Tyger 'Kettlehead' Friedman ( 1999 - 2015 )
Tyger 'Kettlehead' Friedman died, suddenly, this morning from cardiac arrest. Her health had degraded considerably over the past month or so. She was definitely not a young cat. She lived a long life. She wasn't the easiest cat to love, nor the most loving cat. But she still was our cat, and our oldest cat (the two others died over the past few years), outliving the others.
We adopted Tyger back in 1999, when she was just a few months old, when we still lived in Pennsylvania. As most kittens, she was quite hyperactive, and was climbing & jumping over everything. Once she started to mature, she slowed down a bit, and was a fairly anti-social cat for the most part. She'd occasionally interact with us, but for the most part, she was quite happy to be by herself. That worked well for her, until we acquired our 2nd (Mona) & 3rd (George) cats. Tyger wanted nothing to do with Mona, and absolutely loathed George. And so Tyger spent the majority of the next decade mostly in hiding. She'd flatten herself, and squeeze under the couch for much of the day. Or hunker down in a closet for hours at a time. Despite all of this, Tyger always remained a kitten at heart. The rare times that she did come out of hiding, she'd be quite eager to play. She loved chasing balls, or really anything that moved quickly across the floor.
Once George died, Tyger experienced a rejuvenation, returning to the personality of her younger days. She was playful, sociable and fairly friendly yet again. She also put on quite a bit of weight, now that she was able to wander the house freely, eating whenever she pleased. In the past few years, she absolutely loved being vigorously scratched with my feet. She'd walk up, roll on the floor, and actively encourage me to scratch the full length of her spine, all over her head, and really anywhere else. Additionally, whenever I was sitting on the couch, she'd come sprinting over, hop up beside me, and snuggle up to my leg for as long as I sat there.
Tyger was our first cat, and our last. Her existence spanned states, jobs, childhoods, and many homes. She will be missed.
