Back in 1986 a friend told me that his cat had kittens and asked if I wanted one. I said yes, and went to his house to pick one out. When I got there I asked for the meanest one of the litter, so he pointed out a little orange an white tabby. She was the boss of the litter, keeping her sister’s and brothers in line.
So I took her home with me. When I got home, I told my mom I had a surprise for her. Then I showed her the kitten. She said why did I get such a scrawny little cat like that. Then she said, what are you going to call her? I thought a minute and said,”TC”. She asked what that stood for and I said,”Tim’s Cat”. Well there was a no animal policy at my house, so TC had a place in the garage. It wasn’t until a few months later that she finally got to come into the house for a few hours each day. It wasn’t until she was about 6 months old that she got in the house as much as she wanted. She usually came in at night and went out the next morning. She was a very smart cat. We fixed a litter box and showed her where it was, and she jumped right in and used it.
She had a very healthy appetite, she would eat like it was her last meal. She use to have a habit of crying when the phone rang, one day she jumped up to where the phone was. I thought
she was going to answer it.
In May of 1987, TC got a sister. I had brought home another kitten home from the same friend. They were the same color. I was going to call the new kitten EC but mom said to think of something else. I decided on “Little-Bit”, since she looked like a little “TC”. TC and Little-Bit had their disagreements but seem to get along.
TC decided that she was Little Bit’s mother and took care of her. They would get into little fights but TC would always let Little Bit win. TC could have easily have hurt her, because of the weight difference but that never happened.
Well jumping ahead several years. TC seemed to mellow out. She had her favorite spot on the couch, and nobody dared to sit there. TC loved the soft pettings she got from mom but enjoyed the rough handlings I would give her. She always reached out and grabbed me for more.
About 5yrs ago TC started getting out this toy sock that was filled with cat nip. The strange thing was that she only got it out when we went to bed. You would here her crying, it sometimes seemed if she was saying words. I slipped out of my room one night to catch her. She had it in the floor, holding it down with one paw.When she saw me, she got up and walked away from it. We started calling it her baby. You could place it next to her in the daytime and she would just ignore it, but at night she would pull it out of the toy box and try to talk to it.
Just last year when I got a new computer, TC started coming into my room a night and watched me on it. I would have taken my clothes of and laid them in the floor. TC would make my clothes her temporary bed for the time I was on the computer.Just as soon as I got into bed and turned the light off, would I hear her leave my room. It was long before she would have her baby out and was talking to it.
It wasn’t until the 2nd of August 2003 that I realized that she had not gotten her baby out. I also now realize that she wanted more pettings from me. On the morning of the 5th we noticed that she hadn’t ate any breakfast. She would only drink water. Later in the day she would drink water, but then throw it back up. She would go and lay down in some of the strangest places. We knew something must be wrong.On the morning of the 6th, I had to go out of town. I called home and mom said that she hadn’t eaten and that she wouldn’t drink water. I told her to call the vet and we would take her in the next day. That night, she got under my chair at the computer. She then tried to get up, but she was so weak that she walked like she was drunk.
She bounced into furniture and the walls before she collapsed in the hall.She got back up and went into the kitchen where she collapsed into her water dish. I picked her up out of the dish and laid her on the floor. I went to get a towel to dry her face but she got up and went into my mom’s room. I got an eyedropper and filled it with water and tried to give her some, but she refused. She ran under my mom’s bed. Well it was about 10:30pm when I went to bed. At about 11:00pm my mom got up to go to the bathroom, when she came back she saw TC laying half way under her bed.She reached down to pet her then realized that she was dead. She called for me to come to her room. We both cried alot, we found a cardboard box to put her in.
We wrapped her with a towel and placed her baby in the box with her. The next day was the hardest. I had to dig her grave. Before we put her in the grave, we both petted her and gave her a kiss and said our good byes.I sealed her box up with duck tape and the place a garbage bag over it. I then placed her into the grave. It was hard for me to cover it up because I was crying so much. I covered the top of her grave with dead grass so that if it rained it would wash the dirt away. Not long after burial, it came a real hard rain. The next day I went to her grave and noticed that it had sunk in. I cried thinking that the dirt was smashing her little body.
I placed more dirt on her grave and covered it up with more dead grass.When the weather is going to be dry for several days, I am going to use some paver blocks to outline her grave.
I look back and realize that she lived a long and healthy life. I am glad that she didn’t seem to suffer any, and that she just went to sleep.
We can still here noise walking in the hall, just like when she was a live. Little Bit is even missing you. She smells where you laid and just cries. Hopefully the pain is not as hard for her to adjust.
TC you were greatly loved and will be missed greatly. We love you and know that you are in a better place now.
We love you and miss you greatly,
| TC |
| Tim Chandler |