Featured Fur Monster: TigerLily is a Little Space Queen

TigerLily, as she was named, found a spot under a bed, and never came out. She lived there for three years, until my acquaintance decided that TigerLily was the cat guilty of peeing on the carpet, and made the decision to have her put down. My acquaintance's husband decided to pull TigerLily out of the home and talked me into taking her, as I had just lost a cat to old age, and apparently had a vacancy.

She wander all over, met the other cats with no comment, and checked out every room. After about an hour in my apartment, I'm sitting on the toilet with a book in hand (hey, the light's good in there) and the door open (it's my apartment, I can leave the bathroom door open, if I want to) TigerLily decided to get to know me better. She came up to me, jumped on my lap, then jumped on the back of the toilet, climbed up my back and sat on the back on my neck, making herself right at home. I learned right then that TigerLily has selective hearing and does not take a hint. She has to be physically moved form a spot she's settled into. I had to lift her off my neck because I was laughing, and a bit nervous about this weird cat I didn't know perching on my neck.

I've learned that TigerLily is a 'Special' kitty. She has detached retinas. (Don't know how that happened.) When she looks at you in her little unfocused sort of way, her eyes move, in tiny increments, back and forth, back and forth, like a shimmering. She gets a vacant look and will just pause for a while, because she's forgotten what she had in mind to do. She's has a silent 'meow'. I'm greeted with her opening her mouth, and meowing with no audio.

She does the silent 'meow' all the time, but she's not mute. Once in a while she gets lost, (out of sight of me) usually in the hallway, which is an open area connecting all the apartment rooms, and she will let out a horrid, plaintive yowl, very high pitched, and probably half inaudible. "Help, I'm lost, again." Then I have to call out, or go over, to show her she's not alone.

TigerLily took a liking to me and the apartment. She has never hidden under the bed or peed on the carpet (unlike another cat, name Hairy, who will go otherwise unmentioned in this accounting). She will allow me to pet her for hours, or brush her for hours, often sitting next to me and touching my head with her wet, cold nose to let me know it's petting time.

Altogether TigerLily's a tidy, sweet little presence and has never caused me a moment of trouble. She's 13 now, and pretty healthy. She's my little space queen, my 2nd-hand kitty.

Thanks for the tale ani.s4! You're never alone with all of us crazy cat people around TigerLily.

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