MEDWAY – Tippy the wide-bodied tuxedo cat will soon have a new home.

The 11-year-old feline orphaned last week by the death of his master, Peter Misiura Sr. of Medway, will be taken in by Ruth Malloch, 57, of Eastport on Friday. Peter Misiura Jr. and his wife Brenda opted to give Tippy to Malloch after she called Tuesday and offered to take him off their hands, Misiura said.

“She practically begged to take the cat,” Brenda Misiura said.” We couldn’t imagine anyone better for him. She sounds really great.”

Malloch said she was moved by Tippy’s story in Tuesday’s edition of the Bangor Daily News. The story told how the Misiuras would be forced to give up Tippy if they couldn’t find someone to adopt him after Misiura Sr. died.

Misiura became lost in the woods last week near Interstate 95 and Route 11. Searchers found his body on Saturday.

The elder Misiura, 84, was no cat lover for most of his life, but warmed to the portly cat and his mellow but friendly ways. The cat would sleep at the foot of Misirua’s bed, greet him at the door when he came home, and, despite his considerable size, would chase string when Misiura dangled it in front of him.

The Misiuras couldn’t take care of the cat themselves because they and other family members already have several. They wanted a cat lover who was somewhat older, had no children living at home, and preferably no other pets because that’s what Tippy is used to.

Malloch fits the bill except for the last item. She feeds eight to 10 stray cats who stay outside her home and has four inside cats. But the cats are older and should adjust well to Tippy, she said.

What’s important, the Misiuras said, is Malloch’s heart. The self-confessed animal lover has raccoons in her yard that eat from the palm of her hand. Families of skunks come by, too, without spraying anything.

And although she lives on a fixed income of less than $600 a month, the widow just spent more than $200 ridding one of her cats of an infection.

“They’re pretty well spoiled; they run the house,” Malloch said Wednesday of her pets, which also include a dog. “They do whatever they want.

“You come down and hurt one of my animals you might get your legs ripped off,” she added. “These are my babies. I take good care of them.”