Tiki – Ragdoll of the Week

I adopted Tiki in 2007 from a cat rescue in Scarsdale, NY. I came across him on their website when I was searching for my kitty Mojo (a Maine Coon mix) who had gotten out an open door and run away.

I searched and called pet rescues for months hoping Mojo would turn up. I didn’t find Mojo but when I saw the picture of Tiki, I knew I had to adopt him. He had been turned into the rescue with a little black female Persian.

The previous owner had moved from California to New York, and then was moving from NY to China and didn’t want to put the kitties through the rigorous quarantine process to take them to China. Tiki was originally named “Big Kitty” and the little Persian was “Little Kitty.” He was approximately a year old when I adopted him and came with all his papers and even the original receipt from where he was purchased from a breeder out west somewhere.

I changed his name from “Big Kitty” to Tiki after Tiki Barber. Tiki Barber was a UVA football player while I was at UVA and then became a NY Giant — I had moved from VA to NY in 2007.

I brought Tiki home, and he initially hid under the couch. After about an hour, he poked his little head out and started checking things out. My little chihuahua mix Eddie immediately loved him. They played and cuddled, and sometimes Tiki would sleep overnight in the crate with Eddie.

From day one, Tiki was a typical Ragdoll: calm and a major cuddler. He’s gotten more vocal as he’s gotten older, but he’s still not loud. He’s more like a dog than a typical cat. He greets us at the door when we come home, and always he wants to be in our lap or next to us on the couch. He follows me or my husband from room to room. When I work from home, he will sit on my lap for a while and then will go sleep on the bed behind me so he can keep an eye on me.

Tiki is very friendly and will try to get treats and cuddles from anyone who comes to our house. Whenever people meet him, their typical comment is “I don’t usually like cats, but Tiki is awesome. I’ve never met a cat so friendly!”

I adopted Tiki before I met my husband John, and John has spent the past 13 years since we met trying (to no avail) to get Tiki to love him more. Tiki is friendly and loves everyone, but I am his number one. Tiki has been with me through my divorce, heartbreaks, and other stressful times in my life. He seems to sense whenever I’m sad and does whatever he can to comfort me. His favorite place to be is lying on my chest, nose-to-nose with me, and purring. He also loves to sleep in his kitty cave or his crown bed in the sun.

Even at almost 16 years old, he likes to bat around his catnip kitty toys and still gets the crazy cat zoomies on occasion.

We love our Tiki! John and I picked out some of our fav pics of him. (He looks like he has shorter fur in some pics because we get him a lion cut a couple times per year in an attempt to keep the fur and our allergies under control.)

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