The One with Tip Toe's 19th (and Probably Last) Birthday


Tuesday, October 30, 2012

I've had my fair share of pets in my 27 years of life. Probably more than 60... From a flock of zebra finches to a warren of rabbits, from a herd of guinea pigs to a school of fish, so on and so forth. My very first "pet" was a pair of tadpoles my dad found on a bike ride or something when I was about 7. I named them Blacky and Snacky. They died while being taken care of by our neighbor when we were on vacation. My second pet was a guinea pig named Tanmerry. 
My third pet was/is our cat named Tip Toe. 
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At the end of October 1994, my aunt and uncle found abandoned kittens in their yard. Being the sweet and caring for animals people that they are, they took the kittens in and hand fed them. I desperately wanted one but the 'rents said no. My uncle had to take the kittens to work with him every day to feed them and since he shared an office with my dad, eventually my dad gave in to their cuteness and let me get one. I remember before we went and picked her up we stopped off at a bread store and I swear we spent five hours shopping for ingredients... I named my kitty Tip Toe because that was what I decided I would name my first kitty when I was about 5 years old.
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Today is Tip Toe's 19th birthday!
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Today my mom took Tip Toe to the vet and found out she most likely has cancer. 
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Nobody/nothing lives forever, but it's still hard to imagine life without Tip Toe! It feels like she's been around forever!
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Granted she's not the nicest of cats. In fact, I'd say she's downright mean. But every once in awhile she can be affectionate; only towards my mom these days.
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Once upon a time I read somewhere that the reason cats like to sit on your things is they want to feel important. If that's the case, then Tip Toe wants to be queen of the castle!
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Tip Toe has already outlived Sneakers our beloved Sheltie. 
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Now she's battling life against Gypsy the Australian Shepherd!
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One of my most favorite pictures of Tip Toe. She's ready for dinner and waiting patiently!
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Every time I've been home over the last several years, Tip Toe has gotten skinnier and skinnier and skinnier.
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Today at the vet she only weighed 5 pounds :( They ran a bunch of tests, results to be known tomorrow. The vet thinks she has cancer of the intestines, hence she's so darn skinny even though she eats her weight, quite literally, in food every day.
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I'm not looking forward to the circle of Tip Toe's life coming to an end. But I do believe our pets go to heaven so we will be reunited!
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Happy 19th birthday Tip Toe! You're such a pretty kitty!

16 comments

  1. Aw what a sweet post! We have 2 rabbits, and one of our rabbits, our girl Maria, developed a cancerous growth shortly after we adopted her. It was pretty sad and the vet only gave her 2 weeks to live. We decided to get her spade anyways (that's why she was at the vet) and it actually stopped the growth of whatever is inside her. She's been with us almost 2 years now. We love her so much and are so lucky and blessed to have spent as much time with her as we can. It reminded me of her when I read this. Thanks so much for sharing.

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  2. Awe! I have a black and white tuxedo kitty to, she's got half a black mustache, I love how Tip Toe has that huge cute black spot on her chin. So cute! My kitty is also down right mean, but we all love her just the same.
    Happy birthday to your very pretty pitty cat :)

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  3. Aw! How sad that she's sick. :-( I know how hard it is to lose a pet. :-(

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  4. Aw that is a pretty kitty! I'm sorry that she is sick.

    Hi! I love your blog. I have been following you for a while now but never let a comment as I decided recently to finally create a blog. I notimated you for a blog award! You can click'here' to check it out. I hope you like it and I look forward to following you. Have a great one!

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  5. I'm so sorry she is sick, Paige. But she is such a pretty cat and it looks like she will have lived a long and happy life with you and your family!
    I have two kitties of my own and I am dreading the day that they pass. It really is hard.

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  6. This makes me so sad, but what a beautiful post! Happy Birthday Tip Toe, even though you don't like me ;)

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  7. Happy Birthday, Tippity-Toe cat! No matter how many times we love and welcome a furry family member into our hearts, the saying goodbye to them never gets easier. I hope that T.T.s days are as pleasant as possible and am so happy that you had so many years to make memories together. Hugs to you, Paige.

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  8. This is a bitter sweet post. As a family we have just got our first 'proper' pet (fish apparently don't count!) and was thinking I'd do a Storytelling Sunday about my childhood pets.

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  9. Happy birthday to Tip Toe and sorry to hear that she is sick... I hope you and the family have a Happy Halloween!!!

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  10. So sorry she is sick, poor precious kitty. Happy Birthday pretty Tip Toe! Hugs!

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  11. Happy Birthday Tip Toe! We lost our cat Pita to cancer a few years ago. She lived to be 16 and was very much like tip toe, queen of the castle and my mom's second sometimes favorite daughter. Its so cool you have so many photos of tip toe and memories.

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  12. so beautiful! I love tuxedo kitties, I have two of them although one barely has any white. Sorry your furbaby is sickly, no fun. My sweet guinea piggie/craft room mate passed a couple of months ago, I still miss his wheeks

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  13. OHHHHHHHHH, Paige! I'm so sad that Tip Toe is sick!!! I hope that she had a great birthday!!! <3 <3 <3

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  14. Losing a pet is so hard! I hope Tip Toe's last birthday was an amazing one. And I'm with you, pets totally make it to heaven!

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  15. how sad Paige, but it looks like Tip Toe has had an amazing and loving life, happy birthday to Tip Toe :) I love animals too, have had rabbits, fish, hamsters, dog...but no cats due to the hubs allergies..., they really make our life special and fun :)

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  16. as pet owners it is our duty to give them the best lives that we possibly can for no matter how long their lives will be and it looks like tip toe has lived a wonderful life!

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