Story of Grey Kitty
In June of 2011, we were honored to have the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine feature our Grey Kitty®5 Mascot, Smokey Grey, in a documentary about Board Certified Veterinary Neurologist, Dr. Stephen Lane of VRCC (Veterinary Refererral Center of Colorado. Dr. Lane performed a very successful spinal surgery on Smokey Grey in 2009.
Here is a link to the documentary.
Our "Grey Kitty Tradition" began in 1986 with the adoption of a very handsome, friendly Russian Blue mix cat that was found near the home of one of our employees in downtown Denver. He soon won all of our hearts (including our customers and their children's) with his mellow, happy, friendly demeanor. His "special comments" to customers began appearing in our advertising, and the rest is history.
Grey
Kitty 1 delighted customers and our employees with his
antics and loving ways. He lived with us until we lost
him to cancer in 1990. Grey Kitty 2 came to us with the
help of the Denver Dumb Friends League, who helped us adopt
a replacement for our beloved mascot. Grey Kitty 2 was
mellow, peaceful and quiet, and lived with us for an additional
10 years of his life, where he lived a happy life of visiting
with customers, children and being spoiled by our employees-he
loved tummy rubs :). When we adopted him, he had dental
concerns and liver disease, however he received excellent
care from his team of veterinarians, as well as our super-attentive
employees. He passed away at 15 in 2000 from complications
due to hyperthyroidism and a leaky thoracic duct. The Dumb
Friends League came to the rescue again, when they helped
us find Grey Kitty 3, who was extremely mellow and loved
to have his tummy rubbed, too! Grey 3 had anemia
and took a natural iron supplement, however he still slept
a lot, even for a cat. He mysteriously disappeared
from our store during a day in June of 2002.
Grey Kitty 4 and 5 are our current mascots. Grey 4 ("Fuzzy Grey") was adopted from Max Fund, who found a tiny grey kitty alone on the Denver city streets. They knew we were grey kitty-less and kindly provided this kitty to us, for which we are deeply appreciative.
Grey 5 ("Smoky Grey") was adopted from the Dumb Friends League Adoption Van when they visited us at our 20th Anniversary Party in August of 2002. Amazingly enough, Grey Kitty 5's birth date was the exact date that Grey Kitty 2 passed away...
Currently, both Grey 4 and 5 are "On Holiday" at Mr. Tagawa's home since the area surrounding our garden center has been developed and the fields in which they hunted are now a busy road and residential area.
Grey Kitty 6, or as we affectionately called her, Miss (Grey) Kitty was abandoned in our parking lot during a snowstorm in 2006. She is the first female Grey Kitty we have had, and she was certainly a strong and assertive young "lady." Her image was made into a cartoon image by one of our plant tag companies, Norwood, and now her "retro" image appears in all our advertising. We are sad to report that Miss Kitty passed away peacefully in her sleep on Sept. 17, 2011
Another Tagawa mascot, our white kitty, China, came to us from a very special situation in 1998. China was a rambunctious, active and very vocal kitty who could sometimes be a little moody :). Her loud, very recognizable voice could be heard throughout the greenhouse, telling us all of her exciting days at Tagawa. Due to the construction all around us and China's propensity to roam the fields close to our greenhouses (which recently have been turned into homes and a busy stree), China lived the rest of her life at an employee's home.
Grey Kitty's face smiling in the flowers adorns our newspaper and other advertising as well as our web site. His pawprints are on the back of our employee's shirts, and trail their way across our letterhead and other correspondence. His name is a registered trademark, and can be seen on our products unique to Tagawa's-Grey Kitty® Purr-furred Container Gardens, Hanging Baskets, Roses, Poinsettias, Geraniums and other items grown here in our greenhouses.
Grey
Kitty is more than just a mascot and "advertising gimmick"-he
is a community resource. In honor of him, we have a Dumb Friends
League collection statue on the premises so visitors may contribute
at any time. He sponsors a pet information event in July called
Grey Kitty® Birthday Party. Visitors can enjoy information about
many local animal organizations and meet with cats, dogs, bunnies,
guinea pigs, horses and other animals from nonprofit animal rescue
groups; learn about natural pet care; pet and learn about farm animals
from an educational petting zoo inside our greenhouse. Everyone can enjoy birthday cake to celebrate
the occasion. The Grey Kitty tradition continues at Tagawa - come
visit her today!
The Grey Kitty® Memorial Fund, started when Grey Kitty 2 passed away, collected over $1000 for local animal organizations in the months after his death. During our Pet Adoption Event in July, our Cats with Gratitude™ Silent Auction and our Holiday Gifts for Pets & Their People, Tagawa Gardens collects over $10,000* each year that goes directly to animal rescue groups! (*based on 2007.)
A memorial garden is located on the premises near our front door, remembering our previous Grey Kitties and other mascots Jasper and J.J. We invite you to spend a few moments remembering them and your own special pets whose spirits are always alive in our hearts.
