There’s Nothing Ordinary About an “Ordinary” Tabby

Most fairy tales begin with "once upon a time“, probably because these four words are supposed to show that it’s just a story, it’s imagination, it’s not real. Most of them also have happy endings, but unfortunately real life is often not a fairy tale and real life stories

rarely even have endings. The story of Tigi, an ordinary tabby tomcat, does sound like a fairy tale in a way…

Well, once upon a time there was a four or five month old tabby kitten who appeared in front of my building,

extremely cautious and distrustful at the beginning. He’d been coming for dinner every day without even considering letting anyone approach him for months. For some reason beyond my comprehension, tabby kitties are not overly popular around here

and they don’t get adopted as often as other cats, so his future definitely looked uncertain. Maybe it’s just that there are so many tabbies and they don’t seem special at first sight – on the other hand, we all know that beauty is in the eye of the beholder…

Be that as it may, as time went by, my Tigi started to show more and more of the unique traits of a tabby cat's personality. He relaxed and revealed his gentle nature; he became lovable and sweet. Although he

had always been somewhat of a loner, he befriended Negro and Treca Sreca and they appeared to be having a great time together. He still frequently wanted to spend some time on his own, so he found an isolated yard close by where dogs could not enter and people were rarely passing through; it became his refuge. He was always afraid to cross the street by himself, so I usually had to escort him back home.

A couple of years later, Tigi suddenly disappeared. It's

perhaps nothing strange when it comes to outdoor kitties but I had been searching for him tirelessly for days and finally located him in the attic of some building in the neighborhood. It was freezing outside, the snow was deep and although he could

have gotten down from the attic easily, he was reluctant and far too afraid to jump into the snow. I’d been trying to encourage him to jump down for quite some time to no avail, but succeeded in finally persuading him to do so in the end. Each cat that survives

years of living on the streets is either very lucky or a true fighter. My tabby boy has obviously been both.

Tigi was rather vocal from the beginning, he’s always been talking and explaining everything, in most of the photos his mouth is wide open. Since we

all moved to the shelter, he’s been spending his days eating, resting, singing and enjoying life. He is affectionate and snuggly, and doesn’t have a care in the world anymore, as he is now safe, secure and very much loved here with me. I truly hope he lives happily

ever after, to the end of his days….