The Internet provides. By request, as an antidote to hatred and greed, thieves and spammers, and torture, here is a kitty with a bow. This is Tira:
She is small and plump, with short legs, a pink nose, and big round “anime-kitty” eyes, as a friend of mine says. She is sweet-natured and demandingly affectionate, with a raspy purr that rattles the windows. She snores little squeaky snores when she sleeps. She’s a watercat-she doesn’t mind baths, she frequently joins me in the shower, and she stands in the water dish when she drinks, which is often because she’s diabetic. In the above picture you can see she’s just had a drink.
Part of the time I was a jewelry student in Paris, Texas, I shared an house with a roommate. Jackie invited a young Mormon missionary in one day, because she thought he was cute. The parts of their conversation that didn’t involve attempted conversion or attempted seduction revolved around a cat he had found by the side of the road and couldn’t keep, because he would be leaving soon for another mission. Jackie adopted the cat. She was a dog-lover, and, quite frankly, a cat-hater. The two of them didn’t get along. I came back from break in the fall of 1991 to discover Tira sitting on the front steps, skeletally thin and quite pregnant. A friend told me that Tira had left the day I did and wasn’t seen again until two days before I got back. Jackie didn’t argue with me when I told her that Tira was mine. Moonbeam, the only kitten born of her pregnancy, is on the left in this picture:
Moonbeam is sweet but skittish and rather camera-shy-unfortunately, I will probably never be able to take a picture showing you his most arresting physical feature-the word “CAT” clearly spelled out in the markings on his side.
Tira is slowing down. She moves stiffly now, and has to be lifted onto anything taller than a chair. You can see her cataracts in the above picture. By the vet’s best estimate she’s 17 or 18 by now, which is pretty old for a diabetic cat. I know the time we have left isn’t long. But for now, she’s still healthy and happy, and I’m grateful for her company.
