Hello kitty lovers! My name is Garfield. I am a two year-old neutered declawed male tabby cat, who lives in the south of the good ole USA – in the Central Florida area.
No matter how hard I try to figure out the reason why my guardian bestowed that moniker on me, I continue to be at a loss for an answer to my burning question. My appearance and purrsonality doesn’t at all resemble that of the iconic cartoon character who was created by artist Jim Davis in 1978.
The breed of the original Garfield was an Exotic Shorthair. While my intelligence is on an equal or superior to his, I am far from “exotic”. I am just a kick back mixed-breed kitty who enjoys basking indoors in the sun, stretching out in the spacious window seat that my guardian prepared especially for me.
Unlike the “other Garfield”, I am neither lazy nor cynical, nor do I make hasty and nasty judgments of others in the manner for which he was famous. But we do have something very much in common (besides being felines). We are both passionate “foodies”.
And while he is vastly overweight, maybe even considered to be obese by those in the “know”, I am a slim, trim, muscularly built “hotty”. Let me tell you folks, I am beautiful beyond description.
Since the “other” Garfield was born in Mamma Leone’s Italian restaurant I can readily understand why he so greatly enjoyed chowing down on a plate topped high with lasagna. But since I was born in very simple surroundings in Florida, I far prefer dining on a delicious and nutritious can of species appropriate cat food which my guardian carefully prepares for my meals. My favorite flavors are chicken, turkey or beef. In fact, I may be one of the only kitties in the world that can truthfully brag about purring at the same time that I am polishing off my dinner.
Now I am sure by now that you all are wondering why I am taking so much time to introduce myself. You see, the “other” Garfield still continues to enjoy sharing himself in the homes of countless people who adore him. However, at the present time I am desperately in need a new and permanent loving home.
My guardian has become extremely ill. He suffers from Congestive, Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. Since he has difficulty breathing, his doctor informed him that he must quickly find a new home for me. He loves me deeply and is very upset about having to have me re-homed. Sadly however,he didn’t listen to his friend’s poignant pleas not to have me declawed. Obviously, as a result I am relegated to being an indoor-only kitty.
I am extremely affectionate, easy going, love people and am very playful. Even though I have been an “only” kitty, with some patience and understanding I bet I would enjoy sharing a home that has other cats. And in spite of being declawed I still use my litter box with no problems at all.
So if any of you readers are able to open your home to me, or you know someone who can, it would be more than greatly appreciated, since you guys know a lot about kitties it would make me feel very safe and secure.
Just leave a comment or let Michael Broad know about of your interest, and we can then proceed to work out plans for transportation and any necessary logistics.
Jo
Thanks for listening!
P.S. I don’t bite!
Amy,
Most doctors look for the “trigger” and without a thought in the world about the relationship between the cat and their patients immediately go to “get rid of the cat”.
They don’t for a moment think about how this can affect the emotional state of their patient. As far as I know, symptoms of COPD can be worsened with stress and upset.
This doctor didn’t give a fig about his patient OR his patient’s cat- and unfortunately, doctors are viewed as “gods” by many of their patients.
We made some really excellent suggestions to Garfield’s guardian about how to lessen the effects of dander, but he wasn’t interested in trying since his doctor “ordered him” to rehome the cat. That made me really angry. Sigh…
Hi Jo, there wasn’t a reply option on your comment above about Kirsten Doub, so I’m replying here.
She seems to be a lovely lady and a very ethical vet, I love it that she’s hoping to prove by xrays etc that declawing is indeed cruel! I hope she gets many declawed cats to study and help their caretakers with advice too AND to stop them ever having another cat declawed.
We are in touch because she is going to print off some of my anti declaw posters, which I’m VERY pleased about.
I think it would be good if you write an article about her and how she needs declawed cats to study, because you reach many American contacts who will hopefully share it.
We need to give her all the help we can xx
Ruth,
I will be contacting her ASAP. I have a lot of questions for her, and hope that she will be open to my writing about her. The “energy” in her email was so very inviting – so we shall see.
I think she will be happy to get lots of PR for her study of declawed cats.
Ruth!
I received another reply from Dr. D, and she has agreed to let me interview her. She would truly appreciate the support for her project, so I will be contacting her in the very near future.
I think she is amazing!! The love she has for these cats comes through very strongly in her emails.
Stay tuned!
wonderful, I wish more vets were like her
Well, to be blunt, I guess I will be the one to state the obvious: you declaw your “beloved” feline? and you’re told by your PC that the cat needs to go? /no problem!
Very disturbing story. I am against de-clawing from the get go. It is painful and can causes many different difficult problems for the cat. But I have to state I suffer from COPD and am owned by 7 cats and 2 dogs (all rescues) so why all of a sudden this person can not keep the cat? It does not seem to effect my COPD one bit. I guess my pets are lucky, but I would never give them up period. Frustration is running very high here.
What a beautiful cat. He reminds me of our Tigger we lost a few months ago. I do hope he finds a forever, loving home that will keep him inside and treat him like a king. Bless his heart.
I sure hope he finds a new home soon.
Beautiful article, Jo.
He deserves a solid, loving home.
He is a beautiful boy and one of my favorite colors too but alas….we are at capacity here with my own cats and several fosters. I sure hope he finds a good home. Such a beautiful boy. Please keep us informed. I know that the Kitty Railway would make sure he got to where he could have a forever home.