When I moved into this house on July 1st, 2004 I was greeted by two cats, a brown skittish one and an angry black one. Clever little me, I named the black cat Shadow and the brown one Tiger (she resembles a tiger in now way at all). Tiger took a long time to warm up to the idea of new people in the house. We had moved in and the old owner left the cats because he didn’t want to move them from being outdoor cats on an acre to indoor cats in an apartment. So we had them. They were cute and they really loved each other. Shadow was just mean, though. She’d scratch people, she’d hiss, and she never came inside. I think she and Tiger were just really heartbroken that their old owner had left them and let some other family come in and own them. It was really sad, but I wanted Shadow to be my friend. Eventually, Tiger would come inside and sleep in my room. She was, and still is, very timid and jumps at the slightest movement or sound. She’s just a nervous wreck, but I knew she came to love us (me) because she’d bring us mice, birds, and other gross rodents. Once I picked up a half eaten mouse in the middle of the night because I thought Tiger was chewing on a toy of mine, and that really grossed me out. Shadow was a lonely kitty. She finally decided to come inside when it was ridiculously cold outside. She slept under my desk in my room, as long as I stayed approximately 8 feet away from her. Otherwise, she’d hiss and her hissing was scary. One Thanksgiving I came home from Oregon and found her asleep on my bed, being a happy kitty, a precious scene. That’s when she began to trust me and let me into her short kitty life. I remember the first time I ever pet her and picked her up. She was so soft, unlike most outdoor cats. Her black fur was always so shiny and I just didn’t imagine it being so soft. I wanted to cuddle her but I knew the was definitely pushing it so I just cherished what I could. I really loved Shadow, despite how mean she was to me. Her and Tiger were best friends. They shared their food, cuddled, and were literally always together. Eventually, Shadow began to act old, walk funny, and spent most of her time inside. I found a tumor on her back, and it scared me, and after finding out she had to be put down I cried and cried and I was now the heartbroken one. We had a nice friendship. Even angry, Shadow was so lovely and I loved (still love) her because she had a really nice inside. What was even worse was after she was put down, Tiger was out of her mind and didn’t know what to do. It’s was the worst thing in the world to see her so lost and confused and sad. You could tell Tiger really missed Shadow, and that she didn’t understand where she was or why. They were best friends and one day, Shadow’s just gone. It broke my heart to see her that way. Now Tiger is this big, rough, skittish, old lady cat and I love her so much. I don’t talk about her the way I talk about Baby, but I do love Tiger a lot. If anyone just gives her one pet, she goes crazy and purrs really loud and just appreciates everything. She’s mean to Baby, but I can understand why. Tiger is just so, I can’t explain it. She’s full of a boring life that somehow makes me so happy. I still feel bad about her experiencing the loss of her best friend. Losing Shadow still makes me sad. But at least I know Tiger is enjoying herself and still loves us and is a happy kitty.