In Memory of Miss Tiffany

Tiffany was a gorgeous orange Persian mix I rescued in 2003 from a hoarding house. I got 40 cats out of there that day and Tiff was probably one of the many mama kitties. Half of the cats had to be put down immediately due to disease, deformities and suffering. Of the 20 I took home, about 5 died somewhat soon afterward, over the next couple of weeks.


Tiffany, in her prime

The rest were adopted or simply stayed with me. Then the older ones passed on, one by one, leaving only two: Tiffany and Rufus. You can see Rufus on my rescue site, here: http://www.hipaws.com/aboutcats2.html. He's the pale orange one with 6 toes on front. He's quite the cat, and so was Tiffany.

Sadly, she showed up positive for FIV two years ago. Not sure why, as none of the others did. So she ended up getting her own room, but she was lonely in there. So I agreed to take in others like her so she would have roommates, and soon she was living with another FIV cat, and two with leukemia. All of them died, too, of course, but Tiffany was the ultimate survivor.

I'm not sure how old she was, but she was not a young cat when I got her. My best guess is that she was close to 15 but it wouldn't be a surprise if she were 20. She was always a good eater, and because she had lost all but a few teeth, she had mostly canned food, with occasional meat morsels, cut small. She couldn't do dry kibble toward the end.

Yesterday she had not touched her dinner from the night before, and did not show any interest in eating her breakfast now. I knew her time was close, then. And later in the day, when I went to check on her, there she lay, by her bowls. I just wish I had checked sooner. There was nothing I could have done, except to soothe her and say goodbye as she exited this life...

Thanks to everyone who sent sympathies. Yes, she will be missed for quite some time. She was a gorgeous girl, and so sweet.