We lost a very important member of our family this past weekend and
I wanted to share his story and his life with others.
So here it goes.
My husband and I began dating when I was 17.
On one of our dates we went to the mall.
As usual we HAD to stop at the pet store to look at all
the cute puppies and kittens.
Well that’s where I spotted my Floyd, he was a long haired white,
brown and black tabby. He had the cutest little black spot on his nose.
It was love at first sight. So my husband bought him for me.
My parents and my grandmother (we lived with at the time) were not
impressed but they grew to love Floyd too.
When Floyd was still a little kitty, I came home from school to find
that he could not walk.
I took him to the vet’s and found he had a dislocated hip.
He went in for surgery and it went well although he always had a limp.
We found out later that the hip injury was caused by my grandma accidentally
backed up her wheelchair and didn’t know he was there.
She thought he was ok at the time as he ran away.
So life goes on.
And then it happened again I fell in love with a little kitty I named Pink.
They were best friends. Soon afterwards Floyd was missing.
I took out lost ads and looked everywhere for him. he was gone 3days
and I didn’t sleep a wink I knew something was wrong.
Around 7 a.m. on the 3rd day my grandmother called me
downstairs “your cat’s out here!”
I ran down so happy he came home!
But when I got there poor Floyd.
His front right leg was broken and his left leg had a nasty infected gash
and he was missing a toe.
Back to the vets we go Floyd spent 6 weeks in a cast and his other
leg healed with medication and cleaning.
I don’t know what happened to him but he managed to drag himself home.
I can only imagine the pain he must of felt.
Floyd then became an indoor cat (although we still went on occasional walks).
When I was done college I was only working a few hours a
week so I had to move back in with my grandmother.
She told me she did not want any more cats.
So I had to give my kitties to my parents who now lived an hour away.
I came to my grandma one night and pleaded with her to let me
bring my cat’s home.
She said ok but only one. I instantly chose Floyd.
And Floyd and I were reunited.
(my mom loved pink and said that even if I had chose her she
would not have given her up)
Life raged on for me and Floyd I got married and bought a house.
Floyd was never an overly affectionate cat.
He cuddled when he chose to, not you.
It’s very difficult to sit at this computer today as he always chose this
time to be affectionate.
I took Floyd to the vets about a month ago as he was losing
weight and not acting normal.
The vet said he had an infection and prescribed antibiotics.
Floyd seemed himself again although still very skinny.
I took him to the vet’s this month and blood tests showed
that he had liver failure.
I asked the vet to please let me take him home for the weekend.
I brought Floyd home on the Friday night.
I took him outside for nearly 2 hours.
He walked in the long grass, slept in the garden and
came over to me occasionally to rub my leg.
It’s like he was saying I love you too.
On the Sat morning Floyd had gotten worse he could barely
move and breathe.
So I had to make a very difficult choice to put Floyd down that day.
I hugged him and told him I loved him and my husband took him in.
I will miss Floyd.
I will miss him meeting me at the door after work, him walking
under my feet any time I went to the kitchen, the way he played with
your shoelaces every time you went to put you shoes on.
But most of all I will miss him, his character his quiet demeanor and his
way of letting you know he loved you when
you needed it the most.
If I had a friend on all this earth you’ve been a
friend to me(Mary Chapin Carpenter)
Mom
| Floyd |
| Sarah |