see jane learn: Missing the Fat One...

“What greater love, than the love of a cat.” Charles Dickens

For 16 years, Tigger Duncan Carver was a part of our family. Last Friday he passed away. Here is his story:

My Mom was allergic to pets, so I never had a dog or cat as a child; Tigger was my first (and maybe my last?) kitty. We had just adopted our yellow Lab dog Sadie from the Prison Pet Partnership, when I received a call from friends (thank you Amy and Danny!) saying a tiny red stray kitty needed a home. One look, and I was smitten...

He started out tiny, but grew quickly! Tig acquired many nicknames; Fatty, General Fat one, Big Tig, Biggy, Mr. Bigs... to name a few. He answered to all of them. He arrived with the name Tigger; I added his middle name Duncan, after the character in one of my favorite preschool books, Duncan and Dolores.

He was “Grumpy Cat” before the female version who became famous. We often joked that he would give us the “paw” and then leave the room.

Tigger had the most beautiful red coat. I thought about taking him with me to the hairdresser and asking her to make my hair the same color. He put up with four loud kids, a sister-dog Sadie, a pet bird for a few months, and a sister-cat named Zoe Mittens.

The kids left for college, one by one, and TIgger had to get used to the way they’d come and go. In 2010 we had to go to Chicago and our friends agreed to keep Zoe since we could only fly with two pets. Yes, Tig has always been my favorite. Tigger adjusted to Glen Ellyn and spent most of his time on a shelf in our basement. While we were there, our Lab passed away and we all had to adjust to life with just one aging, kitty cat.

We moved back to Washington in 2012, and rented a home on Fox Island. Tigger loved the two years we spent there, and had his own favorite spots in the yard.

Our resilient cat adjusted when we rescued/adopted our Kelpie dog Sydney. They sort of got along, but their relationship was usually a challenge. Sydney wanted to play, Tigger didn’t...

When we moved to our current home, Tigger only went outside occasionally. He loved his cat-door to the garage, and stayed in the lower level most of the time. We were graced with his appearance once or twice a day when he’d come up to snuggle on or next to me. Last winter he was introduced to his little "cousin" Walter. Red cats are the best!

Katie & Walter, T.J. & Tigger

If you’ve ever had to make the HARD decision to "put down" a pet, you understand how painful it was. Our "fat cat" had slowly stopped eating and lost 6 pounds. The last two weeks of his life had been very difficult. Saying goodbye was really, really hard, but the humane thing to do for our beloved kitty.