By Suzy
Hi….I have acquired a very beautiful and delightful-temperamented 8 year old female cat in October 2012 called TigerLily. She was probably pre-owned by two or more owners before me.
She is an indoor cat with excellent house manners, who after nine months has managed to explore her new big garden but still prefers the house. She used to duck if a bird flew past her. A real scaredy-cat!
Her semi-long fur never gets matted but she suffers constant hairballs and has long tufts growing between her pads. Her pads are like pink soft skin unlike all the numerous cats Ive owned in the past, that were rough and like velcro to touch.
The other day she jumped down onto some stinging nettles and I could tell she was stung immediately, she spent the next 12 hours licking all her poor pads. She has a beautiful white ruff, and long fluffy breeches and a high fluffy tail. Her underneath is very very soft, like a baby’s soft hair.
Her last home was a happy home but the owner (my friend), could no longer keep her due to pet-tenancy agreements so I offered to foster her indefinitely. This was out of the blue as I was actually considering to rehome a dog not a kitty. But she came in to my life so Im very happy to have such a lovely new friend by my side night and day.
After my friends departure that night, having just dropped her off to me, I let TigerLily wonder around her new home for an hour then found her sitting on the very top step of the staircase staring down at me. I couldn’t resist any longer and went up to her for a chat and I felt immediately that I should pick her up.
Well I didn’t expect her reaction in the least, she just wriggled carefully around and flopped in my arms purring at me looking up at me with her massive yellow eyes, smiling at me. So I carried her downstairs and she snuggled instantly on me all night in the chair. Since then we have been inseparable, everywhere I go she follows. Curious and always playing with me, though shes not vocal at all unless locked out of the bedroom or hungry. Incidentally some mornings she takes a run-up and bashes into the door again and again until I wake up to let her in, meowing very loudly. But hardly ever other than this.
She can’t eat unless I stand over her or ‘go do her business’ in the litter tray unless I’m standing there (yuk). I think she has anxiety issues about being left alone, as when I go to work or leave the house she won’t eat a thing or go to the toilet, she waits until the moment I come back in to do both in an excited way.
When ever I pick her up she just loves it and would happily let me carry her in my arms for hours. No struggles just purrs, always. Floppy and trusting, amazing. I never experienced this with a cat before.
In the mornings she will climb up to my face in bed and gently tap me between my eyes to wake me to tell me shes hungry. The first few times freaked me out as I was sleeping and saw a huge paw between my eyes but she was very gentle just being demanding.
She throws herself down hard on the floor and rolls around on her back if ever I come across her anywhere in the house or outside, she also sleeps on her back with legs outstretched. When she goes up or down the stairs its like a herd of elephants, shes a really robust and heavy cat despite not eating much and being a very fussy eater.
I love her with all my heart and know she loves me to and we were meant to be together. I’m so happy.
I’ve had Siamese and Burmese and tabbies and black cats, moggies too but this kitty is in a league of her own, her personality is immense and although Siamese too are characters this little fury friend has all the characteristics of the other breeds rolled into one, I never thought that was possible. Its like having a cat who is crossed with a playful doggie. I love her very much.
Maybe she is an unplanned RagaMuffin and was just lucky to have the right ancestry to make her so lovely to be around and has identical traits to the real McCoy. She has all the physical descriptions and floppy disposition of a RagaMuffin even though her last VET certifies her as a semi-long haired British Domestic cat. She initially came from the Cats Protection League cattery and we have no knowledge of her previous lives before my friend had her.
Sadly she has been spayed and seems she may have had kittens before as she has a lot of loose skin on her belly. I would’ve loved to have had more cats from her with her personality.
Suzy
Note from Michael. This article is a comment made by Suzy on the RagaMuffin page. I felt it was too good – both the words and this superb looking cat – to leave languishing amongst the comments, which is why it is here.
Please search using the search box at the top of the site. You are bound to find what you are looking for.
Thanks for the wonderful sharing… I came across your post when looking around for image on “long haired tortoiseshell cat”. I too have a long haired tortoiseshell cat that looks similar to TigerLily, her name is Jasper. She too has the wonderful personality similar to TigerLily and also has the hairball problem. Jasper is a sweet and lovely cat, she is the best friend and partner I have in my life… I am fortunate to have her and love her very much and wish the best for her and wish her to live a very long life and many more years with her.
Thanks Wendy for sharing. Beautiful cat and I so pleased that have such a fine companion.
Beautiful cat and still strange that it has adjusted to a change of 3 homes and owners.
Her name fits her to a tee. She sort of looks like a beautiful flower in the picture that Michael put with the article.
Shame about her needing you to stand by her when she eats or does her business. I have heard of other cats that like companionship while eating (one I used to cat sit for had to be petted while he ate) but most seem to prefer privacy in the litter box. It’s a good thing you don’t work too much. I’d feel so badly all day knowing she was waiting for me so she could go potty. I’m lucky to have my sister living upstairs as our tenant. If I’m working late I can send her down to feed our cat Monty. I hope you have someone who can stand in for you if you want to go away for more than a few hours. I wonder if you went on a trip if she would be the kind of cat who would enjoy coming with you. We had a very “dog like” cat when I was young who enjoyed going places with us in the car.
A small snippet of info: if a cat is slow to eat, I have found that stroking her/him while she is over the food bowl results in her eating. It sort of kicks starts the eating.
Wow Susie she is so beautiful! I love her pretty face and her stunning fur underneath her tummy! I do have a soft spot for long haired/semi longhaired cats and we have had quite a few although not by choice they just came upon us. I’m so pleased this beautiful lady came upon you as it seems you are both so happy together 🙂
Thankyou Leah, she is my first cat with longish fur and first tortoiseshell too. I always wanted a fluffy cat but my parents seemed to come by shorthaired each time. I love grooming her but she doesnt really like it much. She has more hairbrushes than I do and I have long hair myself and spend more time brushing her than me!
Do you have any top tips for preventing hairballs or diet wise, is there something to help her? You must have loads of experience with so many in your life.
She licks all day long at the moment, lick lick lick. At least she smells nice, all sweet and scented.
Id love to have more cats but Im not sure yet if shes a one cat only cat or if she can handle another friend.
The only way to deal with hairballs is to groom with a comb like the Furminator.
A medicine such as Bezo-Pet. It lubricates the digestive tract. I’ll do a short article on it.
Thankyou for that info, and that would be wonderful to get some more expert advice too.
I was biased towards a furminator as the cost seemed huge and I wasnt sure if it really worked as claimed by their articles. No-one I know has ever used one so I discounted it.
Im sprinkling a teeny weeny, tiny amount of dried catnip on her food to see if it will help with digestion. I consider it like medicine or a condiment to enhance her food, and we have herbs for that too. I can see she enjoys it as her bowl is so clean since Ive added it in the last week.
I have a furminator. It is very “powerful”. It is quite a heavy comb and it does strip out lots of fur – undercoat. My Binnie did not like it. I think it was too heavy for her but it is certainly very effective. It is quite a shock to see how much fur comes out, really!
Hiya
Michael is right you can’t really prevent them only regular grooming will help and a lubricant to help them bring the hairballs up easier.
OMG! You all know how I am about torties (am I right, Michael, that is what she is?) And longish hair too! Just look at the attitude in her eyes!
Yes, Dee she is a tortie – tortie and white or calico. They are all females (almost) and TigerLily is regal 😉
What a rare beauty, and a very lucky cat to have landed where she can be appreciated to the fullest.
Thank you so much Ruth and also Michael for taking time to comment and say such nice encouraging things.
Im very glad I found your wonderful website and would like to say that it is so interesting and lovely to see many great photos and films and to read about how other people share their lives with cats. All the helpful stuff is great too!
I’d like to post another picture of TigerLily to show her in full
I have added the picture – an improved version, Suzy. Here it is:
Lovely picture now it is lightened up. She looks splendid. Regal even…. 😉
Do you know why she was relinquished by two previous owners? Seems strange.
Thanks that’s a much better photo now Michael.
In the UK I hardly ever see Torties. Maybe they all reside in a different part of the country to me, Im in the sunny south. I havent come across any to know their characters but she is super intelligent compared to all my other past lovelies. She sits when I tell her and follows when I tell her to come to me…..etc etc
I cant believe it myself that anyone could want to part with such a gift. She is a dream to live around. Although I cant seem to do anything to make her hairballs less for her. Ive tried everything possible that I can find suggested on the internet and also listened to my vets expert advice. Nothing alleviates it. So maybe previous owners couldnt cope with that side of her and took her to the cats protection league to be re-homed.
I have a gut feeling that she was with an older person as a lap companion, keeping someone company throughout the day. And maybe they passed away. She is so calm and unfazed by anything. I was sure when I first got her that she’d shy away from dogs but how wrong I was, as the neighbours 4 boisterous barking labradors often jump up at me but TigerLily just ignores them totally. So perhaps she was with a dog before as well.
My friend that had to give her up was very pleased that she wouldnt be with any young children and commented it was because she didnt feel Lily could cope with being pulled or pushed about by overeager kids.
She has her own classic winged back chair that she has slept since she arrived. Mind you she sits in all the chairs and stools generally, but this was her favourite from the beginning and has a little indent where she lays on it.
I love her underneath markings and always thought she looks like a delicious orange and chocolate marble cake when shes asleep or rolling on her back.
She is a star cat. There are about five cats that stick in my mind on PoC out of 12,000 photos of about 5,000 cats. TigerLily will have to join the group. I have never seen a tortie in the UK either. I seen lots in photos mostly American cats. It is just possible that she is a RagaMuffin. We’ll never know.
I have lightened this photo to. Here it is:
Purrfect…thankyou again Michael for improving the photo
Her coat looks totally awesome. It’s a combination of the texture and colour.
TigerLily really is one of the most beautiful torties I’ve ever seen!
How could anyone bear to part with her? She does look like a marble cake underneath lol
Our Jozef is prone to hairballs, for all he’s short haired he has a very dense coat, being half feral. We groom him daily but he still manages to finds a few hairs to swallow and make mini hairballs, hairball remedy foods or vets recommended Defurrum or Katalax don’t help.
What does help is butter, just a few finger scrapings smooth the way down.
Oh thank you for suggesting butter, I will give it a go. Seems some poor cats just cant deal with the fur whether short or long haired.
TigerLilly is so beautiful Suzy. Really she is fascinating. You are lucky to have found each other. Thanks again for sharing her with us here.
I have never lived with such a beautiful (by human standards) cat. I have loved all my cats. I have found all of them beautiful by my standards. What if one lives with a cat that is universally beautiful? Does it affect what you do? TigerLily is an especially beautiful cat.
How lovely – maybe it just backs up the notion that mixed breed cats are just as beautiful and interesting as purebred cat.
She is very pretty too. Hopefully the lady doesn’t have to spend the whole time at work like me. I’m sure Tigerlily does get anxious being alone.
I know Molly likes when I sit with her in the floor while she eats. When I get home we have a big cuddle on the floor and then I give her food and stay with her.
For me this is the perfect little article for the end of the day – thank you!
Yes, Marc, random bred cats can be more attractive than purebreds because they are never “extreme”. Often purebred cats are bred to extreme which makes them look less attractive to many people.
Everything being equal a moggie can beat a pedigree for looks sometimes depending on the breed.
TigerLily looks as good as any purebred cat.
Luckily I spend most days with her and dont have to work so often anymore as Im part time. So thankfully she isnt left alone for too long as my work place is far away. It sounds sweet you also stay around whilst your kitty eats, so many cats like to be private when eating.
You are right Suzy – many cats don’t want you around when they eat, and my other 2 are like that but with Molly we have a routine of cuddles and then food together, it’s just something she likes, I can even pet he a bit while she’s eating but I always stick around. If I go she will usually stop eating – in these instances. Obviously there are other times she eats alone but somehow she likes the encouragement.
What a lovely story! TigerLily is very beautiful and with a wonderful purr-sonality too and was obviously at home straight away with you Suzy.
It sounds as if she has a bit of anxiety with being rehomed so many times, she is sure to be wondering how long she will be happily living with you, but time will help with that when she realises you will love and keep her forever.
You are right Michael,this was too good to only be a comment, I think a lot of people miss other comments unless they are in reply to their own, I know I do.