In the summer of 1989 I received my first pet, well sort of, (I also had a dog I got when I was about 3 which I was scared to death of).

My Cousin had two cats, a male yellow Persian, and a calico. The female had recently had Kittens. My aunt, for extra income, was taking care of the kittens, and once weaned sold them as regestered purebreds.

I had been spending a lot of time at my aunts house... It just so happened the kittens were up and running around, they were coming close to being weaned. These little critters scared me, they attacked my toes and chewed on my fingers. They chased my shoe laces and every other part of me that was convenient to pounce on.... If you think one playful kitten is bad, try five.

Despite being scared of the kittens I picked out the kitten I wanted, I first saw him suckling on his mom with his siblings, at the time he was gray with tabby like stripes. I liked they way he looked, but he also had a cool personality. (he was the only cat who didn't attack me.) After being terrorized for a few weeks total, I got to pick the one I wanted. I had told my aunt I wanted the gray one, so she made sure not to sell him to anyone. A few people I believe were interested but I already had claims.

I remember before I brought him home, Mom made me bring home at least two others, one at a time to see if I wanted a different kitten (she thought tiger was ugly). I tried out a yellow one first but this one wanted to explore, it completely ignored me. The next one was so playful he scared me. Finally I got to take MY kitten home. He explored a little but stayed near me. He was curious and playful but not to the point of scaring me. He seemed to have a personality that I liked.

That day went smoothly and I named him Tiger because of the way he would raise up on his hind legs when trying to catch a dangling string. he would hop, and jump, and sometimes fall over in the process.

That day went by smoothly, he got used to his surroundings, and I got used to him. That night however was a pain... he didn't sleep with me at all instead he spent five minutes in my bed, then he completely ransacked my room, if there was anything to get into... he got into it. He spent most of the night running around, he would run out of my room, then back into it, He kept aiming for a chair, but kept sliding right off then he would lick his paw and start the proccess all over again. That's was fun to watch. Eventually he settled in and we both got super attached to each other.

Tiger's Favorite Past times:

Sleeping under the coffee table (its got a 2-3 inch space off the floor.)

Sleeping under the couch

Attacking unsuspecting feet while hidden under the coffee table or couch.

Being a lap cat.

Sleeping in the dirty/clean clothes basket.

Sleeping on the car (in the garage).

Sleeping in the car, in the back seat.

Punching holes in (Darcy's) parents waterbed.

Playing whisker tag with the humans.

Sleeping on the top of the twin bed mattresses, which were leaning upright against the garage wall. (a nice perch)

Tiger was always getting into trouble in his youth. Some of the things I remember, are Him dragging my cabbage patch doll off since I was playing with it instead of him.

He often attacked the cord to the unattended and unplugged vacuum cleaner, since it tried to eat him. (or so he thought)

He once chewed through the power cord of the Christmas lights... they were plugged up too. We had only been gone for half an hour and accidentally left them on. (thank god we broke him of that)

One time he locked himself in the bathroom, literally. He had been locked in the bathroom because we had guests (this was after he became aggressive) When we went to get him out we found the door could only be opened about half an inch. The sink counter was recessed in the wall next to the door, and tiger had pulled a drawer out, since the door swung into the bathroom, he blocked the door from opening. It took my dad a while to get the door open, Tiger simply sat on the counter watching and pawing at what ever dad stuck through the door.

Another Humorous thing was tiger throwing a fit, according to my mom who was the only one at home. Tiger got really upset after dad took me to school. To take out his anger he had a manic run through the house. Mom watched him from the living room, as he ran from room to room, making a lot racket as he did. He then ran into the living room, dining room and kitchen, he went from the kitchen to the dining room and climbed all the way up to the ceiling via the banisters (there was a half wall with wood posts going up to the ceiling). After pausing to look at the ceiling for a moment he got down and ran up the curtains getting on top of the entertainment center, after pacing up there a while he jumped down. Mom finally said his name and asked him why he was so upset. (He likes being talked to) He froze mid-step cried, and then ran over to her and stretched out on her lap like there was nothing at all wrong. he was probably relieved he wasn't alone, and worn out from all the running.

Another time, After we moved to another house, dad had taken me to school, and came back. Mom kept hearing a cat cry pitifully and kept wondering what it was. After a few hours of still hearing the cry she started looking around. She followed the sound to the back door, looking out the window, Tiger was pacing at the door and crying. Her presence only made him more upset. She yelled to my dad who had to go around to the back yard via the front door, (the back door was taped up due to drafts till it could be replaced) Tiger immediately ran to him and head butted him. After getting inside and eating Tiger was perfectly happy. (Tiger is mainly a house cat, with his periods of wanting outside sometimes)

Unfortunately Tigers life hasn't been all rosy, because he is a Himalayan Mix his fur is fine and really tends to mat up. My parents had dropped him of at the vets to have the mats shaved off and to give him a bath or a flea dip. However when he came back he was unable to walk, he kept falling over and eventually just stayed still on the floor His eyes also looked funny, one eye pupil was huge, and the other was barely a slit. The vet said they had given him to much sedative and that it would wear off by morning, nothing to worry about, he did reassure my parents that if the worst happened he would pay a replacement cost. It took tiger a few days to get over it.

A while later we found out that the aid who was in charge of grooming the pets actually hated pets, and only had her job because the main vet in the office was her boyfriend or fiancée. At the time Tiger had all the classic symptoms of a sever concussion. My parents think Tiger may have been scared from the shaver and bit the groomer, or possibly he was to squirmy. We only know that he would have had to be hit over the head by something, or hit hard enough to throw him against a wall or a very hard object since he was full grown and very sturdy. They probably sedated him to cover up the symptoms. We never took tiger to that vet again. We later heard about a pet dying after being taken there and a few other cases of animal cruelty. Not long after the vet left and another took over.

Ever since that "Accident" Tiger has been aggressive towards strangers. Haven bit several. We always have to lock him up, He has become tolerant of a few relatives and friends. Most likely getting used to them and calming down in old age.

he dosen't like being cuddled ether. He will sit on us if he is in the mood, but he only tolerates being held or cuddled for a short amount of time.

Current Hobbies.

Chasing and running from Cleo.

Getting chased by owner.

sleeping on:

1) "His" box with "His" blanket laying on it.

2) Under his owners computer chair

3) In his owners computer chair

4) On the clothes washing machine but only when a towel is on it.

5) On any dirty clothes his owner leaves on the floor from missing the dirty clothes hamper.

6) On paper or newspaper that's fallen on the floor. or is sitting on the coffie table

Favorite things:

His blanket
Catnip
Plastic Milk rings, (you know the rings that keep the lid sealed on the jug)
Plastic spiders rings (the cheep Halloween ones)
Plastic Easter eggs.

Tiger is currently 13 years old, although lazy he does still play when in the mood

These Pictures were taken this year (2002)

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