IN MEMORY OF TIGER 1992-2000

I'm a housecat
Born in and of the wild
Orphaned with my littermates
By the only predator my mother couldn't outrun - a car.
Rescued by The Tall One
Warmed in his jacket
I traveled to a new life
Far from the scene of my sorrow.

I'm a housecat
Taken to my new home
So small a little dish was my litter pan
I grew fast as I learned my new home
Curious as a cat could be
Anything and everything I tried
Stuck in a ceiling
Or locked in a closet
Were all in a day for me.

I'm a housecat
I ask very little of my masters
(I let them think that!)
Fresh water, clean food
Clean litter and love
I have plenty of all of them.

I'm a housecat
Please don't be angry if I pounce on you
I'm only being as my wild cousins
Have been for centuries
Don't reward my instincts with a beating or a kick
But I promise you
That I'll reward
A dangled string
Or a scratch on the ear
With the contented purr
Of a contented cat.

(Tiger came to me as an orphaned kitten of a road kill mother in July 1992.
He died peacefully on July 5, 2000 at home, with his family and fellow cats
Socks and Daphanie, and best buddy Baby, the shepherd/huskie mix with
whom he shared our home.  Tiger is passing eternity in my garden, where Baby
joined him in January 2003.  They will be missed.)