By By ERIN VER BERKMOES / Niles Daily Star
NILES - Local florist says goodbye to an old friend.
The Flower Cart florist located at 1124 N. Fifth St. here in Niles, recently said goodbye to its cat, Kitty, who had lived at the shop for the past 17 years.
Hurlbutt also said that the children who came in the shop really loved to see the cat, and he often kept them occupied while their parents shopped.
Kitty just loved the shop so much, he greeted customers as they came in and was always waiting for a little pat on the head. At times he would just sit by the front door and watch the traffic go by on Fifth Street.
In 1999, the cat was kidnapped. Yes that's right the cat was kidnapped. Someone had come in to apply for a job at the store, and the mother was out waiting in the car, and somehow the cat ended up going home with them to South Bend, Ind.
Hurlbutt called the police when they noticed that the cat was missing and told them that this person had been there applying for a job. The police did end up tracking down the cat through these people. They had just let the cat go, seeing as how they didn't really want it. The cat did end up returning to the shop, about 10 days later.
This isn't the only crazy thing that ever happened in this cat's nine lives. One time he ended up taking a ride to Three Rivers in a flower delivery truck. The driver of that truck was kind enough to bring him back to Niles.
He also defended his territory, by chasing off dogs, as well as other cats.
Marsha Worl a former employee of the Flower Cart, took the cat home with her to give a sort of therapy to her mother who was dying of cancer at the time.