Tiger Part 2

Tiger was our cat, he stayed with us, but he'd still go outside during the day. When my parents and grandmother were growing up, pets stayed outside. My grandmother lived on a farm and cats did the job of rodent control on the farm, cats did not live in the house. Also she thought the cat would be happier outside. Our neighbors left their cat out most of the time. Even my friend who had the black cat named 'Cinders' let her cat outside. You didn't keep cats inside then, apparently not even the pampered Persians on the cat food ads. Nowadays, our cats do not go outside, it's too dangerous, what with cars, unscrupulous humans and the occasional coyote, hawk or owl that visits the neighborhood. Back then, when Tiger wanted out and got let out, he would often be gone most of the day but would come back in the evening. Sometimes he would be gone for a couple of days and I would worry about him and call for him late at night. He would eventually return and I would be so relieved that he was back.

He would also eat the neighbor's dog food. The dog would be on a leash and barking wildly while Tiger polished off the food. My mom thought, if he likes dog food, she'll get him a can of dog food, but when she did, he turned it down cold, it was the challenge of having a dog after him while he ate that he enjoyed. The vet also told us not to give him dog food, that cat food was better for him. When Tiger first came to live with us, he would eat anything, but now that he had lived with us for a while, he got quite particular on what he was served for dinner. His favorite was 9-Lives Tuna and Egg. He also decided he no longer liked dry cat food.

He was getting into fights with other neighborhood cats and picked up all kinds of illnesses and injuries. We found a local vet. His office had a funny smell to it. Our current vet's office is like a doctor's office, it sparkles and has no smell. I met someone who worked there for a while and said the vet wanted everything perfectly clean, so I really like our current vet. Anyway, this vet we took Tiger to was a great big guy and he had a small practice on the east side of Columbus and it didn't have the clean feeling our current vet's office does. We didn't have a carrier, so we'd bring Tiger in on a leash. We couldn't find a cat collar that would fit him, so we bought a dog collar that fit him just fine. We had a heavy chain leash that looked like it was more for a large dog. Tiger, like any normal cat, didn't like going to the vet's and would growl the whole time he was there. We had to stay clear of other patients in the waiting room so he would not start a fight. Tiger would put up a fight when he got his temperature taken. Back then, the thermometer was placed in the rear, an indignity that no cat appreciated. Nowadays, they have a gadget that you just stick in the ear for about a second, which is easier on both the pet and the vet. When Tiger got prescribed pills to take, the vet tried to show us how to give Tiger a pill. Tiger spat the pill out with a vengeance each and every time the vet tried to give him a pill. Tiger would hiss and spit at the vet and would wriggle and fight like a wild banshee. By this time, Tiger had gotten really big, he weighed around 18 pounds and could really put up a fight. The vet finally gave up and said to crunch the pill up in his food. That worked for a while until Tiger got wise to us adding things to his food and wouldn't eat after we added medicine to his food.. After that, we had to get the medicine in liquid form and try to shoot it into his mouth with a hypodermic without the needle as fast as we could. We visited the vet's office frequently and my mom said that the vet bills were higher than the pediatrician bills.

One time, Tiger went out and didn't come back for three days. I thought for sure that we'd lost him. I would call for him several times a day, much to the annoyance of other people in the neighborhood. I was so afraid that somebody had taken him or he was trapped somewhere. Then, one afternoon, he finally showed up at our back porch, dragging one back leg behind him. The back leg was twisted in a sickening way. We don't know what happened to him, but wondered if he got hit by a car.  It was amazing that he made it back to our house because he was obviously in pain and it was hard to walk back, dragging that leg behind him, but I was glad that it was our house he came to. He knew we were his family and that we would make him feel better. We took him to the vet immediately. He had a broken leg and so the vet set it and put it in an ace bandage with a metal brace. He said Tiger's foot would always stick out now, unless we had a pin put in the joint. That was a very expensive procedure and we couldn't afford it. The vet said that Tiger wouldn't be in any discomfort, his foot would just stick out.  We decided we had to opt for that. After that, Tiger didn't go outside on his own any more.

After his leg healed, Tiger still wanted out. He would sit by the door and meow frequently. I would take him for walks around the neighborhood with his collar and leash. Actually, a harness would have been better, but I didn't know it at the time. He was the only cat I've ever had that would walk on a leash. He did, however, take me his way, through bushes, around yards, the places he used to go when he went outside on his own. He loved to check out the neighbor's dogs but could no longer irritate them by finishing off their food. He would take me through the neighborhood on days that it didn't rain. I didn't want to go through shrubbery when it was raining.

One time, he bit me, I forget why, but animals react with their instincts when they feel threatened, even domestic animals. We were out on a walk when he did. Why our vet hadn't given him a rabies shot right away is a mystery to me because every vet I have ever taken a pet to always makes sure our animals have had their shots. Anyway, Tiger got loose and we couldn't find him. I was afraid he would have to be tested for rabies and I would have to get the shots in the stomach (back then, rabies treatments for humans were administered to the stomach).  Thanks to some helpful neighborhood kids, Tiger was found in a basement window well and they held him there until we could pick him up. Tiger never developed any symptoms of rabies and I didn't have to get any shots, but Tiger got rabies and distemper shots after that. Tiger also didn't go out on any more walks on the leash.

Things started to get a little better for me. I was growing my hair out and found out ways that I could iron my hair and set it in orange juice cans to make it straighter because I hated having curly hair when the style was straight hair.. The straightening devices that are used nowadays didn't exist back then. I no longer had to wear corrective shoes and got some new glasses. My mom got a full-time job, the first she'd had in years and seemed much happier. I was involved with a youth group with my church and had a few friends. Best of all, I had Tiger and he was inside all of the time, I didn't have to worry about anyone taking him from me or him getting hurt. He seemed quite happy too.

Tiger continued to get more beautiful every day. Since we started feeding him, he got bigger and his markings became darker and more distinct. My dad would like to hold him, but Tiger didn't like to get held for very long and would growl and the growl would grow and my dad would have to let him loose. Tiger spent a lot of time on my bed, or I would spend time with Tiger in the basement on his sofa with him. It was nice when I was sick and Tiger would keep me company. When we made dinner, especially if it was chicken, he would sit out in the kitchen and make demands with that low meow of his, for some chicken. He always got some chicken scraps and on Thanksgiving, he would get some turkey. It was so much fun having a pet around during the holidays. Tiger didn't mess with the Christmas tree, we always had a real tree. He loved to sleep behind the tree. He liked to sniff the branches and just be around it. It probably reminded him of the bushes he sought solace in when he was on his own and liked the wonderful pine smell that it had.

We enjoyed Tiger tremendously and he seemed to like being with us. He didn't meow any longer to go outside, he preferred to watch the outside from the comfort of the window. I began reading as much as I could about cats. I had a book on cat and kitten care and frequently got 'Cat Fancy' magazines. I also got cat books from the library. I learned so much about cats and wanted to learn more. I talked about my cat more than my friends probably would have liked to hear, but I loved having a cat. My gym teacher was an older lady who loved cats and loved hearing about Tiger. Back then, gym classes were divided, the girls were in one class and the boys were in another. A lot of the girls didn't like the girls's gym teacher because she was old and could be very strict and firm. She had rules and didn't take any crap off of the popular girls. I got along with her just fine and she was always nice to me and this other girl in the class who liked cats. She would tell me about her kitties and I liked her.

Summer came and school ended for the year. At the end of July, my family and I took a trip to visit Appomattox in Maryland,  Williamsburg, Virginia, Virginia Beach and to visit my Aunt Bonnie and Uncle 'Tode' in Roanoke, Virginia. We boarded Tiger at the vet that we took him to while we were gone. My mom and dad loved to visit historical places and I loved Virginia Beach and visiting my cousins. When we went to Virginia Beach, it was my first time seeing the ocean and I loved it. My mom hated it because she was deathly afraid of the water. We had a balcony attached to our hotel room and I loved to sit out there and watch the waves roll in and out, while it made my mom a nervous wreck, the wave motion was soothing to me. When we came back to Columbus, we picked Tiger up at the vet. The vet noticed that Tiger had thrown up, which I thought was probably a hair ball but the vet was very alarmed about it. I think he ran some tests on Tiger or put him on medicine, but I don't exactly remember. Tiger got very sick and stopped eating a few days later. We took him back to the vet and the vet kept him overnight. The next day, I was at my grandma's house and mom called and said the vet called, she told me, "Poor old Tig didn't make it through the night." I was devastated and heartbroken. It was the first time I'd ever lost anybody, human or animal and this was my beloved cat. It really tore me up and and Tiger's loss upset my parents and brother as well.

A necropsy had to be done on Tiger at Ohio State University. A necropsy is like an autopsy, but on an animal, it's called a necropsy. The results showed that his kidneys had given out. It was called 'Chronic Nephrosis.'  What I think happened is that Tiger had FIV, Feline Immunodeficiency Virus. Nobody knew anything about it back then but now it is suspected that cats got it even back then and veterinary scientists didn't yet know what it was. Cats get it from getting into fights with infected cats. When the infected cat bites the other cat, the virus enters the bloodstream through saliva. It breaks down the immune system much in the same was HIV does to humans. Tiger got sick a lot and he got into a lot of cat fights, especially with that one feral long-haired cat. There is no cure for it, even today. There's not even an effective vaccine, although there are vaccines, they are not effective on all strains of FIV. I learned all of this from having a cat I had in the early 2000's, named 'Slinky' who was FIV positive. What I think happened is that Tiger, with his weakened immune system. he perhaps picked up something at the vet's office and his body probably just gave out from all of the stresses on it. He was only about 2 or 3 years old. Here is is 2013 and he's up on the Cat Channel on the internet. Tiger will not be forgotten.

Sometime after Tiger died, a neighbor called and complained that Tiger was eating their dog's food. Mom told her that it wasn't Tiger, that Tiger had died. It was that long-haired feral tiger cat, he was also going around eating the neighbor's dog's food just like Tiger had done. This cat showed up on our porch a few times and I would put some food out for him, but he never let me touch him. Tiger would have been furious to think that cat was coming around to his territory. After a while, that feral cat stopped coming around.

My parents said after some time had passed, to give us time to get over him, that they would take me to a place in Columbus called 'Cat Welfare' to adopt another cat. It didn't happen that way. Six days later, Tiger 2 came into our lives.