Tiger and Tabitha [redux]

Janaye says: I thought you might like to meet Tiger and Tabitha, our two cats who were with us at the time that Ming and babies arrived. A few years ago when I was in college, I was at home and helping my mom clean when I noticed the family cat on the porch freaking out. I opened the porch door and heard some very strange noises coming from the backyard. When I went to investigate, I found three little kittens playing on my dad's lawnmower! I got my dad to get the cage down from the attic (even though my mom said NO, I knew that once she saw them she wouldn't say no... and I was right ;-) ). I managed to catch two of the three, my Tiger and Tabitha. The third one ran between panels in the fence and escaped. We looked but never found him/her.

Tabitha (or Tabbers as we call her) at first hated me and the rest of the world. If we had her on the porch, she would run to a corner on the opposite side of the room as us and cry and cry and cry for her mommy as loud as she could. But eventually, Tabitha became very, very attached to me and me alone. She loves my husband but always comes to me. We play this wrestle game on the bed every night and she always talks to me whenever I'm around her. When I clean, she follows on my heels from room to room. Even with the other five kitties in the house, she still wants me instead of anyone else.

Tiger was the complete opposite of Tabitha. He LOVED everyone after only about a few hours. Once he realized we would feed him, he was our best friend. He was a typical "big brother" as he protected Tabitha when some of my parents' other cats were around, and cried whenever he couldn't see her. But as he got older, he learned to let her take her own path. Even today, Tiger loves everyone and everything. I don't think I've ever even seen him eat a bug. I think he thinks that that's Tabitha's job. Hehe.

When the four kittens came along and ended up staying with us, Tiger and Tabitha adjusted very well. Especially Tiger. Tabitha didn't care, but Tiger decided that he was going to baby the babies. Even after they were weaned and Ming went back outside, it was Tiger, the BOY cat, that let the little ones suckle on his nipples! He let them do that for eight months! It was really weird to experience that, but most definitely funny. I love my crazy kitties.