Heads & Tails #17

Today's theme is love. And so today, I'm going to send a Valentine to one of the sweetest, most dependable personalities in my life -- my cat, Joey, because he embodies it.

Joey is an enormous gray and white shelter adopt who joined my fur family in 1999 when he was 3. He was oversized even then. His original family put him in a large box, poked holes in it, taped it shut and left him at the local humane society at Christmastime. Their note said they could no longer afford the premium catfood he required because of a propensity for urinary tract problems. Fortunately he was still safe and healthy, though undoubtedly very cold and frightened, when a volunteer found him and brought him in from the cold

I am ambivalent about his original family. Dumping him in the night like that was both gutless and dangerous. Yet Joey has such an open heart, such a trusting manner, so they must have been very good to him. He also is very affectionate with kids, especially noisy little boys, which leads me to believe he was the special favorite of some young fella in that household. I bet parting with him was heartbreaking.

Joey loooooves hearing his name. Now and again I add "Good Boy!" or "Tub of Guts," but that's just to alleviate the boredom on my end. Joey's favorite sentence would be, "Joey, joey-joey, joey-joe."

Joey always comes when called. You cat lovers out there know that usually a feline will deign to respond to your call only if the mood is right. Not Joe. Displeasing me seems to genuinely trouble him.

So do storms. Joey hates them. When the pressure changes, he walks as close to the floor as he can get (looking like a large, moving, furry meatloaf) until he reaches the hallway, where there are no windows. And he decides when the tornado warning is over, thank you very much. He places no faith in TV weathermen. Even if they say the storm is passed, he remains in the hallway until his internal barometer says it's OK to move.

He thinks it's heavenly is you rub the right side of his neck. Of course, he loves any attention and affection he can get, but ah … the right side of his neck! That's the spot!

I'm not sure I've ever heard him emit a genuine meow. He does, however, make this gargling noise -- part purr/part meow -- when he is so filled with love he can no longer contain his joy.

He loves all people, all other cats, and even some dogs. He loves my cat Charlotte, even though she hits him with her paw each and every time he approaches. She has been doing this to him at least once a day since she arrived in 2001, and he still seems confused by it. "I love you, so how could you not love me?"

Joey loves to sit with me, just pressing his enormous body as close to mine as he can. On cold evenings he's better than an afghan.

No one is cuter then Joe when he sleeps. He lays on his back, tummy exposed, legs splayed, and I swear he's smiling.

No matter what kind of day I've had -- good or bad -- Joey will be delighted to see me. He will do figure 8s between my legs, trying to herd me to a place where I will sit and produce a lap for him to jump into. (And brother! Do you ever feel that landing!) He is a treasure, and one of the best cures for the blues I can imagine. His heart is pure and he's always happy (except during storms). So Joey, this love post is for you!

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