“CatsHope™ Ambassador Mascot – Ms. Tamara Tigerlily (Tami)”
Photographs © CatsHope™
Tami: Lost and Found Part 3 – A Home and a Family
In Tami’s Own Voice
My name is Tamara Tigerlily, although everyone calls me Tami.
Before I became a CatsHope™ cat, I was alone.
I was not a feral cat. I had known people before. I had lived in a home before. I remembered what it was like to have a place where I belonged—to be fed, spoken to and allowed to sleep without constantly watching for danger.
But after some years, I found myself outside.
I did not understand why I no longer had a home or why the people I had once known were no longer there. I missed the safety and familiarity of the life I had lost.
I wandered from one HDB block to another, searching for food and somewhere to rest. Sometimes, I slept beneath parked cars. At other times, I hid in stairwells, trying to find a quiet corner where I would not be chased away.
But none of those places was truly safe.
Cars could move without warning. People walked through the stairwells, and I never knew who would tolerate me and who would drive me away. Even when I managed to close my eyes, I could not completely relax.
There were other cats living around the blocks too. They already had their own territories, feeding places and hiding spots. I was an outsider. I had to contend with them, keep my distance and protect myself when they came too close.
Finding food was never certain. There were people who sometimes left food for cats, but the feeders did not always come. On some days, I found something to eat. On other days, I waited and searched, but no one appeared.
I knew that food came from human hands. I remembered that a home was somewhere a cat could rest without constantly watching for danger. But somehow, I had ended up outside—pregnant, hungry and searching for somewhere safe.
On one particular evening, I was beside a drain in front of an HDB block, looking for food and shelter. That was where she found me—the two-legs who had been giving me food from time to time. She stopped to feed me. Then she called her son and asked him to come downstairs and help her carry me up to their home.
I did not know it then, but that journey upstairs would change my life.
She gave me a name, and I was happy to respond whenever she called me.
For the first time in a long while, I no longer had to wander between blocks looking for my next meal or somewhere safe to sleep. There was food, shelter and a place where I could rest.
Other cats already lived in the home, but there was room for me too. I was no longer the abandoned cat beside the drain. I had become part of the CatsHope™ family.
It was there, in the safety of the CatsHope™ home, that I prepared to give birth.
“Tamara’s Brood, Tiny in a Bag”
The five tiny kittens were placed in a red shopping bag for this photoshoot.
Photographs © CatsHope™
“Tamara’s Brood”
The five Kittens born on the 17th December 2020 named Tigger, Kopi, Simba, Rockie, and Cougar. Tigger and kopi were adopted at 4 months old and were renamed Issey and Akira by their adopters. Their stories can be found on “Featured Adopters”. Photo taken in 2021.
Photographs © CatsHope™
My Babies
I gave birth to five kittens.
When they were born, they were so tiny that all five could fit inside one small red shopping bag. Their eyes were still blue, their legs were unsteady, and they were only beginning to explore the world around them.
I was proud of my babies.
I cared for them while the two-legs cared for all of us. We had regular meals, shelter and a safe place where my babies could sleep, learn to walk, play and grow.
As the weeks passed, their legs became steadier and their individual personalities began to emerge. The little family that had begun inside me was now growing up around me in the CatsHope™ home.
I watched them investigate everything they saw. I played with them and flicked my tail from side to side for them to catch. Sometimes, I chased them. At other times, I sat back and watched as they chased one another around the home.
They grew stronger, livelier and more confident each day. The CatsHope™ home was the only home they had ever known. It was where they were born, where they were fed and where they felt safe.
We all became comfortable there. We knew the sounds and smells of the home, where to find our food and where we liked to rest. We had our familiar routines, and my babies knew that I was always nearby.
Then, one day, all five of my babies were taken somewhere in carriers.
When it was time to leave that place, Tigger was taken out of her carrier. The other kittens tried to bring her back inside with them, but she was left behind.
We returned home without her.
My babies did not understand why their sister had disappeared. I did not know where she had gone or whether we would see her again.
Later, Kopi was taken away too.
She did not come back.
For a while, we looked and waited for the sisters who were no longer there. But life continued. There were meals to eat, games to play and familiar places where we slept. Gradually, we settled back into our routines.
Three of my babies remained with me: Simba, Rockie and Cougar.
The four of us continued living together in the CatsHope™ home. We believed this was where we belonged.
Then, when my babies were a few months old, the two-legs who named me took the four of us to another house.
We did not know why then.
