Happy 17th Birthday, Charlie!

I am not sure what I cannot believe more – that Charlie is 17 or that Charlie and I have lived two years without Chiggy.

In 2022, shortly before his 13th birthday, Charlie was in my kitchen and I noticed his head was tremoring.  I remember when I first starting taking Charlie and Trigg to the vet, the vet told me that the one thing you never delay on with cats is anything neurological.  The tremor wasn’t constant and would come and go.  Of course, I took him to the vet, but nothing was really determined about the intermittent head tremor.

Eventually, this ended up progressing to Charlie attacking his body – licking, scratching and biting.  He was constantly licking, scratching and biting.  He slept like 15 minutes a day because the rest of the time, he was just attacking his body that was on fire on the inside.

You can read more about our journey with feline hyperesthia syndrome, if you would like to learn more.

Although I felt like I was going through complete hell at the time, I will be very grateful for this happening to Charlie.  It has taught me an awful lot about healing the body, supporting the liver and kidneys.  Getting the gut sorted out and working properly and feeding a species appropriate diet and stop using neutrotoxin flea medications.

Because of everything I have gone through with Charlie, I wouldn’t have thought in the summer of 2022 he would make it to 17.

Manifesting My Dream Ragdoll

What many people might not know is that Charlie’s existence in my life started on a vision board long before he was ever born. The very first Ragdoll cat I ever fell in love with was a seal mitted with a blaze, Halston, who belonged to my Aunt Nicky. That initial connection imprinted on my soul, and it immediately became my absolute favorite color pattern. There is something incredibly striking about the contrast of the dark seal points, the pristine white mittens, and that beautiful streak of white running up the nose. I wanted that specific look so completely that I literally manifested him into my reality.

Back in 2009, I was searching for a breeder who had breeding cats related to my Rags, the reason I founded this website. I looked across the United States, Canada, and even overseas. Then, on a late August evening in Albuquerque, NM, I found a photo on the Soulmate Ragdolls website. I saw that gorgeous hourglass blaze kitten and knew instantly, in my very core, that he was the one. There was even an undeniable cosmic sign in his name. The breeder had named him “Casey,” spelled C-A-S-E-Y. When you say it out loud, it is “KC,” the exact abbreviation for Kansas City where I live.

My mom and I flew out to Salisbury, North Carolina, and brought him home in a single day. From the very second he arrived, he was completely fearless and bursting with confidence. As a tiny kitten, he would climb right up my chest just to smell my breath after I ate, totally curious about the world, the scents, and his new environment. He would sleep right on my head at night. He had absolutely zero fear, taking full ownership of the house and had absolutely no tolerance for a kitten safe room – within an hour he had access to the whole second floor.  After two hours, he had access to the entire house. He knew he was home.

The Ultimate Floppycats Co-Creator

As he grew into an adult, Charlie became an absolute godsend for me when it came to running Floppycats and doing product testing. For a content creator, you really cannot ask for a better partner. Charlie completely loves the limelight and craves attention in any form.

Whether we are unboxing a massive new vacuum, testing out a new water fountain, or reviewing high-quality wet foods, Charlie acts like a seasoned professional who knows exactly where his light is. He holds intense, deliberate eye contact with the camera. He handles the filming process with incredible ease, and he is genuinely game for just about anything I ask him to do. His natural confidence has made my job infinitely easier because he simply loves being the star of the show.

He loves the interaction, the closeness, and the focus being solely on him. Over the years, he has answered to plenty of nicknames on set and off—whether I am calling him Zerzees, Zerz, Woo, Charliemansers, or Charlemagne when he is feeling particularly regal. He has a dog-like loyalty, always wanting to be where the action is, never hiding away when the cameras come out.

Navigating Grief and Chiggy’s Spiritual Visits

Of course, our seventeen-year journey has not been without its deep heartbreaks and quiet, empty spaces. Two years ago, we lost our beloved Trigg. It was a massive, devastating loss for our household. Trigg and Charlie shared a huge piece of their lives together, and Charlie genuinely mourned his death for a very long time. Seeing a cat grieve is a profoundly difficult thing; especially when you are also grieving.

But honestly, I do not think Trigg ever truly left us. In fact, I am convinced he visits all the time because he constantly spooks Charlie. Out of absolute nowhere, when the house is entirely silent, I will see Charlie suddenly jump straight up into the air for no reason at all, exactly like a frightened cat. It is the specific, unmistakable thing Trigg used to do to him when he was alive—just popping up out of the blue to rudely surprise Charlie. It brings me a strange sense of comfort to know that Chiggy’s mischievous energy is still alive and well in our living room, keeping Charlie on his toes.

Becoming My Greatest Teacher in Holistic Health

Navigating these senior years without Trigg has been a massive learning curve, but Charlie’s health struggles over time have been my greatest education. As I mentioned above regarding his Feline Hyperesthesia Syndrome, caring for him taught me how to truly heal the body from the inside out.

When you watch your cat suffer and standard veterinary answers fall short or only offer to mask the symptoms, you are forced to dig deeper. Through Charlie’s journey, I dove headfirst into learning about detoxing. I gained an immense understanding of how targeted supplements and homeopathy can help the body repair itself. We discovered how to safely and effectively remove toxins, parasites, and heavy metals that were silently wreaking havoc on his system.

A major turning point was addressing parasites. During his holistic treatments, Charlie actually expelled massive liver flukes—something you would never typically look for without digging deep into alternative medicine like homeopathy, which is the thing that expelled them. Once those parasites were cleared from his liver, his appetite and vitality returned in ways I had not seen in months.

He has become my ultimate teacher in holistic health. Helping him thrive into his senior years completely shaped my approach to clean, non-toxic pet care. It reinforced my absolute zero-tolerance policy for dry cat food on this platform. Feline health thrives on high-moisture, species-appropriate wet and raw diets, which are essential for supporting the kidneys and the gut microbiome. It also forced me to completely reevaluate environmental toxins, leading me to stop using neurotoxin flea medications that overload their sensitive systems. Instead, I shifted to natural yard maintenance, keeping our home environment as pure and safe as possible.

I am so deeply grateful for the profound wisdom Charlie’s body has brought into my life. Because of him, I look at healing—for both pets and humans—in an entirely different way.

Most recently, while Charlie and I were outside, a huge tree limb cracked and dropped from my ginormous Silver Maple in my backyard. It cracked right where there was a honey bee nest – when it started to crack, Charlie ran away from the sound and I sat there and watched it. Consequently, I got stung 20 times by angry honeybees. Charlie, did not.  He obviously still has a lot of things to teach me.  But because of Charlie and Trigg teaching me about homeopathy, I handled the 20 bee stings just fine because I took homeopathy. 

A Dog-Like Bond and A Beautiful Milestone

Reaching 17 is a profound milestone. And honestly, we have worked sooo hard on parasite cleansing this year that he is sleeping A LOT – almost like a normal old cat!! I am so excited about it, I cannot stand it and feel so profoundly grateful he is where he is, so I can focus on a family member’s health. 

I do give him daily supplements that vary depending on a pendulum I use – that helps manage his kidney support carefully as well as supports his liver and other systems from allergies or clearing of parasites. 

Despite the physical slowing down, that beautiful, dog-like loyalty hasn’t changed a single bit. Charlie is the type of cat who doesn’t just tolerate affection; he demands it, showing his love openly and proudly.

Charlie, thank you for being my manifested dream, my willing co-creator, and my greatest teacher. You are the heart of Floppycats and the most steadfast companion I could have ever asked for. Happy 17th Birthday to my Woo.

And to the incredible Floppycats community—thank you for loving him, watching him grow from a tiny kitten from North Carolina into the senior statesman he is today, and for walking this holistic, beautiful path with us.

Drop a birthday wish for Charlie in the comments below, and enjoy his official 17th Birthday video!