What ever became of Tigger? Tigger was a very cute Orange Tabby with mittens for paws ( the scientific term is Polydactyly, meaning he was born with more than the usual number of toes on both of his paws). He was a very cute and spirited feline and much loved by my husband’s family. I remember him most for eating Tinsel off the Christmas tree one year and then the aftermath when it tried to come out the other end. When Tigger was around the age of thirteen he failed to come home one evening. He was one of those cats that was allowed out during the day, but when you called him just before dark, he would dutifully come home. I have always wondered what ever became of Tigger? Did he become ill and curl up under a bush and pass on? Maybe he got into someone’s open car window and they drove off unaware and when he woke up he was not in his usual neighbourhood and didn’t know how to get home. It has been many, many years since his disappearance, and yet I often think about him. It is hard to have a member of the family disappear and never hear from them again, not knowing what his fate was, has always plagued me in a way. It’s hard enough losing an animal to Cancer or some unfortunate accident, but not having closure is definitely hard on the heart. I often like to think he meandered along the nearby creek, getting further and further from home, and some absolutely lovely lady, who had recently lost her cat of 16 years spied him and offered him a place to sleep that night, and well, he just never left, he decided he didn’t have the heart to leave her. The odd thing, my spouse and I were visiting the other weekend and as we were walking our dog on the cul de sac, where my parents-in-laws live, I saw this very old, scraggly Orange Tabby by a person’s front door and I had to stop myself from walking up to check it’s paws to see if it had Mittens. I pondered aloud to my spouse whether there was a chance that this was dear old Tigger. He was quick to remind me that that cat would be around 26 if it were still alive…no, it couldn’t be. I am sure he is right, there is no way that it’s the same cat, but in my heart of hearts, I thought how wild it would have been if Tigger had never left the cul de sac, that he just decided the grass was greener just around the bend. Closure, as hard it as it is to say good bye, at least you know how the story ends, but for some, maybe a cliff hanger is a bit more interesting and easier to swallow.
No Time To Paws 