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Letter to the editor

After weeklong funk, cat back at bar scene

ybor city The owner of Gaspar's Grotto feared that life No. 9 was almost up. But Tanker Ray is just fine.

By EMILY NIPPS Times Staff Writer
Published November 2, 2007

But it wasn't because of declining beer sales or legal woes.

It was because a few weeks ago the bar's mascot, Tanker Ray, appeared to teeter on the last of his nine lives.

The 5-year-old cat, who lives at the bar and is beloved by regulars, suddenly stopped eating, bathing and chasing mice. His ribs poked through his coat. He'd stare at the wall and moan.

"At first, the vet said it was feline leukemia," said Eric Schiller, who owns the bar, and the cat. "I went ballistic. I told my wife, 'We're going to have to close the bar.'"

But tests for the fatal disease came back negative. One week later, Tanker Ray was living it up at a bar fundraiser for the Tampa Historical Society. He mingled with patrons. He hammed it up for cameras. He kissed the ladies.

Perhaps Tank was just depressed, the vet suggested, and should see a pet psychologist.

Indeed, it would be interesting to know what the 12-pound calico, who walks on a leash and seems to fear no one, is thinking.

"He's like a wise soul," Schiller said. "You peer into his eyes, and you can see that there's a lot going on in there."

The Schillers recently got a kitten named Cargo who looks just like Tanker Ray and is beginning to act like him. They wonder whether Cargo's presence stressed out Tanker Ray.

Eric Schiller would be lost without his little friend. The former sea captain who once hated cats found baby Tanker Ray abandoned, weak and whimpering underneath a staircase at Ybor City's Camden apartments five years ago.

It was about the same time Schiller and his wife, Shere, opened Gaspar's Grotto. They figured a cat would catch rodents, a common problem in old Ybor City buildings.

Tanker Ray grew healthy and strong. He not only chased off the rodents and lizards, but he became the star attraction at the new bar. He charmed customers with uncatlike affability and a love of dark beer - he licks it off the floor. Gaspar's Grotto has a signature American red lager, Tanker Ray's Bar Cat Beer, on tap.

He has been seen at parties and charity functions, and it's not uncommon for people to fly into town from Ohio or London, walk into the bar and ask for the cat, Schiller said.

He sleeps in the bar's vacant second floor and climbs down through specially built tunnels.

When Tanker Ray dies, Schiller plans to have him stuffed and mounted on one of the bar's walls.

But Schiller hopes that day is years and years away. Tanker Ray's mysterious illness gave him a terrible scare, and he considers the tumultuous week to be a dark time in Gaspar's Grotto history.

"Luckily," Schiller said, "nobody said to me, 'It's only a cat.'"

Emily Nipps can be reached at nipps@sptimes.com or 813 226-3431.

.fast facts

Meet Tanker Ray the bar cat

Age: 5

Home: Gaspar's Grotto, 1805 E Seventh Ave., Ybor City.

Likes: Catching mice and lizards, posing for photos, meeting women.

Dislikes: Noisy motorcycles, garbage trucks, barking, mean drunks.

Apprentice bar cat: Cargo, a calico kitty who looks and now acts like Tanker Ray.

Career highlights: Launched his own brand of beer, appeared in a commercial for South Tampa's Ferman Automotive, was named one of the top famous felines on Flippy's Cat Page (www.flippyscatpage.com).

[Last modified November 1, 2007, 07:12:08]