my Joe

Tuesday night my kitty passed on :( his health had been going downhill for a little while and I suspected he wasn't going to live for a whole lot longer (he would have been 15 this October), but it was still a shock to find him gone.

Joe was always a big cat. he ate like a goldfish and it caused some pretty bad UTIs over the years, but he always pulled through. I think he was up to 22lbs at one point. I don't know what he weighed in the end, but he started thinning out last year and was looking more normal. then the weight just kept coming off and he started to worry me, but he never let on that he didn't feel well.

Joe had two names and he answered to both. you could rub your fingers together and he'd show up for you to pet his head. he was really good at knowing when I wasn't well and would sit in my lap and not bug me for food... as much! he also knew how to annoy me. he would disguise trying to get my goat with affection and rub up against my legs when I was wearing black dress pants. he would come over and lay on top of anything I was working on in the floor like he didn't notice I was cutting fabric or wrapping a gift or knitting. he was also good at mooching food off of Leo.

he was the cat that would sleep on your head and push you off your pillow at night. I loved waking up to a furry tummy in my face and a really loud purr with that smug look he had like "yeah, I gradually stole your spot while you were sleeping.", but Matt is allergic so we had to stop letting Joe sleep in our room at night a few years ago (I tortured Matt with him for a while before I gave in) and he stayed in the garage after that. he liked to sleep in the floor of my MG until we gutted it, then he made a nest in the pile of parts.

Joe liked to open my kitchen cabinets - it was always kinda creepy to walk in and see him in the middle of the floor and all the doors open. reminded me of The 6th Sense.
he also enjoyed water from a cup better than the same water in his bowl - I guess he thought we were holding out the good stuff on him? - so we had to be careful not to leave glasses out at night or he'd knock them over for a sip on his midnight prowls.

I loved how he would chase Duke when he had enough of the dogs yapping at him, and how he'd catch mayflies with his hands and put them in his mouth.
I used to give him tuna water when he was younger (until I learned that's a bad thing :\ ) so he would come running anytime he heard me even pick up a can of anything. he was a meat eater. he loved Thanksgiving leftovers. he got to where we could hold out our hand and say "turkey?" and he'd bolt across the room and nearly bite our fingers off, even if we didn't have anything!

Joe was pretty much how he's always been his whole life, and besides moving a little slower and getting skinny, that's how he was until the end - that I am grateful for.
when my dad came over to take me and Leo out for dinner he was normal-Joe. we came back not even an hour later and he was gone :(
I'm so sad he's not here anymore. I still hear his noises in the garage and think I see him in the room out of the corner of my eye.
he was with me for more than half my life and I miss him terribly.