Tiger Lily's Mom Here; COD May 09

Hi everyone,

I thought I'd pop in to say hello again.
I had the honor and pleasure of having my Tiger Lily be Cat of the Day in May of '09.
Unfortunately, shortly after that, Tiger Lily became ill with yet another bout of the sterile cystitis we'd had trouble with in the past.
Thus a 4 month long period of medicines, diet change, segregating her from the other 4 cats, vet appts., x-rays and ultra-sounds ensued, not to mention a lot of stress and heart ache.
After a lot of soul searching and talking with the vet and ultra-sound specialist, it was decided that Tiger Lily just wasn't meant to be part of a multi-cat home. We made the difficult-for-we-humans decision to re-home Tiger Lily.
Although we miss her like crazy and would've given anything to be able to keep her with us, she is now an only-cat in a loving home. No more cystitis, no more medicines, no more stress of having to share a home with other cats.

So, I am now just Momto4FemaleFelines.

The difference in our household is amazing. The stress with Tiger Lily here was more far reaching than I ever realized. It had caused my Molly to start marking the house, which all pet owners know is not a pleasant thing.

Molly no longer marks. My oldest cat (she's only approaching 5 but is the oldest), Philly, no longer stays hiding out in 'her' room by herself 95% of the time. She is out and about, playing more with the other 3 cats, developing a relationship with my husband. My sister cats, Kit & Molly, are spending more time togehter. Piper, Tiger Lily's baby, is the only one that hasn't seemed to change...she's her 'loves to sleep' self/ceiling Gremlin watcher self. I was worried she'd get depressed over her Momma leaving, but she seems just fine.

Anyway, that's what has happened here at my house....I had hoped to become a more regular member here after Tiger Lily had been chosen as Cat of the Day, but between all the emotional stuff of Tiger Lily's illness and the decision making process and ultimately her leaving us, and then the Holidays, I just never got back here.

We still miss Tiger Lily like crazy, but as one of my friends said, "rescuing does not mean they all have to live with you". In my mind, I know I made the right decision to get Tiger Lily into an only-pet home, but my heart still aches at times.