Tabby Tuesday - Here's Joey!

Joey on the well house, looking in the window!

It's time to meet Joey...Hi everybody! I am the only mancat inside the house and I like it like that! I get to snuggle with all the ladycats all the time.

I was born a feral cat outside in the fall of 1999 with my sister Minnie, Leroy and Nick. Leroy disappeared when he was about six months old and we never found out what happened to him. He was a neat brother and I loved him lots. Nick came inside for a short while cuz he was sick and Mom took care of him until he went to the Bridge. I miss him too.

We all lived under an old trailer in the neighbor's yard. It was all we had to keep us warm during the long winter. Mom first noticed us coming out from under the trailer when we were about 6-8 weeks old on warmer sunny days and playing with each other. She did not know who our mom was - she never saw any ladycats with us.

Mom had built a neat shelter in her yard and the other cats were going over there to eat and play and be warm. When we got big enough we went there too and liked it. She gave us all yummy food, water and lots of toys. We liked the plastic eggs to bat around the yard.



Minnie sitting on Joey's cage on the porch.

She had been putting a big cage out and catching us one by one to get neutered. We were afraid of the cage at first - all my buddies would disappear for a day or so and then they would be back and be OK! So we did not mind the cage anymore. I did not want to go inside so when I was old enough I became a man without being neutered. That was not good though. Big Guy, the head cat of our group, told me I had to find another place to live since he was the main mancat. I hated to leave but that is what we have to do in the wild.

I moved down the street but Mom was so upset. She worried about me all the time. She finally caught me in the cage and I got neutered but it was too late - Big Guy still would not let me back in the group. I came by everyday for food and liked to sit on the well house looking in the kitchen window when Mom and Pop were doing dishes or cooking. They talked to me and told me they loved me.



Brother and sister playing inside.

A year or so went by and I began having fights with other cats - I am a lover boy so I think someone was picking on me. I came home with a big swollen paw and hid in the shelter. Mom closed the shelter door and when Pop came home they tricked me into coming out in the cage again. They took me to a vet and she fixed up my paw for me. They let me back outside but wouldn't you know I got into another scrap and got another abscess. Each time Mom fixed me up with homeopathic remedies - she put them in my food and my wound opened and drained without her having to go to the vet again with me.



Finally, it was Thanksgiving and again I had another swollen paw! That was it!!! Mom propped the porch door open and I just walked inside. She closed it and I got scared and hid behind the extra refrigerator out there. They spent all morning trying to catch me on the porch even though she was trying to cook the turkey! Pop caught me and I got put in a big kennel cage with food, water and a litter box. Mom decided I was going to be an inside cat now with my sister Minnie. I graduated from the cage to my own room and then to being allowed in the house with everyone else. Minnie helped me learn how to be inside and live with the other cats. I love my sister!

Well that was my story. I am ten now and love my Mom and Pop. I have lots of brothers and sisters and get along with everyone. I am real mellow and probably would not have lived this long outside - it is really tough out there. I am lucky - one lucky cat huh?