My wife and I live in the Sonoran Desert, approximately 30 miles north of the Mexican border and 50 miles south of Tucson.

Due to the high elevation and our proximity to the Santa Rita Mountains, we have a large amount of wild life here.

Everyone out here is fairly well isolated as we are separated by at least 10 acres. Some, even more. Because this area is so extremely rural, it makes this story even more amazing.

Seven years ago, late in the evening, I heard a noise outside. It sounded like a cat meowing but that was something stray cats don't do out here. Most of them are too smart to make any noise because desert cats know that coyotes, owls and other animals of prey are their worst enemy.

I opened the back door to look around. Making her way slowly toward me was the scrawniest, skinniest little cat I have ever seen. She was tacking like a sail boat does when sailing against the wind, moving side to side as she neared the sound of my voice. I thought that was somewhat strange.

After bringing her in, she began meowing even more loudly and went immediately to the couch, jumped up and went to sleep. I wanted to find out more about her so I lifted her back to the floor and noticed that she was moving very deliberately and carefully as though she was having trouble seeing. As a matter of fact, she was blind! No injuries were apparent other than a small cactus thorn in one of her eyes but it didn't look as though it had done any damage.

I took her to the vet the next day and he noted that she was extremely undernourished and had a case of ear mites that may have been two weeks old. That gave us an idea that she could have been wandering in the desert for a week or more. He guessed her age at that time to be about one year. After examining her eyes, he said she was apparently born blind because there were no optic nerves present. Amazing that she had survived all the wild critters out here for so long. The good Lord must have been watching over her.

In addition to everything else, she had a severe bladder infection that would have killed her soon, if not starvation or a wild animal.

My wife and I called every veterinarian between Nogales and Tucson in the hopes of finding her owner. We also put signs up in the area and checked with various pet finder organizations in Tucson, also with no success. Perhaps someone dumped her out here in the boonies. We think she was a "throw away".

We soon discovered that her name is Tiger, Tigger, or something that sounds like that, because she comes running when called. And I truly mean, running. We have opted for "Tiger".

She was probably bred to be a show cat as she is an extremely beautiful pale gold and white -- the shades ranging from bronze to a light tan and the huge tufts on either side of her neck are mostly white.

She follows me around like a little puppy dog and loves to play chase with a small rope, which I drag around the house. Her hearing is acute, as is her sense of touch. She uses those long whiskers to navigate around the house as though they had eyes. She also loves to play "attack" where she jumps up at me while I'm sitting at my desk chair and bites at my arms. At that point, I'm supposed to chase her. She runs a couple of feet and comes right back for more.

Another game that she absolutely loves is when I throw her straight up in the air and she lands on the bed. She truly loves this. She continues to come back for more. I usually get tired before she does. A very strange cat, indeed.

Most people who come over to the house, never having seen her before, have no idea that she is blind, especially when she gets to running between the master bedroom and living room.

I could go on and on as far as the adventures we have had with her and all the experiences we have enjoyed since her arrival. Someone threw her away, never knowing the joy she could bring them. All I can be sure of is that she has been a real Godsend.

As a matter of fact, I truly believe He did send her.

Copyright © David P. Sader
August 7, 2002