Cat Mama

I have always been a cat lady.  

I adopted PIP! in 2015. The local pet store was hosting an adoption drive.  My apartment did not allow pets, and I was getting ready to move - it was clearly not the right time to adopt a cat.  But there were a dozen little black kittens and I couldn’t stop myself.  I sat on the sidewalk, a lap full of kittens, and knew I was going to bring one home. I couldn’t help but notice this one kitten. He was a HANDFUL, climbing all over everything (including the food and water dishes) and everyone (including up all available pants legs), NON STOP.  I thought, that cat will always be Too Much.  I ended up picking out a little girl and went into the pet store to buy supplies and the rescue packed up my new kitten.  Not the shy little girl, but the HANDFUL.  This was my PIP! We were meant to be.  

A couple of months later, I met Sam at another kitten adoption event and I knew he was the right fit for me and PIP!  When I brought Sam home, it was love at first sight. PIP! loved his Sam.  

PIP!  was bold and fearless.  He was always PIP!  and never Pip. When I was teaching them boundaries, I tried squirting them with water.  PIP!  loved water.  I tried the coin in a can.  PIP!  played with the can.  He unravelled so many rolls of toilet paper I couldn’t keep them on the holder.  He greeted every visitor and supervised everything that went on. He cleaned Sam’s head and frequently slept next to Sam.  He decided when it was time for food and when it was time to go to bed.  It was a PIP!  world.  Sam and I were happy to live in it.  

In 2016, my life changed forever:  I got sick and had no other choice but to have a hysterectomy. PIP!  and Sam helped me heal, both physically and mentally. 

Last June PIP!  was diagnosed with terminal cancer.  I focused on his care and soaked up every minute I had with him.  Sam slept near him often, sometimes with PIP!s paw resting on his side.  Five weeks later, PIP! passed away.   

I thought about ways to keep a bit of PIP!  with me. From time to time I would think about getting a piece of jewelry I could wear with PIP!s name engraved on it, but nothing felt right.  

I found Tiny Tags through instagram and I knew I had finally found the right piece.  Over New Year’s weekend (late at night) I placed an order for a tag engraved with pip.  The next morning I realized that it was always PIP!  and Sam, and PIP!s tag would not be complete without Sam’s name, too.  I emailed Tiny Tags first thing Monday morning and Betsy went above and beyond so that I could have PIP!  and Sam, my first fur babies, together on the tag.  

A few months after PIP!  died a google search led me to a little black kitten in a shelter two towns over.  Three days later I came home with two kittens, Max and Duke.  They will never replace PIP!  but they were exactly what Sam and I needed.  They are young and wild.  Sam runs through the house playing with them. They are keeping Sam’s head clean and me on my toes. 

I realized wearing a tag with  PIP!  and Sam was not complete without a tag for Max and Duke.  I wear my two tags, with my four fur babies and I love that they are all together, with me.  

Max has a little PIP!  in him.  He has the same easy personality and the same adventurous spirit.  He even models a little, too.