Our Big Ball of Fluff

Unfortunately, this evening we had to say good bye to our sweet, sweet cat Tigger. It all happened very fast.

Of our two cats, Tigger was always the more curious one. He was always checking it out and getting into things. This time his curiosity caught up with him. He thought that some beautiful flowers in an arrangement on our kitchen table were too good to pass up. Unfortunately, that arrangement had Stargazer Lily in it. Did you know that lilies make cat very sick? Did you know that they don't even have to ingest them but just be around them to make them sick? Did you know it causes their kidneys to fail? I sure didn't! I knew that some plants are poisonous but I thought he would just be sick and get it out of his system and be fine.

It took a couple of days and Chad told me he didn't think he was doing well. We took him to the vet and they did the blood work. From the numbers the vet didn't have a good prognosis. He was in kidney failure. But he didn't look real sick. He was happy and playful. We weren't ready to give up on him. By his demeanor they thought that we could try a days worth of treatment and see how he responds. We took him to the hospital and they pumped him full of fluids. After 24 hours though he didn't respond positively and it was time to realize that he wasn't going to get better.

Tigger and his mother Abby were the first pets I have every had. I didn't even have a goldfish when I was a kid. I had no idea what this would feel like. We brought them home about 7 1/2 years ago. It was kind of a fluke that we got them in the first place. They were rescued by a friend of a friend of a friend who absolutely loved them but found out they were allergic and couldn't keep them. We fell in love with them the first time we met them and took them home that night.

They picked favorites right away. Tigger favored me and Abby favored Chad. When we would settle in on the couch to watch TV they would go to their favorites or when we would go to bed they would come to say good night to us. After Anna joined our family neither cats wanted much to do with her but as she got older they all enjoyed each other and played together.

We have lots of fond memories of Tigger and will miss him very much. I will miss him jumping on top of the cabinets and scaring the heck out of me. I will miss him chasing Abby around the house until she tells him no. I miss him rubbing up against my legs to say hello or good bye. I will miss him sitting against the wall on his butt. I will miss him cuddling right up next to his momma. But as we told Anna, Tigger is in kitty heaven with lots of food, toys, flashlights, and treats and I am sure he is very happy.

This has all been a heart breaking experience. I had no idea how I would react to this and it was so much harder than I could even imagine. It makes my heart just ache. And the sad, sad response we got from Anna was the worst of it all. I think I now understand why they show parents on TV running to the store when a pet dies and buys one that looks just like it. That is exactly what I wanted to do!