"Anyway, I want a cat," she said. "I want a cat. I want a cat now. If I can't have long hair or any fun, I can have a cat."
~ Ernest Hemingway, American Novelist, Cat in the Rain ~

Tigger was a tiny, tiny kitten eking out a sad, pitiful existence in Singapore when Craig and I first knew of her in the spring of 1997. Our friend, Janalee Faucher, an American expatriate, was in a desperate frenzy trying to find someone - anyone to help spread the word about Singapore's horrific animal abuse situation. We had readily become advocates of the cause and in doing so, came to know Tig's little playmate, Keiko, her mom Missy, and fourteen other little starving cats. Slowly and heartrendingly, thirteen of the seventeen cats which Jana cared for vanished to fates unknown or were cruelly killed by the Singaporean government as was Keiko.
When the airlift rescue effort was no longer a fervently hoped dream but a reality for the four survivors of the group, I told Jana that Craig and I would do all we could to sweet talk our landlord of the apartment we were living in at the time to let us take on one more cat. My heart had gone out to Missy, the oldest cat in the group, who would have trouble being placed in an adoptive home once she arrived in the States.
But the harsh fate that seemed to haunt poor Missy's life made that hope impossible. She had tested positive for FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus, sometimes called Feline AIDS). We weren't able to take her living in an apartment with five healthy cats already in the household. Broken-hearted, I knew we would never get to give her the life she needed so badly. Instead, she was given a wonderful new life at PetRescue, Inc. in Florida and was deeply loved, knowing the rest of her life would be filled with security, peace and contentment.
In the meantime, partly to help heal the loss of providing Missy a loving home and partly because the cause was in desperate need of getting a home for the remaining cats, I continued to help out in the search for homes for the others. While still awaiting the test results for Missy, little Tigger had received an adoption request from Cricket, a dear Canadian friend. At the time, Crick had thirteen cats and two dogs; however, she wanted to give Tigger a secure loving home.
At last Tig was ready to air travel after her spaying. July 23, 1997 I drove to Washington DC to pick her up at Dulles International Airport. She was immediately taken to a DC vet and I was told she had two weeks quarantine before she could intermingle with our five cats waiting at home. She was fostered in our home until August 7, 1997. Then we took her to her new home in Canada. Of all my foster fur babies through the years, giving her up was the hardest.
In March 1998, Craig and I moved with our beloved cat family from the apartment in Palmerton to a tiny little house in north Catasauqua, Pennsylvania. At last, the Kiddens could enjoy treks in supervised backyard outings. How they had missed having those little visits in fresh air and sunshine.
In June 1998, tragedy struck within our Kidden family and the following month, our precious KC left us for the Bridge. In an email expressing her sorrow for the loss of KC, Crick told us that Tigger had always been our cat and when we had settled down some after our devastating grief, all we had to do was come for her. So on Labor Day, September 7, 1998 Craig and I drove up to Ontario, Canada to bring our little Kidden home.
Poor Crick cried and cried - she kept telling us she had always felt Tig would be going "home" one day and knew she could handle it, but the day arrived all too soon. Exactly thirteen months to the day, our little Tigster came back home to the USA. Crick came two months later and stayed four days with Tig and us during our American Thanksgiving holiday.
After her arrival to our home, our Tig hid out for a day on the third floor, ventured down to the second floor the following day, and on the third day discovered that food and water was plentiful on the ground floor. She decided all is well back in the United States after all.
She and Lucky went back at their fun and games they had thrived on during her fostering - he had his treasured Tigger back once more. We truly believed Tigger helped Lucky through his grief of losing his best playmate and pal, KC.
We also believed once we returned to Louisiana, when we lost Lucky August, 2005 that she literally grieved herself to death. She never awakened from her sleep September 20, 2005, thirty-five days from the day Lucky went to the Bridge. She was only 8 1/2 years old. She lies beside her best buddy, Lucky, in his favorite flower bed.
I'll never forget this little cat - a true ambassador of compassion - a little cat whose life had touched so many and brought even more together as the Cats' Voice of Singapore. ❤❤

Cat Poem
They will not go quietly,
the cats who've shared our lives.
In subtle ways they let us know
their spirit still survives.
Old habits still make us think
we hear a meow at the door.
Or step back when we drop
a tasty morsel on the floor.
Our feet still go around the place
the food dish used to be,
And, sometimes, coming home at night,
we miss them terribly.
And although time may bring new friends
and a new food dish to fill,
That one place in our hearts
belongs to them ... and always will.
Author: Linda Barnes