Baby Tiger
Today has been a sad day in my little world full of cats because Baby Tiger was struck and killed by a car overnight. I was surprised she didn’t come running at the sound of the can of wet food being opened this morning, but thought she might be off somewhere nearby, busy with whatever she was doing. It was only when I was pulling out of the parking lot to go to work that I saw her lying on the road that circles our apartment complex. Immediately I knew it was her and that she was dead. I parked my car and went to pick her up and called Tim to come and help me. I carried her little body to our backyard and set her down. She looked so peaceful, as if she were merely sleeping. Tim told me to go to work and that he would bury her, so I went. It was hard for me to accept that just last night she was sprawled by my front door, enjoying an after-dinner nap, and that this morning she was being buried.
Baby Tiger was just five months old, and during her short life she really touched me. While she only began to trust me exactly a month ago, during that time we interacted a lot. She was the first of her siblings to let me pet her, and I think because she let me pet her, her brother and one of her sisters decided to come and meet me too since they saw that I was nice to her. Baby Tiger craved physical contact, and loved being petted and held. When I stood next to her, she would lean toward me and curl her little tail around my leg. She often sat on my foot or tugged on my shorts. When it rained so heavily nearly two weeks ago and she was drenched, she waited for me outside my door and when I picked her up she didn’t want to leave my arms. Even after she was dry and warm, she wanted to cuddle. I put her down on my kitchen windowsill a few times, and she stretched out a paw toward me each time, as if asking me to pick her up again. She was irresistible, so of course I picked her up again and that day we spent a lot of time cuddling. Baby Tiger loved eating and was a plump, healthy kitten who often took naps while her siblings ran around. That’s not to say she wasn’t active – she also enjoyed playing, whether it was with a piece of string, with an insect, or with her littermates. But she was mellower than her siblings and often just took it easy. She was so affectionate that I will miss her a great deal, my sweet little Baby Tiger.
Her death makes the need for finding the other ones proper homes an urgent matter. I don’t want the same to happen to them. As much as I will miss them, I don’t want to endanger them. I’d been waiting until I could socialize the shy female, whom I’ve come to call Baby Girl, but now realize that I just need to work on finding them homes as soon as possible. The other two, Baby Boy and Splotchy Junior, I think will be easily adoptable because they aren’t so shy and enjoy being petted. And even the shy one has been coming closer and closer to me lately. I’ve managed to pet her a little but every time she jumps away when she realizes that I’m petting her. I think I will finally succeed, though. I want these three kittens to lead good, long, healthy lives where they are loved and properly cared for. I simply cannot have so many cats inside my house, so if I care about these kittens I will have to find them homes. I just wish I’d done this before today because Baby Tiger would still be alive, but on the other hand I know I can’t blame myself for what happened.
It is tragic that Baby Tiger’s little life was cut so short, but I hope that while she was alive she was happy. I think she was. She had her Mama Cat to care for her when she was a helpless baby, her siblings to play with, a steady food supply, and in the last month of her life plenty of belly rubs and cuddling with me. I know she also got love and attention from Debbie and Hannah, and probably from other people too. And I know I’m not the only one who is going to miss her. I left Debbie a note since I didn’t see her, and dropped by Hannah’s place to tell her what had happened. She was saddened by the news since, like me, she had fallen in love with our Baby Tiger.
So now it is time to move on in the sense that I need to take care of the cats who are still with us, but I know I will never forget Baby Tiger. Today was a hard day for me to get through, but Tim was a great help in getting me through it. While he’s not particularly a cat person, he understands that I love the cats dearly and that losing one so tragically was difficult for me. I am grateful for him, for Lena, and for all the other cats. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have animals to dote on.
Baby Tiger was just five months old, and during her short life she really touched me. While she only began to trust me exactly a month ago, during that time we interacted a lot. She was the first of her siblings to let me pet her, and I think because she let me pet her, her brother and one of her sisters decided to come and meet me too since they saw that I was nice to her. Baby Tiger craved physical contact, and loved being petted and held. When I stood next to her, she would lean toward me and curl her little tail around my leg. She often sat on my foot or tugged on my shorts. When it rained so heavily nearly two weeks ago and she was drenched, she waited for me outside my door and when I picked her up she didn’t want to leave my arms. Even after she was dry and warm, she wanted to cuddle. I put her down on my kitchen windowsill a few times, and she stretched out a paw toward me each time, as if asking me to pick her up again. She was irresistible, so of course I picked her up again and that day we spent a lot of time cuddling. Baby Tiger loved eating and was a plump, healthy kitten who often took naps while her siblings ran around. That’s not to say she wasn’t active – she also enjoyed playing, whether it was with a piece of string, with an insect, or with her littermates. But she was mellower than her siblings and often just took it easy. She was so affectionate that I will miss her a great deal, my sweet little Baby Tiger.
Her death makes the need for finding the other ones proper homes an urgent matter. I don’t want the same to happen to them. As much as I will miss them, I don’t want to endanger them. I’d been waiting until I could socialize the shy female, whom I’ve come to call Baby Girl, but now realize that I just need to work on finding them homes as soon as possible. The other two, Baby Boy and Splotchy Junior, I think will be easily adoptable because they aren’t so shy and enjoy being petted. And even the shy one has been coming closer and closer to me lately. I’ve managed to pet her a little but every time she jumps away when she realizes that I’m petting her. I think I will finally succeed, though. I want these three kittens to lead good, long, healthy lives where they are loved and properly cared for. I simply cannot have so many cats inside my house, so if I care about these kittens I will have to find them homes. I just wish I’d done this before today because Baby Tiger would still be alive, but on the other hand I know I can’t blame myself for what happened.
It is tragic that Baby Tiger’s little life was cut so short, but I hope that while she was alive she was happy. I think she was. She had her Mama Cat to care for her when she was a helpless baby, her siblings to play with, a steady food supply, and in the last month of her life plenty of belly rubs and cuddling with me. I know she also got love and attention from Debbie and Hannah, and probably from other people too. And I know I’m not the only one who is going to miss her. I left Debbie a note since I didn’t see her, and dropped by Hannah’s place to tell her what had happened. She was saddened by the news since, like me, she had fallen in love with our Baby Tiger.
So now it is time to move on in the sense that I need to take care of the cats who are still with us, but I know I will never forget Baby Tiger. Today was a hard day for me to get through, but Tim was a great help in getting me through it. While he’s not particularly a cat person, he understands that I love the cats dearly and that losing one so tragically was difficult for me. I am grateful for him, for Lena, and for all the other cats. I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have animals to dote on.
posted by Ana at 21:44
1 Comments:
I am sorry about your cat...Supongo que prefieres mis comentarios en español. Tienes que recordar que aunque si tuvieras que escojer entre repetir tu experiencia con el gatito o que el gatito nunca hubiera existido (Y de esta manera no habría sufrimiento)Seguramente escojerías la primera opción.
Un saludo
Post a Comment
<< Home