Joey Kitty—Summer 1990-December 2, 2004

He arrived one day while Mrs. Retired was mowing the grass, and neither "Shoo", nor "Scram", nor the sound of the lawn mower deterred him. When the mower got to close for comfort, Joey nimbly jumped up on top of the green-monster recycle can and talked—and talked—and talked. He had plenty to say that day, and after an hour of talking it was obvious Joey was not about to leave. So when Mr. Retired returned home, Joey was in the garage sleeping. He had devoured 2 bowls of water, a can of food and some dry food.

It was obvious that Joey was not well, and a quick trip to the vet confirmed the worst—high fever, near starvation and almost totally dehydrated. So we brought him back to the garage and pumped him full of meds, water and food. Joey was on meds for over 6 weeks, but eventually he was declared healthy.

Our initial plan had been to give him away once he was healthy, but by that time the fever and the meds had short-circuited his brain, and we decided it was best to keep him with us. Besides, he'd wormed his way into our hearts and had a name—how could we begin to think about giving him away?

So for 14 years he has been our loveable pest. If there was food being served, Joey was there. If you weren't fast enough to toss him a scrap or two, he would jump up and take something from your plate. He never discriminated—company's dinner was just as edible as what was on our dinner plate. Ignore Joey in the morning and he'd jump up on the counter and munch the plant in the kitchen. It never mattered that it made him sick, he knew he would get some attention. Squirrels running across the roof sent Joey running from one end of the house to the other, talking and meowing all the while, until he was worn out—but never in 14 years did a squirrel break in. ;)

Often when we woke up in the morning, Joey would be under the blankets between us. When the weather was nice, he would sleep at the head of the bed and borrow Mrs. Retired's pillow. Other times we would find him at the foot of the bed, snuggled between the other 2 cats where it was warm and toasty.

Joey was seldom at a loss for words and thought nothing about having a discussion with you at any time of the day or night. He also was the official nighttime "are they still alive?" checker. Of course he would wait until we were almost asleep before giving one or both of us a light sniff and tiny, gentle lick. Guaranteed to wake up whichever human he was checking, thus providing the other cats with immense pleasure, and earning Joey a pet and usually an arm that grabbed him and snuggled him into a warm cozy niche.

Joey was also our greeter. When anyone came over, he would meet them at the door. Whenever possible, Joey would scoot out the door and inspect the porch and sidewalk. He never ventured far, and all you had to do was gently say his name and hold the door open and he would come back in and act like nothing had happened. Guess he liked us. Actually, we liked him too…and that's probably why we kept calling his name and holding the door open for him to return.

Time and old age caught up with Joey. His kidneys began to fail, and in the past month, he lost almost 2 lbs. The past 48 hours he begged for food, but couldn't eat. So it was time to let him go. Our vet and his staff were wonderful and kind—and Joey left us this afternoon. Our house already seems very empty, and it won't be the same to return home and not be greeted; but we'll have our memories of Joey Kitty, and know that he's no longer suffering and is now with our other kitties: Omega, Alpha, Cindy, Inkers, and Tiners, and with Buckles our puppy.