Approximately eighteen years ago Tiffany came into my life as a surprise Christmas gift from a friend. Sue had overheard me mention that I would love to have a long-haired white female kitten. Without my knowledge, she put an ad in the local paper searching for a white female kitten and invited me to go with her, on the pretense that I was to help HER find a kitty. When we arrived at the house where Tiffany lived, Tiff was just six weeks old and was huddled between the tire and rim of a black TransAm that was parked inside the garage. Her beautiful eyes were peeking out at me while tears filled my eyes, as I fell in love with her. By then I had figured out my friend's intention and I decided this adorable kitty was mine. On the way home, Sue said I should name her Tiffany because she looked like a little princess sitting so perfectly. Tiffany sat on my lap softly purring knowing she had a new mommy who would love her and protect her. Tiffany also initiated me that night by having an accident on my cashmere sweater, however, she warned me with her soft meow for a good five minutes before her brainy mom figured it out...but oh, was it too late!

Over the next eighteen years Miss Tiffany would share seven moves, a divorce, a new marriage, the birth of our son Jeremy, my breast cancer, a flight from Texas to our new home in Maryland, and numerous trials and tribulations. One being the new addition to our family, in the form of a new cat named Timothy. Miss Tiff didn’t care for Timothy too much, but being the sweet kitty she was, she tolerated him...to a point.

Tiffany slept with me every night. When it was cold outside, Tiffany would get under the covers and snuggle next to me. When I was ill she would lie next to me and put her paw on my face.

When I married my husband 13 years ago Tiffany went crazy over him and loved to sit on his lap. When she saw him come into a room, she would leap up to greet him, then rub his leg, look up at him, and let out a soft meow, she then would fall over so he would pet her. If he stopped petting her she would start the process all over again. What insistence she had! When I was expecting my son she sat on my lap as if to protect my unborn child. After Jeremy was born she always seemed to be protecting him.

Tiffany loved her kitty treats and every night before bed she would eat four of the small tasty morsels, however, for some reason she would walk in a little circle before I gave them to her. We called it the Tiffy dance! Tiffany also loved cantaloupe; we could not cut a cantaloupe open without her running to the kitchen to make sure she would get her share.

About six months ago, I noticed Tiffany had not slept with me and I found her in the closet curled into a ball. My husband and I made an appointment with our vet and that was when we received the horrible news that she had CRF. Both my husband and I decided we would fight for her and chose to give her IV fluids three times a week and Procrit twice a week. In addition, we gave her a daily dose of Pepcid AC, Tums and potassium. She would go in for weekly blood tests, too. All of this helped, she started eating again, she started to gain weight and, she started to sleep with me again too! She even started sitting in the window again seeking the warmth of the sun. Our vet was surprised that her blood work was looking much better. We were elated and thought we would have our baby with us for at least another year or two. That was not to be.

Four days before Thanksgiving Tiffany did not sleep with me and she was back in the closet. We knew she was ill, but thought she may have a virus or cold and we took her to our vet that day. Unfortunately, the news was again horrible. Our vet said her blood work was at 8 when it should be 45, she said that Tiffany’s anemia was making her very weak and that she would probably die within a day or two. We brought her home and made her comfortable feeding her potato and milk with a syringe, tuna and chicken broth, anything she would eat. Finally on Thanksgiving Day she would not eat and she started to softly cry, we knew the time was very close to let our baby continue her life in heaven. Making the decision was devastating, we thought if we could just find one more thing to help her out we would do it. We didn’t. The day after Thanksgiving, Tiffany died with Glenn and I at her side.

Tiffany has brought the most unbelievable amount of pleasure to our lives. There will never be another Tiffany; the pain of losing her is at times unbearable and we miss her so much. Yet, we realize that we have truly been blessed for having her in our life and we will never forget that.

We miss you, our little angel.

Phyllis and Glenn Coleman
Coleman@us.hsanet.net

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