that all pet owners can relate to.  At the age of 18, he passed away due to complications related to the diabetes that he fought so gallantly for many years.  He overcame many odds in his time and was in many ways a remarkable cat.  I'd like to take some time to let you know more about his life.

Apparently he was born in 1982.  To be quite honest, this is not something we were sure of until his passing, because we adopted him in 1986.  After the passing of our prior cat, Pee Wee, with persistence from myself and my sister Kathy, we went to a local chapter of the ASPCA (which is the last stop for many stray cats before being put to sleep).  We were only looking for one cat.  We figured that the most humane thing to do would be to take the cat first in line to be put to sleep.  Turns out there were two cats on death row.  There was Waverly (to the left of Tiger in the picture), and there was Tiger.  Waverly was a rather lovable, lively cat and an easy choice.  Tiger, on the other hand, was a badly injured cat with a noticable limp in one leg.  You see, his prior owner accidentally dropped a speaker on his leg, which caused a bone fracture.  Being the great guy he was, he gave the cat up to the ASPCA (jerk).  We were told that he would never be able to walk normally again.  That left us in a rather difficult position.  Sure, we could just take this one lively Waverly and leave the gimp Tiger behind, but we would have never forgotten the decision to leave him for death.  It was like we were meant to take him in, in some strange way.  So we did.  And we left the ASPCA with two cats, not just one.

Little did we know at the time how far off the doctors were.  Tiger not only regained full use of his leg over time, he became a full out sprinter!  Dashing back and forth through our apartment, and thoroughly crushing Waverly in every violent encounter they ever had (we always joked that Tiger was an undefeated champion).  It was inspiring to see how he overcame his injury, and I kid you not when I say that it provided some motivation for me to overcome my nagging knee problems through high school.  Hey, if a cat can be that tough...

Whereas Waverly is the love-hungry, jealous cat, Tiger was the GQ smooth, laid back, "don't worry, be happy" type.  No stress in his life.  No worries.  He was never as obsessive in obtaining our affection as Waverly, but it was very clear that he appreciated our company.  Be it when my father was getting ready to go to work, or when I was watching TV, he had a way of saying "hello" that added a special something to every day with him. 

As Tiger began to age, he developed a case of diabetes.  This required daily shots of insulin and a well-balanced diet.  With myself and my sister off in college, the brunt of this burden fell on my parents to administer this care.  He slowly began to lose weight, which increased concern in our family about his health.  But this started many years ago.  He fought the diabetes and outlived all expectations.

However, in the end, the diabetes and old age caught up with him.  He lived a full life though, and we will always remember him as being a member of our family.  That is why, with his passing, that I felt the need to do something in memoriam.  For he is worth no less, and now I can give him no more.