Cody was the first cat I really remember having. He was the second cat in my life, but this was my first cat. My parents bought him for me when I was 3 years old. I had found a cat that my parents said I could keep but the owners came forward and took him home. That day we went to the pet store and picked Cody out. I still remembered the way he looked at me; there was something special about him.
At A Glance Author Teresa Contact Teresa@bme.anon When A month ago Artist Gregg Studio ACME Location Kent, WA There were many years of happiness. He would follow me around everywhere and always slept on me and tried to cheer me up when I was having a bad day. In his old age he became very stubborn and slightly senile so my dad gave him the boot outside. We built him a nice elevated heated bed and I went out there to pet him everyday.
That's when it happened. On March 16th 2007 I was just about to leave the state for the weekend to visit some friends and my dad said Cody didn't come to the door for breakfast. With that Tracy, my other cat, and I went outside. I could tell something was wrong by watching Tracy. She kept smelling the air and backed up to the house and wanted back in not but 30 seconds after she got out. I had a feeling she smelt a fox or something of that nature, but I decided to try to call Cody anyway.
Needless to say I couldn't find him and went on my trip. I wasn't surprised when my dad said he still hadn't seen him 3 days later when I got back, and Tracy still refused to go outside. That's when I saw it. The next day after I took my finals I saw a red fox running across the road. While I live in a populated area, it's still Washington, and those types of animals get lost in the area every once in awhile. I called Tracy back inside for safety purposes and reported it to the wildlife patrol so nobody else would have to lose a family member.
With my personality I probably knew from the second I knew he was gone that I was going to get a tattoo for him. But the idea and planning didn't really hit me until I was sure I knew what happened to him.
Then comes the major question: how do I sum up my feelings for the cat I've had for almost 18 years? It couldn't be done; there'd be too much detail and space. I decided to keep things simple, a paw print with stripped grass, his favourite treat.
After who knows how much making my design over and over again with different fonts I finally found one that was perfect. I also decided to add some striped grass by the paw since it was Cody's favourite plant to eat.
Next was to actually "git 'er done". I went down to ACME to book an appointment and put up a deposit. I had my last 2 tattoos done by Jason and had a good experience.
Jason was working on someone else at the time, but Gregg was open, and offered to do it right then and there. I couldn't turn that down! So we got to work. We went over my chicken scratch and he made it look better. A paw print with little claws and, of course, 3 blades of stripped grass.
I watched him get set up and got a kick out of the red ink cap splitting and going all over the place. I got to talking to Jason's client; an older woman that had decided to take the dive into tattoos. I assured her that she'd be back for more.
Finally, it was time to get down to business! I hopped on the table and took my shoe off so he wouldn't have to have it in his face. The placement was dead on with the first try. As requested, the black outline was done with a single needle so it would be real fine.
I was pleasantly surprised that it hurt a lot less than my first tattoo. The process went fairly quickly and smoothly, with only a few little areas that hurt enough to make me make a face. After about 30 minutes it was done, and I was sad because I promised myself it was the last tattoo I was getting until I had the funds to start my full leg piece (lucky me, I was getting a touch up from Jason the next day!). He washed me up, slapped a bandage on, and we were good.
Afterwards was a challenge. I like to wait a few hours before taking off the bandage, but I always want to stare at my new ink right after it's done. I also had gotten a new puppy and had to keep her from jumping all over me with excitement when I got home.
When I finally was able to peel off the bandage all I could do was smile. It was perfect! I washed it with some Provon and applied some A&D and slapped my hand from touching it.
I washed it twice a day and kept A&D on it so it wouldn't dry out and it healed within a few days. It was abnormally dry compared to most of my tattoos, but a super moisturizer cleared it up in a few days. All in all it was a great experience, and of course, I'll be back for more.
Rest in peace, kitty.