Dear 'Ratso Eats Chilli' readers,
This blog was started about 9 months ago to record the life of our amazing cat Floyd J Williams.
At that time of his life he had been diagnosed with hyper thyroid issues for about a year and a half, and had just added kidney disease to this. He had managed these issues and continued to be a great joy to us and anyone who met him throughout his ups and downs and various health issues.
We adopted him as a tiny kitten 14 & a half years ago. He was the runt of a litter. He lived with a lady who had over 20 cats. He spent his first months of life fighting his siblings, aunts & uncles for food and lived in a dressing table drawer. His love of sleeping in and under furniture continued throughout his life.
We called him Floyd for a couple of reasons. My husband was a big fan of Floyd from the Muppets, I was a big fan of Keith Floyd, a British celebrity chef who had become famous in Australia in the early 90's for a cooking show called 'Floyd on Fish'. So Floyd became Floyd for a couple of reasons.
He also had several nicknames:
Floydy
Short arse,
Booger
Boogie
Boogs
Numb Nuts
Monkey Man
(All given with loving intent - in case those who read this and are not from Australia get the wrong idea)
Floyd's health had been deteriorating pretty fast over the last couple of weeks. As well as his hyper thyroid issues, his kidneys were failing and he had developed a chronic respiratory issue. We took him to the vet last weekend and his blood tests came back that he had also become diabetic. Unfortunately we only found that out on Friday, and he was fading before our eyes. We took him back in straight away and he was moved to another clinic for emergency overnight care where he could receive constant monitoring. They did their best to stabilize his glucose levels but he remained off the charts. We went in to see him on Saturday, gave him our last hugs and pats and then he was put to sleep. His chance for recovery, given his age and other health issues was extremely slight. His passing was very quick and painless and he is chasing (or thinking about chasing), birds, mice, cicadas and moths in his dreams now. We are sure he is happy not to have to take all those pills any more as well. I think we will continue to find his fur on our clothes for some time to come.
We miss him so much.
If anyone would like to make a donation or help in other ways at the Lort Smith Animal Hospital, (this place and all the staff there did an amazing job helping Floyd in the last few years of his life), the link is here: http://www.lortsmith.com/types-of-support.html
It is an amazing place, and can use all the help anyone may be willing to offer.
Heather & Simon
xxoo
Floyd J Williams
01.04.1998 - 03.11.2012
RIP
