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Tippy’s Story
May 13, 1983 ~ August 31, 1999

It’s funny but even though I’ve had a number of cats throughout my life, some just stand in memory more than others, and this is certainly true when it comes to Tippy.

I was home at the time on May 13, 1983, when I heard a commotion going outside and the loud voices of children supposedly playing, but playing innocently they weren’t. Upon looking out one of my windows of my apartment, I saw a circle of kids and at first I thought they were tossing a ball around to each other, but then I noticed, nope it most certainly wasn’t a ball, but a panicky, frightened kitten. In a huff, I raced outside and went directly to the kids. I didn’t say much to them, for if I had my language would have been anything but ladylike…as I can have the mouth of a truck driver. As calmly as I could, I asked the kids to hand the kitten over to me, and surprisingly the one boy who had the kitten did. And that’s how Tippy came into our household. She was a small, cute bundle of fur, a grey tiger-striped cat with a little orange tip on her tail thus the reason for calling her Tippy.

Tippy was to become another one of my velcro cats, bonding to me immediately and from day one, or should I say, night one that she came into the apartment, would cuddle up and sleep with me. She was perhaps also, one of the few cats I ever had, that while I was stretched out in bed reading before going to sleep that had the habit of massaging my back. Since she was seemingly always by my side, she would even “help” me while I would set my living room up like a photographer’s studio, where I often did seasonal set-ups on holiday themes, such as Halloween and Thanksgiving. She often became part of the photos I would take, and she seemed to be a real ham, loving to be photographed.

Like I said, she was one of my velcro cats, hardly ever leaving my side, until something happened. At the time, I had another cat (among quite a few), named Bobbie, a light orange-colored tabby, who for some reason out of all the other cats we had, decided to “pick” on Tippy and quite literally bullied her. He became mean and nasty, perhaps jealousy? Have no idea as he didn’t bother the other cats the way he did to Tippy. And to think that animals don’t get jealous! Sort of the same thing as sibling rivalry.

Poor Tippy became so timid and frightened of Bobbie’s bullying, that she took refuge in the kitchen cabinet over the refrigerator and never came out, save to be fed on top of the refrigerator. It also meant either my mother or I would have to bring the litter pan to her on a routine basis. She just wouldn’t leave that refuge sanctuary that she had made for herself there. This went on for years, how many I can’t even remember now, but a good long time.

Then by a miracle, or so it seemed, one day I was in the living room and couldn’t believe my eyes as Tippy not only had left her sanctuary of the kitchen cabinet, but was proudly prancing around the living room, as if nothing had happened all these past years. And by another miracle, Bobbie didn’t bother her. Of course, looking back, maybe this seeming miracle should have sent warning signals of some kind, the mere fact that Tippy was out again, and that Bobbie wasn’t bothering her…as if maybe he sensed something, but I was just so happy to see Tippy out again. She even took to climbing on my bed at night to keep me company, and resumed her messaging of my back while I was stretched out in bed reading. This little happy miracle didn’t last long, perhaps only a week or so.

One day, on August 31, 1999, I woke up and noticed Tippy lying on the floor near the foot of my bed. I thought she was sound asleep, but when I went over to her, and petted her, she didn’t move. Yes, she had sometime in the early mornings hours had passed onto the Land of Bast, or as many call it Rainbow Bridge. What made it all the more poignant was the mere fact that she was near my bed, as if her last wish was to somehow be near me.

©2008~Melanie Neer aka pyewacket

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