In Memory of Flo Jenkins

We lost our beloved kitty, Flo Jenkins, on June 7th. She had been battling kidney disease for years and we had been giving her subcutaneous fluids for about 9 months leading up to her passing. Her kidneys finally gave out on her and the fluids stopped aiding her kidney function.

Flo was an original. She came into our lives when Ed and I were at UCR and decided we needed a kitty. We went to the Moreno Valley Animal Shelter and Flo pretty much picked us by meowing her butt off and touching my shoulder with her paw through her cage door. She was obnoxiously affectionate and had the loudest voice of any cat I have ever known. She was named after Flo, the sassy waitress from the show "Alice", and the Jenkins just came along because it was a good last name for her. :)

It turned out she was pregnant when we adopted her, so we had a litter of kittens join us about a month after we adopted Flo. Her babies were nothing but little rays of sunshine and we ended up keeping one, Lumpy. I need to find and upload some pictures of him...

But all of this happened 14 years ago, so Flo was a part of our lives for a very long time.

Flo on her favorite thing, the Alpine Scratcher! Flo also loved passionately head-butting people, couches, walls and stairs. There were moments when I thought Flo's love for me bordered on unnatural...I captured this loving expression in this picture. If Flo could be on a lap, she would be.

Flo inherited this kitty donut bed from Ricki (Carrie and Ed's cat) and she loved it. She was just small enough to fit in it. Flo usually weighed about 7 pounds. Sorry these pics are blurry, but I think they're so cute.

Displaying a slightly punk expression. Flo was admittedly kind of a punk. She was known for intentionally pooping outside the litter box when unhappy. Sometimes she would not shut up. One time, riled up with enthusiasm over getting so much attention, she bit the crap out of Carrie's arm. It was, however, the one and only time I ever saw Flo sink her teeth into anyone or anything. (Sorry again, Carrie. Flo loved you!)

She was a jealous creature when it came to other cats, though other cats loved her for some reason. Rebecca's cat, Pi, would cry, waiting outside my bedroom door for Flo to come out in the morning.

Flo staring down a Fox on YouTube.

Doing another favorite thing: being a cuddle-saurus.

She was the bestest and most adorable kitteh. She is irreplaceable and we miss her terribly.