# In Memory of my angel Tiger



## MEOWx4 (Apr 22, 2009)

I thought I would share the story of my beautiful Tiger in heaven as she meant the world to me. It has been a little over a year since we lost her, but sometimes it feels like yesterday. So many days I wish I could head over to my Dad's and visit her, but I know she's not there 

On August 24, 1998 when I was 16yrs old I was in a horrible car accident that claimed the life of my best friend and her boyfriend. I had spent 3 days in the hospital with a broken jaw, 21 stitches in my left thigh, several cuts and bruises all over my arms and legs, broken teeth, and most of all a forever broken heart. For months prior I had been asking my Dad if we could get a second cat, because our cat Teenie had taken a liking to him and really spent no time with me, but he'd always say "No, we don't need another cat". When I got home from the hospital my Dad couldn't resist, he knew I needed a companion to help me through this difficult time, so that weekend he took me out to adopt a kitty. I hobbled around on my crutches in search for my new companion, the last place we checked out was a Petsmart that had a Saturday adoption going on, and there I found Tiger. She was about 4 months old when we adopted her and her foster mom explained that she had found her in a parking lot as a kitten near death. The vet told her the outcome was most likely not good but the lady refused to put her down and did everything she could to nurse her back to health, and sure enough she did! I felt an instant bond with Tiger, she had been through so much and so had I. 

For days and months to come she'd sleep on the recliner in the living room with me as I was unable to sleep laying down in bed due to my jaw pain. She provided me comfort and companionship during the most difficult times in my life and for that I was eternally greatful, she meant the world to me. 

When I decided to move to Georgia in 2004 I had to leave Tiger with my Dad, it was the only home she'd known and she had an attachment to his cat. Everytime I came home to visit she was always happy to see me and would come up on my lap so I could scratch her face like she liked. Even though I had to move on without her with me my Dad and I always considered her to be my cat, it was hard to not be able to take her with me but I knew it would have been harder on her if I had taken her away. When I moved back here to CA I was able to visit her more often and I was always so happy to spend time with her. 

Early December of 2007 my Dad called me to let me know he was taking Tiger to the vet because something didn't seem right with her. He realized she wasn't eating her food and she was spending a lot of time hiding in my old room under his computer desk. The vet couldn't tell what was wrong with her, so they took a blood sample for testing and sent her home with my Dad. I still feel like that was the biggest mistake they made, they had determined her blood pressure was very low because it was difficult to get the blood sample, knowing that and seeing how weak she was they should have referred my Dad to a 24 hour emergency vet or something so he could get fast test results. It wasn't until 2pm the next day that they called him with the test results in which they told him her immune system was breaking down and attacking her blood platelets and her blood count was 25k and not the normal 175k. They still didn't admit her, they sent him home with medication that was supposed to take over her immune system and start rebuilding. 

My Dad got one dose of medicine to her, and a couple of hours later she passed away by her scratching post in my old room. When I got the message from my Dad I was devastated and I rushed down the vet office to meet him. I just held her in my arms and bawled my eyes out. I kept apologizing to her, I felt awful for the time that I was away and not with her. She was just shy of 10 years old, and it was all so sudden and unexpected. Saying goodbye to her was the hardest thing I had been through next to losing my best friend, **** I felt like I was losing my best friend all over again. It felt like a piece of me had just died. For days following that awful day I would just sob uncontrollably. I don't think I had stopped crying for at least 24 hours, I would wake up in the morning and start sobbing uncontrollably. I miss her so much, but I keep telling myself that she lived a good life and was always well cared for and had lots of mousy's to play with, and now she is our angel in heaven. 

To my princess kitty in heaven, I will never forget you and I will always love and miss you!!










my tattoo in memory of her


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## love.my.cats (Jan 29, 2009)

I'm so sorry for your loss, Tiger sounds like she was an amazing cat. Don't feel bad for being away and not with her, you did what was best for her by leaving her with your Dad and that must have been so hard for you. I'm sure she knew how much you loved her and how much you appreciated the love and support that she gave you.

I really like the tattoo by the way.


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