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!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Georgie watching TV with Pop

We are so very thankful on this day for our Georgie.  She was in pretty bad shape last week and we were afraid she might not make it.  Mom feels awful that she didn't see anything amiss with her before she did.  Georgie is adjusting to her new home inside with us but we think she misses her brothers, the whitesters.  They seem to be missing her too, out in their cat shelter.  Pop told them she was fine and in with us.

Lily, who lives in the house with us,  is Georgie's momcat and she has figured out how to open the door to Georgie's room and visits her often.  Georgie seems to remember her and head bonks her and makes biscuits.  All our other cats will have to adjust to her as a newcomer.

Thank you for your support, donations and bids on Georgie's Recovery Fund Auction.  This is a big expense for us - the 5-day vet hospital stay and all her insulin, needles and blood glucose test strips - it would be very difficult without all of you helping us out..

We have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving!  We are blessed to have all we do! Wishing all of you stateside a warm wonderful day of thanks

"If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice." ~Meister Eckhart

 P.S. Our auction for Georgie runs thru Dec 7 and new things have been added - check it out over the weekend!

Thanksgiving and Angel Joey's Gotcha Day

This is our first Thanksgiving  without our dear, funny, Angel Joey.  He was gotted on a Thanksgiving  14 years ago after getting into yet another cat fight and getting wounded - he was being attacked because he was a lover not a fighter.  Mom lured him into the back porch while Pop was cooking dinner to bring over Grandma's house.

In the middle of preparing for all the festivities the peeps had to try to coral Joey on the porch and move him to a small place in the house so he could be treated for his sores and let him learn to live inside.  He recovered and became the goodwill ambassador to all the others cats that would come to live with us.

Synchronized napping with sister Minnie

He loved everyone.  He was happiest in the middle of a pile of cats. He made Mom and Pop smile. He had huge eyes that would stare into your soul.  He was love incarnate.  We miss you Joey and think of you everyday!  We are so thankful we had your love in our lives for 13 years.  Enjoy some our favorite photos of Angel Joey.

Sharing his nip carrot with Yoko.

Never one to pass up a box.

Joey looking into the kitchen when he lived outside.

Wishing you all a day full of  love, laughter, smiles, family, making memories that remain forever. Thank you for your friendship, kindness and visits to our blog and Facebook page. We appreciate your friendship very much! Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Wildcat Woods.

Thanksgiving and Joey's Gotcha Day

Welcome one and all to our annual Thanksgiving/Joey's 11th Gotcha Day celebration!!!  CB has him down for the 25th but we do it on Thanksgiving each year.

This year is a very special one since our beloved Joey has been diagnosed with skin cancer and chronic renal failure.  We hope that with treatment he will be around for a long time to come.  We are enjoying each day that we have with him and giving him lots of extra love, special foods and anything he wants, really!

Joey when he was still living outdoors.

In honor of  his 13th year (since he is a feral, we really don't know what day or month he was born other than in fall 1999) we are going to list 13 things that we are so very grateful for about Joey.

1.)  We are grateful for his sweet loving nature.  He gets along with all the other cats and will not fight even when provoked.  He will just walk away.

2.) We are very thankful for his cancer - if it hadn't been for his skin lump, we might not have done blood tests that told us he had chronic renal failure!  We might have lost him to that without even knowing what was wrong since he showed no symptoms of any kidney issues.

3.) We are appreciative of his homeopathic cancer vet - Dr Loops.  So far Joey's lump is shrinking and he is acting more like himself and being more social. Other than his CRF, he has no other symptoms.  So far, so good.

4.) We love his loud numbly purr.  You can't help but hear him.  If he even thinks you are gonna pet him , the motor revs up ad the purr gets going.  It wakes Pop up when he sneaks on the bed with Mom!  She has to keep telling Joey to be quiet and not purr - like that will happen!

5.) We are thankful for his funny sideways hop when he gets excited or happy about something - just like kittens do when they are happy!

Joey with his bandage/bandana

6.) We love his tiny face and huge big golden eyes - he looks so intense when he looks right at you.  He makes eye contact whenever you speak to him.

7.) We love how he loves to help Mom make the bed - hiding under the covers and making her work so hard!!! heehee

8.) We are grateful for how easy going he is - he never makes a problem when he has to go the the vet.  Not even when they have to take blood or give him fluids.  He just lets everyone do the procedures and is happy to help.

9.)We love his big droopy belly that swings from side to side when he walks. He is small but all his weight goes in his belly - always has.  When he was still outside, people thought he was a pregnant girl cat - NOT! 

10.) We love the tiny ear tufts at the end of his ears and the way his left ear has a nick in it - probably from a fight long ago.

11.)We adore how he likes to make a Joey sandwich - snuggled between two ladycats.

Minnie and Joey wrestling years ago.

12.)We are grateful that Joey's litter mate Minnie is still with us and can be with her brother.  Only two other cats from that feral group are still alive now - Sweetpea and Ivy.  Ivy and Joey have grown very close and snuggle often together.

13.) Most importantly, we are very thankful that we took Joey in on impulse that Thanksgiving Day 11 years ago.  He had been in yet another fight and  had an abscess. He came into the enclosed porch willingly but then freaked out and hid behind the freezer all day. It took most of the morning to get him out and into a safe place. Not what Mom had planned during all the dinner preparations!

Enough about Joey - let's get this party going.  Since you all must be chock full of turkey, we are going simple with cake and ice cream to celebrate today! Help yourself, put your feet up and kick back in one of many snuggle spots throughout the house!  Just chill and enjoy the mellowness like our  Joey!

Thank you for stopping by to help us celebrate our Joey.  We do appreciate each and every one of you and hope to be friends for many years to come!  This party will be running for a few days so those of you that are busy on Thursday can still visit!  Happy Thanksgiving from all of us Cats of Wildcat Woods!

Happy Turkey Day! (And Gotcha Day!)

 

You gotta love a holiday that centers around a large, flightless bird!

Happy Thanksgiving to all our American friends 

from the Cats of Wildcat Woods.

(Mom used me for her Turkey Day poster but didn't even remember that it was my Gotcha Day too!)


Sorry Joe - we took Joey in from living outside with the feral group after he had been beaten up a few times and developed abscesses from the wounds.  It was Thanksgiving and while Pop cooked the fixings Mom lured Joey into the enclosed porch and shut the door.  Then she had to catch him - he hid behind the second refrigerator most of the morning but she manged to catch him before dinner and put him in a small room to get used to being inside.  His sister Minnie was already in and she helped Joe relax. We are so glad Joe is an inside boy now - he is a lover not a fighter.

And we have a winner - the Awkward Family Pet Photos book give-away  drawing was on 11/22.  Using Random.org, we put in the number of entries and the winner is....drumroll.......Alasandra, The cats and a Dog. We will contact them for an address to mail a copy to.  Congrats guys!



We will catch you all next week - Mom's gotta take a break - too much going on over the next few days!

(card idea from American Greetings)

Joey's Thanksgiving Gotcha Day Commentathon

“True benevolence or compassion, extends itself through the whole of existence and sympathizes with the distress of every creature capable of sensation.”—Joseph Addison

This week we want to celebrate our Joey's Gotcha Day by thanking all of you who rescue pets - whether you adopt shelter animals, care for ferals, run a shelter or just treat animals with kindness any way you can. In particular we want to thank Chrystal (you know her from her blog Daily dose of Dogs (cats with your coffee)) by making a donation to her private rescue organization. For every comment you make from Wednesday thru Friday this week, we will donate 50 cents to her rescue efforts.

Younger Joey on the porch of the old house.

Now on to Joeys story.....We will never forget the Thanksgiving of 2001 cuz that was the day we caught Joey and brought him inside to live with us. He had been getting beat up by some other cat outdoors and came by with yet another injury so Mom tricked him into coming on the enclosed porch on Thanksgiving morning while Pop was making the turkey. Getting him inside was one thing but they spent a good part of the day trying to catch him to keep him confined in a kennel to let him get used to being inside with all of us. He was great at hiding and fitting into tiny places so he was a tough kitty to catch but they did! Read more about his actual Gotcha Day here.

Joey on the heater.

Joey should be the poster boy for rescued feral cats because he is so loving and easy going. We are thankful for his good nature. He is always the first to welcome the newer cats into the house, gets along with everyone and loves to cuddle (next to eating). He gets excited easily when Mom loves him up and bites her hand but not too hard. Being the only male in his group, he is happiest snuggling with any of the lady cats in the house or being squashed between two of them getting groomed. He is small boned but with a droopy tummy that kinda waddles when he walks. When he is happy and playing he skips sideways like a little kitten, tummy bouncing everywhere. He loves sitting on the heater in cold weather or baking in front of it. He is a joy to be with and we love him sooo much.

Joey with Mamacita.

Being groomed by the late Clarence.

Please help yourself. to the catnip, treats and toys and enjoy the party!    

Mom has not posted or visited much this week as she brought Woody inside (Woody's post ) and has been trying to make him feel safe and comfortable, has had doctor appointments for herself cuz she is not feeling well and is working more hours cuz of the holidays. She will try to get by to visit you this week for sure. Please stop by and read Chrystal's blog, make a donation or just follow her wonderful adventures in rescuing homeless animals. Visit her here at Chrystal's Rescue.

Thanks to all of you for your efforts in helping homeless animals. Wishing you a blessed and happy Thanksgiving!
UPDATE  The commenatathon goes until Friday so keep passing it along for more comments! Mom had to work Thanksgiving and will be working  all weekend but will visit everyone to thank them the next few days. Thanks to all who have come by. Keep the comments coming!

Happy Thanksgiving from Joey and all!

It's also Joey's Gotcha Day - six years ago on Thanksgiving. Read all about Joey here.

For more Wordless (almost) Wednesday click here.