Floyd - A Tribute

Thanks to Zoolatry for the above picture!

So today would have been Floyd's 14th birthday. It is also Kirzon's Gottcha Day (on Floyd's 1st Birthday) but he is ok with Floyd getting the attention on this one. It is kind of disjointed but it is just everything I could think of to let you know about him. Also, I am going to warn you - it is VERY long.

From House of Cats

I brought Floyd home on February 10 of 1996. I had just moved into my first apartment and knew that I had to have a kitten - I had grown up with cats and they had been well, lets go with standoff-ish. I don't blame them - they came to our house when I was little and I was an only child - they were my playmates if they liked it or not.

From House of Cats

Floyd was so different. I went to meet him after begging the volunteer at the shelter to let me - after hours, I met this little black ball of floof. He was so friendly and was the only kitten in the shelter at the time. I knew I was in love.

From House of Cats

I picked him up that Saturday (the day they do adoptions) and he got his first kitten shot then too - he purred the entire time. My apartment was basically empty - I had a papasan chair in the living room and a bed and tv in the bedroom. The second he walked out of the carrier it was like he had always been there, and already knew his name. I sat in the chair, he ran over when I called and he climbed up to the back. I really regret that I don't have any pictures of him from then but I didn't take too many while I was at the apartment. Actually I just started pretty recently with the pictures, relatively speaking.

From House of Cats

Floyd was the sweetest kitten you could ever see, and also one of the craziest. He would bite and bunny kick like I have never seen, and hold on when he bit like a bulldog. He loved to sit at the end of the bed with his front paws hanging over. He would only eat his food when I was in the kitchen, I think he was lonely when I was not in there with him. His one weird quirk - he would try to lick your eyes while you slept. Don't know why and he did grow out of it thank goodness! He also learned to play fetch, but only in the bedroom. He would play with his ball on the bed, and I woudl throw it to get him to play with it on the floor. He would bring it back. Eventually he realized what a good game it was. He would even go get the ball to play when you asked. He stopped once we moved but he would play every once in a while at the new place.

From House of Cats

I decided to paint the apartment not long after getting him - probably a few weeks, and spent all day doing it - he was good most of the time. The only problem came when he decided to try and climb the screen door and got stuck (as he did often), while both my hands were covered in paint. He was already getting to be a big boy so I hurried to rescue him, and he had paint stripes from my fingers for a few weeks. But he was ok with it.

From House of Cats

Around this same time my dad was out of town, so I decided to have a barbecue at his house - and I brought Floyd with. He was amazingly popular and the party was a huge success - which I attribute to him being such a good boy!

From House of Cats

He also loved to eat - he was really good at the yawn and stretch - but instead of trying to put his arm around a girl (which, by the way, he would also do) he would do it to try and get your food. He was tricky - he would do it in a couple moves instead of just one. His classic food attempt, however, was his jump into the bowl of chocolate pudding. He wanted it, I wouldn't give it to him (chocolate is bad for kitties) so he got more aggressive and jumped in. I ran with him, holding his feet sticking out - to the kitchen and he got a quick rinse.

From House of Cats

Floyd loved to sleep in the sink in the bathroom when he was little, and didn't even get out if you turned the water on. As he got older and got too big he kept it up for a while, although he did stop around the time we got Lola.

From House of Cats

One of Floyd's nicknames was Smokey Bacon - we were in the bedroom watching Yan Can Cook and Yan said something about smokey bacon - Floyd meowed. I said "isn't all bacon smokey" out loud (and of course now I know it really isn't all smokey) and he meowed again. He loved the way Smokey Bacon sounded - for years after he would meow when he heard it (later we would learn he loved bacon - a lot).

From House of Cats

Floyd was always very popular at the vets office too - he had such a long, floofy tail that people just loved it. And he was always so friendly to them, even though he was getting a shot or checkup or whatever.

From House of Cats

Floyd had his favorite sweater that he would carry around the house and suck on - it had shrunk in the wash so it was fine with me if he took it. I realized it was because he was weaned too early and talked to the vet - he said as long as he was not eating it, it would not be a problem. He never ate it, just sucked it for comfort I think. He looked so cute carrying it around, and would suck on it every night at bedtime.

From House of Cats

I thought it would be nice for Floyd to have a buddy, so he wouldn't be home alone while I was at work. So in November of 1996 I got Kirzon (yes, I admit it - from a pet store - I know better now, but I was young). I brought him home on Floyd's birthday and he was so little but Floyd was ok with him right away. I had a bunch of big boxes on the floor (unassembled exercise equipment - don't know what I was thinking then)that Floyd loved to sit on - they were stacked like two stairs, he sat on the lower one and Kirzon would run around and try to play with him. They got along real well even though Kirzon was a pesky little brother.

From House of Cats

Not to many funny storied from that time that I remember - just your average kitty stuff. They were both good and sweet to each other. And in 1999 we got Lola - she was a little gray alien/mouse kitten. Kirzon was not a fan (still not huge fans of each other but for a long time Kirzon would leave if Lola came to sit by anyone) but Floyd warmed up to her quickly. She would snuggle with him in this laundry basket he had claimed as a bed (which had clothes in it - we still have the basket and the clothes are still there - with more fur on them then anything I have ever seem - but they loved it so much I didn't have the heart to ever get rid of it). He was a very good mom to her.

From House of Cats

We also had these shelves - the were near the bed and so each cat had claimed a shelf. Floyd was usually the top. It always made me nervous when he would jump up there.

From House of Cats

Not too much happened for a long time - Floyd was a great boy, and got very big - his head was literally twice as big as Kirzons. It was bizzare. He was a huge floofy boy - he was almost all black but his front armpits were brownish and curly - very funny to see.

From House of Cats

So in 2004, we bought our house (townhouse really). We knew it would be a tough adjustment but we got as much ready before moving the cats as we could. They hated it - we had no couch (the futon from the old place was trashed by that point so we didn't move it) so downstairs there was a small table and the TV. The cats hid under the table for a few days. Eventually they all ventured out to explore and it was so exciting for them - it was their first experience with stairs! They learned quickly, and grew to love the stairs - they are open (no riser) so they were like really cool, easy access shelves. Floyd loves shelves - I have a few open areas where I would not put anything so he could sit there. His laundry basket also made it to the new house and into the bedroom closet - I thought that would be a good hiding place for him, with something comforting he was familiar with. He would still go there to hide if he didn't want to go to the vet (he hated the car after a while even though he was ok at the vet). He also hated storms and whoudl hide during them too. He woudl also hide under the bed, which is why I ended up putting boxes underneath - he would go in the middle of it and I couldn't reach him. For a while, while there were less boxes there, and while I was on this one medication that would make me sick like you wouldnt' believe (I would have to sleep on the floor because the dizzyness was awful on the bed - we have a tempurpedic - great unless you need a stable spot) and he would sit under the bed next to me and make sure I was ok.

From House of Cats

He was seriously the one cat that I am convinced always understood us - he was so smart. He was also a ladies man because he would always put his paw on your shoulder or rest on your leg. Even at night he would do that in bed. And after his sweater was lost (it has to be in the house somewhere but I can't find it) we got him a new one (ok, it was a hat but it was the most similar thing I could find) and he would suck on in before bed. Eventually he did start to use the blanket on the bed - which is really gross if you roll over in the middle of the night into cat spit. But I let him have one of his own so it was ok. Sometimes I would come home and it was off the bed and in the hall - he had tried to take it with, and it is a king size!

From House of Cats

Floyd was just such a sweet cat - but he was also a big guy. The problem is he didn't really realize that. He would try to get into places that the others could fit - like at the apartment he'd try and sit on the air conditioner - the other 2 fit, he didn't. He would want to come in the bathroo if you were in there - he wouldn't tap the door, he would bodyslam it (nearly gave me a heart attack the first time). He would try to get in boxes the others could fit in - he was just too big. We didn't have a cat tree because I was afraid he would knock it over, and we didn't get little cat houses that were rigid because I thought he would get stuck (we had one when he was little and it just was obvious he was getting too big).

From House of Cats

Floyd was a pretty healthy cat for most of his life - he started to loose weight in late 2007 and well, things just went down hill from there. He was diagnosed with Lymphoma in February of this year - they said he could have anywhere from 6 months to 2 years (he had 8 months) with treatment, and that the less aggressive had basically the same life expectancy as the more aggressive chemo, but with less vet trips, cost and stress to him. I am sure that it would not have helped to switch over - from what the vet said it would have been the same outcome. I had always held out hope that he would go into remission - it has happened, though not often. But for most of that 8 months he did very well - he was in good spirits most of the time, even to the end. He was always the one to take care of me when I was sick - he was always there. He was there for me when my dad died. He was just extremely intuitive - and I know most cats are but he really seemed more so - he was the most humanlike of all the kitties. I really just miss him so much. And it is very hard to visit some blogs - some of you kitties out there look a lot like him and so I get a bit weepy when I visit. I know it will pass and hopefully all I will remember is the fun and love and good times.

From House of Cats

I have been thinking about if there is anything I would do differently - for his whole life, and not just while he was sick. And honestly, although I am sure there are little things that I could change, like getting him a really good cat tree to climb or a few more of his favorite sparkly balls, there is nothing I would change. I mean, obviously if I could change him getting sick I would, but I know that larger cats are more likely to live less years, and I think he would have gotten sick no matter what - he was not really overweight, I tried to get him the best food I could (of course now we know a lot more but I did get him the best quality foods from what I knew). I just think it was his time - he touched a lot of lives and his job was done.

From House of Cats

So now what happens - I love the blog and love that it has helped me meet so many wonderful bloggers, but I have to be honest, it is a bit tough to be on sometimes. I can't put up the headings with him in the pictures, but I can't bear the thought of getting one without him done. I decided to go to the old header for now. I decided that I would do the Christmas cards as planned - keeping Floyd as Santa. I just can't picture any of the others filling in for him. Christmas will be tough - but I think it hopefully won't be as bad as I think. See, we have stockings for all the cats (except Barney) and I know that if Floyd's is there I will be extra sad (his was the red one) but I also believe that it is the one I had to get rid of because someone barfed all over it last year - so that makes it a little easier. I get super emotional at Christmas anyway (we used to do a tree of all the sentimental ornaments and one that was our own tree - that stopped when Virgil came to protect everything from breaking - our own tree was done in all glass). I am going to be doing a card exchange with a bunch of my blog buddies (at least I hope a bunch -I am writing this much earliler then it will post so I haven't mentioned it yet) and that will help.

From House of Cats

All the wonderful posts I received that day - well they just really touched me that so many people cared to comment. I just can't tell you how much it means to me, and to my boyfriend too. He has taken this all very hard because he was convinced that Floyd would be ok and come home and get better - I had at least prepared myself in case of the worst happening, which it did. Even though he isn't really a poster on this blog I know that it really did mean a lot to him to know that you all were there saying such wonderful things.

From House of Cats

Wow - this is like a marathon post. I haven't even added the pictures yet and it is crazy long. If you made it all the way down here congratuations! What are you - crazy :)? Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and then the next day is Brad's birthday so we won't be posting until Monday most likely - but this is long so it may have taken you that long to get here. Sorry it is so disjointed - I really was just kind of typing as I thought of things. I am usually a much better writer (at least in my own mind).

From House of Cats

So to everyone who made it down here - have a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving and weekend (or if you don't live in the US, just have a happy and safe weekend!)

From House of Cats

Ok, so I thought I was done - I typed this up only a few days after Floyd left. Now that it is almost time to post it (it is 11/17 as I add this) I have to admit it - I still miss him so much - as much as I did the day I had to let him go. I know it is for the best but I am going to say it - it isn't fair. I want my baby back. I know that can't happen but I just had to say it.

From House of Cats

From House of Cats