Recently, Tigger the cat turned 22 and celebrated by donning a smart bow tie, a cheery hat, and a three-meat cake with his cat brother Stuart.
Adriene Buisch, a former cheerleader for the Baltimore Ravens, and Michael Trentadue, who is Tigger’s adoptive father, gave him loving care and are steadfastly committed to making every day of his life count.
It’s rather amazing to see a cat live out his nine lives for so long, especially considering that this particular cat was abandoned after twenty years.
In 2014, Tigger’s previous owner dropped him off at a veterinary clinic in Maryland but never returned to pick him up.
Buisch wrote in an email to TODAY, “The owner slowly lost contact with the hospital day by day, week by week.” “She would say she would be there the following day, but then they would go weeks without hearing from her. They eventually lost all communication.
Early in 2015, Buisch and Trentadue learned about Tigger’s suffering for the first time. They were considering obtaining a kitten and looking for a new friend for their Stuart-named cat when they became deeply moved by the cat’s tragic tale.
“The hospital is going to be called as soon as possible,”
and leaving for there the very next day,” said 32-year-old Buisch. “
While we wait to see how Stuart behaves with a new cat, we decided it would be nice to give an old cat a comfortable place to live out his days.
When the veterinary assistant entered the room to greet Buisch and Trentadue, Tigger was utterly matted and weak.
Buisch recalled, “Michael and I looked at one other and said, ‘We’re taking him home.'”
Following the joyous news of Tigger’s adoption, some very unfortunate news was delivered: He had kidney failure, an untreatable condition that can be controlled with a prescription diet and medication. Trentadue, 40, was grooming Tigger one day when he just so happened to see a sizable lump on the cat’s belly. He was too old and had kidney issues for surgery.
She and Trentadue therefore set out with even more vigour to fill the ginger cat’s final days with romance and excitement.
Tigger has lately started to gain local notoriety as he is carried around the family’s hometown of Baltimore in a cat carrier sling. Later on, he also becomes well-known. Cat fans from all around the world have been following Tigger on Facebook and showering him with gifts like homemade catnip toys, blankets, and beds ever since photos of the charismatic cat’s beach trip last year went viral.
Tigger’s family has discovered through all the gifts that he is not a big fan of the catnip toys, but he does adore the boxes they come in. Buisch and Trentadue therefore planned a photo session with animal photographer Heidi Moore Trasatti for this past fall (and as it turns out, the senior catizen is quite the ham).
Trasatti made a variety of cardboard sculptures for Tigger to play with, including a hot air balloon, a throne, and a boat. He also enticed him to explore them by offering him tasty food.
The television set and the throne were undoubtedly Tigger’s two favourites among the sculptures. Truly, though, Trasatti remarked that Tigger appeared pleased with anything that featured chicken.
Trentadue and Buisch are unsure of how much time they have left with Tigger. Although his tumour has significantly grown, he has gained weight, which is a positive sign of health, and he appears to be in good health.
Tigger was given a tuna, chicken, and ham birthday cake by Buisch and Trentadue this last weekend, just in time for his 22nd birthday celebration, which he gladly celebrated with his good friend, Stuart. Following their feast, the two fell into what Buisch can only refer to as a “purring meat coma.”
Tigger’s parents began to “smother him with affection” after filling his stomach with all of his favourite meals, according to Buisch.
“It felt like he was broken when we received him when you have a cat like Tigger that had a home for 19 years to wind up languishing in a freezing cage for a year,” she said. “Now we get to see him live his life to the fullest.”
