Joey
Woman in the Middle | December 29, 2017I was not able to go to Room 8 for much longer than I would have liked, primarily because I was sick, but also because of the holidays. I went back today, with a bit of a dread feeling in my stomach. Call it a psychic moment, but it was a real one. Dear drooling Joey is no longer at Room 8.
Joey, the girl cat with a boy name, lived many years with an older husband and wife. When the wife got Alzheimer’s and the couple moved into a senior facility together, they could not take Joey along. Room 8, whose original mission was to take in elderly cats that had nowhere else to go, took in Joey. They were told she was 25. She was not, of course, as she lived for several more years. Any visitor to the elderly cat room who sat down would soon have Joey in their lap. purring and drooling all over them.
As Joey grew older, she became less content hanging out in the elderly cat room. She came up with pitiful and demanding cries, as only a cat can. Those cries led to her being let out to roam the place as she saw fit, which, or course, led to more pitiful and demanding cries. The last several months of her life Joey could often be found curled up sleeping on the only office chair in the place, near the front door. However, she was fine if someone walked in, scooped her up, and sat on the chair themselves, as long as they held her and let her drool and purr.
In spite of her advanced age and scrawny self, Joey was not above taking a swipe and a growl and a hiss at Dagwood, another much younger cat who is also allowed to roam the place. Everyone assumed Dagwood was starting it, but direct observation showed there was still some pep left in Joey. Sadly, the elderly dear broke her leg and it was decided, due to her advanced age (they think around 18) to not put her through the pain of trying to set her leg.
Joey was well known to the many volunteers at Room 8, had a comfortable place to live out her life, and is missed by many. If only every cat had as much at the end of their life.
“Time spent with cats is never wasted.” Sigmund Freud
“If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat.” Mark Twain
“When a man loves cats, I am his friend and comrade, without further introduction.” Mark Twain
We all live and die it is what it is, this gal not called Joey but called Jo hopes to be around for many more years to come.
What a wonderful place to allow an aging cat to live out their days with full heathcare and love. It’s what I wish for myself.
I am sorry for the loss of Poor Joey. May she rest in God’s Peace.