EXCLUSIVE

Garber's cat Muffy was a fixture on the show ... he refused to travel without her. So it's no surprise ... the friendly feline was at Roy's side when he passed away last week ... according to his girlfriend.
We're told Texas authorities got in touch with Roy's family and made arrangements to ship the cat back to Roy's home state of New Hampshire to live with his mom.
As we previously reported ... Roy died Friday after suffering a heart attack.