Farewell, Tiki

                                   This is one of the last two pictures taken of Tiki.

This is a similar pose before he got so sick. I think you can see that he was ready to go to the Rainbow Bridge. Tiki was 15 years old and had diabetes for some time. Lately his kidneys started to fail very quickly and his liver function went bad, too. There was just nothing more to be done for him but help him to the Bridge. Tiki lived with his Mom (Tara), Tavi (his litter brother), Cody, Miss Jade and Camie the greyhound. Tiki and Tavi were almost inseperable and Tavi will be missing his brother something awful. Please send them all of them some purrs and purrayers.

                                       Our dear, sweet Tiki got so tired
                                       That to go to the Bridge was all he desired.
                                                 His Mom helped him go,
                                                 Though it hurt her so.
                                       Now he's running and playing and nevermore tired.

Tiki

Tiki and Tavi are fourteen-year-old littermates and have always been together.  In this picture, Tiki is a little annoyed with the flashy box, as he is trying to explore and the Mom keeps taking pictures of him.  This picture was taken after the stroller ride in the previous post. Tiki just loves going out on his harness and wants to get into everything.  Tiki and Tavi have a fun game that they play with the Mom when they are out on their harnesses.  They will each go in a different direction, leaving the Mom being pulled apart in the middle. Tiki and Tavi are also very clever.  They have found out that they can open any door in the house if Tiki stands up and turns the knob while Tavi pushes at the bottom of the door.  The Mom had to put child-proof latches on all the kitchen cabinets to keep them from opening up the cabinet doors.  Tiki used to enjoy opening the cabinet door where the dog food was kept and having an illicit feast.  Tiki has been diagnosed with diabetes, but he does very well most of the time.  Because Tiki needs food throughout the day, both Tiki and Tavi are fed Stinky Goodness three times a day.  One day the Mom came home from work for lunch and Tiki was nowhere in sight.  This was very unusual, as Tiki usually greets her at the door, demanding his lunch.  The Mom found him in his bed, very deeply asleep.  The problem was that he was very sluggish to respond to anything, so the Mom tested his blood sugar.  It was extremely low.  The Mom tried to get him to eat his usual lunch, but he only ate about half of it.  Then she tried baby food, but he only ate about a fourth of that.  That meant that she had to get out the big guns.  She dosed him with honey, which he hates, but it brought his blood sugar up.  The whole situation was a bit scary for both of them, but Tiki is fine now.

                                  Tiki didn't come out for lunch.
                                  This really worried his Mom a bunch.
                                           His blood sugar was low
                                           And it made him slow.
                                  Mom doctored him up, 'cause she loves him a bunch.

Tiki

Doesn't Tiki just look adorable taking a snooze?  Tiki is Riley's sister and when they first came to live in their forever home she couldn't bear to be separated from him even for a moment.  When she couldn't see him, she would cry out for him and he would come running.  She isn't quite so insistent on being with him all the time now, but she will still get to miss him sometimes and cry for him to come to her and he always does.  Tiki has an evil twin, called Evil Tiki.  Evil Tiki comes out on Tuesdays and blogs about her plot to eat the Daddy.  She has a plan to cook him on a grill and eat him all up.  I think this got started when she nibbled on his toes once and found him delicious. So far Evil Tiki hasn't gotten very far in her evil plot, but she keeps trying.  Tiki loves Riley best, but she likes Kesey, too, and sometimes naps with him.  She doesn't like being herded by Kesey as much as Riley does, though.  Evil Tiki blames Kesey for thwarting her taking delivery of a grill she had ordered to cook the Daddy on when he herded her away from the door at just the right (wrong?) time.

                               Tiki hates to be parted from Riley.
                               When they are together she has a big smiley.
                                          When they are apart
                                          She cries out her heart
                               Until, fast as he can, comes running Riley.