This is a very special and emotional story so I won't get far today. Just let it be known that this was one of the most special gifts in life, a feral cat who had no one, trusted no one and came into our lives by accident, and became a very special relationship for all.
When our darling Schmoopy was just a year old she had many strange cats showing up around the house. Her being in heat I just wanted to shoo him away as I had enough male cats around, my wife immediately noticed his rather circular markings and was in love, being honest I could care less, and though I love cats, I just wanted him away.
After several visits and being deep in the winter I worried as he would stand by the back door or on the patio table looking in, and being -14 we were worried he was not getting fed because he was around so often, who would leave their cat out in this weather? Repeatedly asking around no one knew him, and he looked battle worn, but strong, and it soon became apparent he had no humans.
So I constructed an apple box house surrounded by styrofoam and it was clear after the first night he had slept there and found the accommodation worth while, and so the process had begun. He would never come in, and no matter how much tempting, he preferred outside thank you! So we fed him outdoors, and petting? What was this? Alien feeling and No thank you! and he would let it be known that while he would thank you for the free hand outs, another attempt at petting would leave you with a nice set of scratches to remind you who the boss was.
Over time he softened and realized the benefits of the warmth of the interior of a home and eating inside, and over time he learned to stay in, and slowly he learned that there were loving humans and became very dear, though at times for many years he would startle and wake and be quite aggressive and bite or scratch but eventually this was less, though could pop up at any time.
We went on holiday and the in-laws stayed and took care of our cats, upon returning we were shocked that one they had been feeding was not Tiggy Daddy, named because one of the kittens named Tiggy had almost the same coat, and so certain he was the Daddy. We contacted the animal shelter and even sending a photo they had no such cat. We were devastated, as we had worked so hard and had fallen in love with this battle scarred abandoned cat.
For over a month we had repeatedly looked for him, but he was just gone, so I had to dry my eyes and realize it was over, and this is why I did not want another pet, it just hurt too much. Just as I accepted this miraculously my wife had seen him on the web page of the shelter, so we went, and sure enough there he had been the whole time, though looking much thinner and very sad but immediately recognized us. They had chipped and neutered, and felt guilty that they had made the mistake, we were just happy to have him back. Remember a cat that had never been in captivity now had spent over 30 days in a small confined area.
We brought him home and the rest was history, he was as excited to be back with us as we were to have him back an over the years he just got more and more comfortable and cuddly. He would come and call me because he wanted to come to bed, and would lay on me or my wife like a sphinx, often 'saying please' by double tapping me for a treat, something I taught him and was very endearing. In his last years we would have to carry him as he was old and the stairs were an issue, but we were quite honored to look after this abandoned cat. Later quite by accident we found the neighbor who had abandoned him but thankfully they moved away, as we were worried she might try to take it back, with that information I found the vet had birth records and made sure that they knew he was ours.
I could go on for hours, but Tiggy Daddy brought so much love into our lives, and I like to think we brought the same into his. He might have had a struggle for the first half of his life but the second we tried to make up for it. I was so sad when we lost him this past year, and miss him snuggling against me listening to his snoring or seeing him sit on one of us quite content with his tongue half hanging out. Tiggy Daddy you will always be remembered and forever missed~
____________________________________________________________
When our darling Schmoopy was just a year old she had many strange cats showing up around the house. Her being in heat I just wanted to shoo him away as I had enough male cats around, my wife immediately noticed his rather circular markings and was in love, being honest I could care less, and though I love cats, I just wanted him away.
After several visits and being deep in the winter I worried as he would stand by the back door or on the patio table looking in, and being -14 we were worried he was not getting fed because he was around so often, who would leave their cat out in this weather? Repeatedly asking around no one knew him, and he looked battle worn, but strong, and it soon became apparent he had no humans.
So I constructed an apple box house surrounded by styrofoam and it was clear after the first night he had slept there and found the accommodation worth while, and so the process had begun. He would never come in, and no matter how much tempting, he preferred outside thank you! So we fed him outdoors, and petting? What was this? Alien feeling and No thank you! and he would let it be known that while he would thank you for the free hand outs, another attempt at petting would leave you with a nice set of scratches to remind you who the boss was.
Over time he softened and realized the benefits of the warmth of the interior of a home and eating inside, and over time he learned to stay in, and slowly he learned that there were loving humans and became very dear, though at times for many years he would startle and wake and be quite aggressive and bite or scratch but eventually this was less, though could pop up at any time.
We went on holiday and the in-laws stayed and took care of our cats, upon returning we were shocked that one they had been feeding was not Tiggy Daddy, named because one of the kittens named Tiggy had almost the same coat, and so certain he was the Daddy. We contacted the animal shelter and even sending a photo they had no such cat. We were devastated, as we had worked so hard and had fallen in love with this battle scarred abandoned cat.
For over a month we had repeatedly looked for him, but he was just gone, so I had to dry my eyes and realize it was over, and this is why I did not want another pet, it just hurt too much. Just as I accepted this miraculously my wife had seen him on the web page of the shelter, so we went, and sure enough there he had been the whole time, though looking much thinner and very sad but immediately recognized us. They had chipped and neutered, and felt guilty that they had made the mistake, we were just happy to have him back. Remember a cat that had never been in captivity now had spent over 30 days in a small confined area.
We brought him home and the rest was history, he was as excited to be back with us as we were to have him back an over the years he just got more and more comfortable and cuddly. He would come and call me because he wanted to come to bed, and would lay on me or my wife like a sphinx, often 'saying please' by double tapping me for a treat, something I taught him and was very endearing. In his last years we would have to carry him as he was old and the stairs were an issue, but we were quite honored to look after this abandoned cat. Later quite by accident we found the neighbor who had abandoned him but thankfully they moved away, as we were worried she might try to take it back, with that information I found the vet had birth records and made sure that they knew he was ours.
I could go on for hours, but Tiggy Daddy brought so much love into our lives, and I like to think we brought the same into his. He might have had a struggle for the first half of his life but the second we tried to make up for it. I was so sad when we lost him this past year, and miss him snuggling against me listening to his snoring or seeing him sit on one of us quite content with his tongue half hanging out. Tiggy Daddy you will always be remembered and forever missed~
____________________________________________________________
This is a very special and emotional story so I won't get far today. Just let it be known that this was one of the most special gifts in life, a feral cat who had no one, trusted no one and came into our lives by accident, and became a very special relationship for all.
When our darling Schmoopy was just a year old she had many strange cats showing up around the house. Her being in heat I just wanted to shoo him away as I had enough male cats around, my wife immediately noticed his rather circular markings and was in love, being honest I could care less, and though I love cats, I just wanted him away.
After several visits and being deep in the winter I worried as he would stand by the back door or on the patio table looking in, and being -14 we were worried he was not getting fed because he was around so often, who would leave their cat out in this weather? Repeatedly asking around no one knew him, and he looked battle worn, but strong, and it soon became apparent he had no humans.
So I constructed an apple box house surrounded by styrofoam and it was clear after the first night he had slept there and found the accommodation worth while, and so the process had begun. He would never come in, and no matter how much tempting, he preferred outside thank you! So we fed him outdoors, and petting? What was this? Alien feeling and No thank you! and he would let it be known that while he would thank you for the free hand outs, another attempt at petting would leave you with a nice set of scratches to remind you who the boss was.
Over time he softened and realized the benefits of the warmth of the interior of a home and eating inside, and over time he learned to stay in, and slowly he learned that there were loving humans and became very dear, though at times for many years he would startle and wake and be quite aggressive and bite or scratch but eventually this was less, though could pop up at any time.
We went on holiday and the in-laws stayed and took care of our cats, upon returning we were shocked that one they had been feeding was not Tiggy Daddy, named because one of the kittens named Tiggy had almost the same coat, and so certain he was the Daddy. We contacted the animal shelter and even sending a photo they had no such cat. We were devastated, as we had worked so hard and had fallen in love with this battle scarred abandoned cat.
For over a month we had repeatedly looked for him, but he was just gone, so I had to dry my eyes and realize it was over, and this is why I did not want another pet, it just hurt too much. Just as I accepted this miraculously my wife had seen him on the web page of the shelter, so we went, and sure enough there he had been the whole time, though looking much thinner and very sad but immediately recognized us. They had chipped and neutered, and felt guilty that they had made the mistake, we were just happy to have him back. Remember a cat that had never been in captivity now had spent over 30 days in a small confined area.
We brought him home and the rest was history, he was as excited to be back with us as we were to have him back an over the years he just got more and more comfortable and cuddly. He would come and call me because he wanted to come to bed, and would lay on me or my wife like a sphinx, often 'saying please' by double tapping me for a treat, something I taught him and was very endearing. In his last years we would have to carry him as he was old and the stairs were an issue, but we were quite honored to look after this abandoned cat. Later quite by accident we found the neighbor who had abandoned him but thankfully they moved away, as we were worried she might try to take it back, with that information I found the vet had birth records and made sure that they knew he was ours.
I could go on for hours, but Tiggy Daddy brought so much love into our lives, and I like to think we brought the same into his. He might have had a struggle for the first half of his life but the second we tried to make up for it. I was so sad when we lost him this past year, and miss him snuggling against me listening to his snoring or seeing him sit on one of us quite content with his tongue half hanging out. Tiggy Daddy you will always be remembered and forever missed~
____________________________________________________________
When our darling Schmoopy was just a year old she had many strange cats showing up around the house. Her being in heat I just wanted to shoo him away as I had enough male cats around, my wife immediately noticed his rather circular markings and was in love, being honest I could care less, and though I love cats, I just wanted him away.
After several visits and being deep in the winter I worried as he would stand by the back door or on the patio table looking in, and being -14 we were worried he was not getting fed because he was around so often, who would leave their cat out in this weather? Repeatedly asking around no one knew him, and he looked battle worn, but strong, and it soon became apparent he had no humans.
So I constructed an apple box house surrounded by styrofoam and it was clear after the first night he had slept there and found the accommodation worth while, and so the process had begun. He would never come in, and no matter how much tempting, he preferred outside thank you! So we fed him outdoors, and petting? What was this? Alien feeling and No thank you! and he would let it be known that while he would thank you for the free hand outs, another attempt at petting would leave you with a nice set of scratches to remind you who the boss was.
Over time he softened and realized the benefits of the warmth of the interior of a home and eating inside, and over time he learned to stay in, and slowly he learned that there were loving humans and became very dear, though at times for many years he would startle and wake and be quite aggressive and bite or scratch but eventually this was less, though could pop up at any time.
We went on holiday and the in-laws stayed and took care of our cats, upon returning we were shocked that one they had been feeding was not Tiggy Daddy, named because one of the kittens named Tiggy had almost the same coat, and so certain he was the Daddy. We contacted the animal shelter and even sending a photo they had no such cat. We were devastated, as we had worked so hard and had fallen in love with this battle scarred abandoned cat.
For over a month we had repeatedly looked for him, but he was just gone, so I had to dry my eyes and realize it was over, and this is why I did not want another pet, it just hurt too much. Just as I accepted this miraculously my wife had seen him on the web page of the shelter, so we went, and sure enough there he had been the whole time, though looking much thinner and very sad but immediately recognized us. They had chipped and neutered, and felt guilty that they had made the mistake, we were just happy to have him back. Remember a cat that had never been in captivity now had spent over 30 days in a small confined area.
We brought him home and the rest was history, he was as excited to be back with us as we were to have him back an over the years he just got more and more comfortable and cuddly. He would come and call me because he wanted to come to bed, and would lay on me or my wife like a sphinx, often 'saying please' by double tapping me for a treat, something I taught him and was very endearing. In his last years we would have to carry him as he was old and the stairs were an issue, but we were quite honored to look after this abandoned cat. Later quite by accident we found the neighbor who had abandoned him but thankfully they moved away, as we were worried she might try to take it back, with that information I found the vet had birth records and made sure that they knew he was ours.
I could go on for hours, but Tiggy Daddy brought so much love into our lives, and I like to think we brought the same into his. He might have had a struggle for the first half of his life but the second we tried to make up for it. I was so sad when we lost him this past year, and miss him snuggling against me listening to his snoring or seeing him sit on one of us quite content with his tongue half hanging out. Tiggy Daddy you will always be remembered and forever missed~
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