Sweet Tippy

There are cats. And then there are exceptional cats.

Tippy belonged in the second category.

Super soft. Oozy. Purry. Sweet beyond belief. A champion snoozer. Unfazed by his galumph of a big brother, a Pit mix. (Think black and white canine the size of a Volkswagen, add in a foot-long tongue, and you have Oscar.)

Our daughter, AJ, adopted 6-year-old Tippy minutes after moving into her new apartment in St. Louis County. He had been rescued from a home whose owner had Alzheimer's. Malnourished and matted, he also suffered from a neurological deficit that caused him to bobble when he walked.

Readers of Naperville Now chimed in on the best new name for him. (Grover, Mistofelees, and Foggy were offered up. I suggested Tip O'Neill. AJ pounced on the name Tippy.)

Here is what he looked like then:

 

 

With love, veterinary care, and several truckloads of tuna, he ended up looking like the cat he was meant to be:

But Tippy's health was never quite 100 percent. He had an ear and nose thing working all the time, and it grew quickly and much worse last month. Despite the efforts of many, he went to sleep on Labor Day and never woke up. AJ and her husband were just returning from their honeymoon.

Ah, me. Life can be so joyful and so painful and all mixed up.

But I am hopeful that somewhere, Tippy is nibbling on dog tails with impunity and snarfing up tuna by the plateful.

He deserves no less.


(Naperville Now participates in Alphabe-Thursday hosted by Jenny Matlock.)