Our friends Tom and Alaire gave us the sad news Friday about their Burmese Boss Tiki needing to be put to sleep. The poor guy was having heart trouble and he was starting to suffer from pneumonia, something cats have difficulty getting through unlike humans.
Although Tiki wasn’t our cat, he was an extension of our cat family through cat sitting plus he generally liked everybody. Besides being about nine pounds of raw muscle, Tiki was rather fearless and some days demanding. He had this low, distinctive voice he used like radar to find you when he was hungry or he wanted to go outside. Woe to those he found sleeping, Tiki would stand near your head and let himself be heard. He also had a very audible purr to let you know he was cool.
Enjoying the sunshine on the deck.
When Shadow passed on, Tiki became the Lowrys’ alpha cat. Despite being half Angel and Jack’s size, Tiki took whatever food he wanted, groomed them and got first dibs on a sleeping spot. Although on the latter, cats tend to have their own preferences, I’ve rarely seen cats fight over anywhere except for a spot on the humans’ bed.
There are so many stories I would like to tell about Tiki yet I will probably go with his few escapes he pulled off on us. One thing I’ll give to his credit, Tiki usually thought scaring the crap out of Somara and me was a game unlike the other cats (they tend to howl back things like “You’re not my parents!” and stay away). His favorite tactic was to go under the deck where Somara hated to go, spiderwebs and it was dark. However, we’d have to do it, cut Tiki off from at least two possible exits. He would like to stay close, lure you into a false opportunity to grab him and then dart ten feet away. Eventually we’d outwit him. One evening, I told Somara to relax and take turns waiting by the screen door because it was raining and I knew wasn’t keen on getting wet. Panned out, he slowly came by within about 20 minutes of his escape.
Farewell Tiki. You were a great cat friend and we’ll always remember your unique voice and easy-going nature as the picture below showed.
Showing off his clownish side.