Ode to Tigger

**warning: sappy & emotional memories... but they have to be said. And since this is my blog...I'm sayin it***

Tuesday was a very, very sad day (actually night) in our home because we had to put our beloved cat Tigger down. He was still only 3 years old and got a completely blocked urinary tract which is life threatening and we were told it would happen repeatedly even if we attempted to fix it this time. The treatment would have been miserable for poor Tigs and although everything in us wanted to pay whatever the cost just to give him a chance it just wasn't the right decision. All that to say, there have been lots and lots of tears. We feel like he was just ripped out from our family in his prime. He was literally healthy one second and within a matter of hours he was gone.

We got Tigger in late July 2007. He was the tiniest cat you have ever seen with little spikey soft fur. He was the strong, adventurous kitten of his litter and so the family let us have him a little early because he was strong enough to survive without his mommy. We brought him home to meet Hobbes.... it was hilarious! At first they hissed at each other (Tiggs held his own, puffed up, and hissed right back) and within days they were like this:
Cute, right?? I know.

From then on, we called them collectively "the boys" - It's weird not having a plural number of cats to talk to in the house. I'm sure Hobbes thinks it's weird not having his cuddle partner. Who is going to clean the back of his ears now??

We don't know what happened... but Tigger grew big time. Within a matter of time he had surpassed Hobbes in size and the snuggle sessions looked like this.

and this
like yin(g?) and yang...

ps.... look at that scrumptious white fur. He was like a pumpkin latte with foam on top. The BEST.

He took his job very seriously. Here he is with me on the morning I went into labor. You could hold him like a stuffed animal.
He loved Tuna (he would run to the kitchen anytime we opened a can of anything), sleeping on the bed, cuddling, sleeping on my pillow, eating, sleeping on the stairs, chasing Hobbes, sleeping on the couch, stalking bugs (and Hobbes), sleeping on anything laying on the floor like a yoga mat, blanket, piece of cardboard... you get the picture :-)

Tigger always slept on the bed with us. He started sleeping above my head (like literally wrapped around my head) on the pillow and I would wake up pillowless... and because I loved him I just scooted down and slept with no pillow. Two nights before we lost him, I came back to bed after feeding Ellery and he had taken over the entire spot where I sleep...just smack dab in the middle (like the picture above).

There are so many things to be said... I could go on and on. 3 years of memories and jokes and nicknames...

Tiggus
Tigg-master
Tigg-nacious
Tigg-aroo
Tigglet
Tigger- my- ***** (Inappropriate, maybe...hilarious? yes.)
Tiggus-my-niggus (in an attempt to make the previous nickname more appropriate)
Tiggs

...and the list goes on and on.

The simple truth is that we miss him terribly...and probably always will. Sure, there will be other cats, dogs, rats even... but I can 100% tell you that he is irreplaceable. Having to be a part of the decision to end a pet's life is terrible...it all happened so fast we have had to remind ourselves repeatedly that it was the right thing to do. It's so easy to second guess yourself.

But we can't...and he left this world doing what he loved to do most...sleep (thanks to anesthesia which I am reminded he would have had to get anyways)

Here is my favorite picture of our complete family.