Tiva - A Retrospective

Tiva fashioned his own punk rock collar by hacking away at it with his back claws over several years

Tiva was born on a farm outside of Fargo, ND and spent his first year as a barn kitty. Amy adopted him when he was a year old. He lived with her and an off-white cat named Indica in Fargo until all three of them moved to St. Cloud to live with me in the summer of 1997. Tiva took to me right away and would often sleep with me. My cat at the time, Tiger, who was a bad ass, would regularly kick Tiva's butt. Frankly, Tiva was a nice kitty (although he already hated men) until he met Tiger. After I moved to the Cities in 1998, Tiva moved around with Amy a bit living in Detroit Lakes, Lake Park and then with Amy and roommate Conal in Minneapolis. Amy, Tiva and I became roommates again in 2000 and it was that summer that introduced him to Fela, his best kitty friend and snuggle partner for the last 9 years. 2000 was also the year that Tiva met Nathan. Knowing his hate for all human men, it was a shock to us that Tiva liked Nathan right away. For years Tiva slept on the bed with Nathan and I, often right in between us, warm, happy and purring loud enough to wake us up.
When Nathan introduced a girl kitty, Kiko, to Tiva's life in 2002, he was not amused and set out on a mission to torture her endlessly. In his old age he gave up on this quest more or lest, but she still has not forgiven him. In 2003, Tiva and Fela moved to Madision with me giving Kiko a break, but not for long. When I moved back to St. Paul in 2004, Nathan and I suddenly had the Brady Bunch of cats that included my two boys, Fela and Tiva, and his two girls Kiko and JoJo. This did not go well. A lot of territorial pissing and several hundred dollars of fly fishing gear and carpeting later, JoJo - who turned out to be the most aggressive of the four - went to live with Angie. This left Kiko, Fela and Tiva to reach a strange equilibrium that worked for them and us, thank god.
Tiva was well known amongst our friends for being an asshole. He routinely hissed, growled, swatted at and tried to bite just about everyone that wasn't me or Nathan (including Amy). Tiva hated Muggsy and George the most for some reason, although he'd reached somewhat of a detante with Muggsy in his last few years. A pain in the ass at parties, Tiva was usually sequestered to the laundry room for the duration. He couldn't be trusted, really. His piss poor attitude made him even more endearing to us and we loved him for all of the reasons that other people rarely saw. He was my guardian and protector. He constantly snuggled with me and Nathan. His favorite spot was tucked up in an arm pit, purring loudly. He loved to get outside and roll in the dirt and we habitually close the back door all the way when we exit or enter as he was crafty - waiting for it to just nearly close and then bolting out at the last minute. He did get out a few times for a whole day but never went any further than the neighbor's porch. He'd always come running from where ever he was if you just stood in the back yard and shook the treat bag. He loved catnip and sparkly balls and chasing Fela and Kiko. He was most certainly the alpha in the house even though the younger cats could've taken him if they had really tried. He kept his authority over them by occasinally biting the crap out of them when they least expected it, like in the middle of a solid nap.
When I was pregnant, Tiva became even more protective of me. He would lay on my belly and purr secrets to the baby. Once Henry was born, Tiva loved him and didn't even mind when Henry would pull baby fistfuls of fur out. But then, Tiva was always unexpectedly good with children. It was other adults, particularly muscians that made him irrate. When it was cold out, Teeves always liked to crawl under the covers and if he wasn't around, he was likely found by locating the lump the in the middle of the bed covers.
Tiva was very talkative. He had a very distinctive voice and about as many meows as words in the English language. He would give whole sentences and, sometimes, dissertations on the state of things. He also let you know, in no uncertain terms, if he was unhappy with the state of his litter box. He demanded food at precisely 7pm every night and would stare you down if you were even a few minutes late. He was oddly patient and would wait for extended periods of time for you to give in and let him up on your lap or forget he was there whichever came first. For as big as he was he could just sort of magically appear on your lap, sound asleep and purring.
Tiva had a rough go of it the last few years. He had surgery three times to remove cancerous tumors. He had gained a lot of weight and was nicknamed "Fatty" by my friend Barry, a nickname that stuck even though he was only 13 lbs near the end (down from nearly 17 lbs in his hey day). In the end it wasn't the cancer that got him, but his kidney's which shut down. After years of being such a huge personality and presence in our lives, it was really hard to see him having difficulting walking, refusing catnip and not even getting up to roll on the patio on a nice day. We knew it was his time to go. Rest in peace, my good friend, we will miss you dearly.

Looking down on you from his power position

Snuggled up like the good kitten he was most of the time

After the third surgery to remove cancerous tumors, this one involved a toe amputation which sucked big time. I dont' know if it was harder on him or me.

Annointing the tree with his regal presence

Making absolutely sure that the nursing chair was ready for Henry's arrival. His tests were long and thourough

Henry and Tiva were buddies from day one

Tiva and Fela were constant companions, often curled together for long afternoon sleeps

On Tiva's last day with us, he took in the sunshine and the fresh spring air on the patio that he loved. We will miss you so much Teever Beever, Kitten Cat, TeeeeeeeeVA!