Remembering Angel Joey on his Gotcha Day

On Thanksgiving day in 2001, Joey showed up for breakfast at the feral cat shelter in our yard with an abscess on his shoulder.  He was being picked on by a bully cat down the street.  After several run ins with this bully, this was the last straw for me, so I set the porch door as a trap for Joey.  When I pulled on the piece of wood tied with a string, the door would shut leaving Joey inside.  He came in willingly for food of course, and I caught him easily.  Freaked out, he spent the day hiding behind the extra refrigerator on the porch. 

Minnie on top of Joeys kennel

My husband and I took turns trying to lure him from his hiding place while we cooked Thanksgiving dinner.  After several hours, Don finally scruffed him and put him in a kennel cage, his temporary home until he got acclimated to being inside.  Minnie, his litter mate, spent the day on or near his cage.  It was a Thanksgiving to remember - trying to catch a feral cat amidst the bustle of preparing a family dinner.

Joey in the back with Mamacita and Rosa

We had eleven wonderful years with Joey but lost him to cancer in 2012 a week after his last Thanksgiving/Gotcha Day celebration.  

I still miss him so very much - he was such a lover boy.  He loved to cuddle with me, especially at night while I read in bed. If there was a pile of cats in a warm spot, Joey was in the middle of it.  

He welcomed each and every new cat we took in with kindness and tolerance.  Even with an aloof cat like Clarence, a stray we took in and only had for 18 months, Joey would groom and sleep by him while the other cats ignored the newcomer. Joey was a pacifist.  I never saw him get rough with any of our cats.  If he was being picked on by a younger cat, he would just walk away.  

Joey and Ivy

He loved to eat and it showed with his big pendulous belly.  While he was still outdoors, one of our neighbors told me he thought the grey tabby was pregnanat.  I said with a smile " I don't think he is."

Joey's poochy belly

He was curious and slipped out one day through a section of the porch floor that was a bit rotted.  Don saw a grey tabby looking in the back door and said "That cat looks a lot like Joey".  I looked inside for Joey and realized that  it was him outside.  Panicking I herded all the cats off the porch so no more could slip out the small  crack in the floor.  It took several hours to lure Joey back inside.  If I went out he would run under the house into the crawlspace.  Fearing he would run away or get hurt overnight, I secured all the cats in our bedrooms and left the porch door ajar again in the same trap I first caught him in.  He fell for it and he was safe inside once more.

Joey loved the sun and would sit next to the window in his last days with us, leaning against the glass and soaking in the warmth.  My animal communicator told me that when I am relaxed at home and feel the warmth of the sun on me, know that Joey is with me in spirit then. 

We lost several other cats from his colony since he passed four years ago so I am sure he is once again surrounded by his litter mates and buddies at the Rainbow Bridge.  

Wishing you a happy Gotcha Day at the Bridge,Joey,  playing and relaxing in the sun with your cat pals. Thinking of you with love until we meet again dear boy.

As a young feral cat

Wishing all our friends a happy holiday weekend.
P.S. Stop by Brian's Home for his Thankful Thursday blog hop!