Joey: 1994-2011
On June 2, 1994, two men came in with a litter of kittens they had found in a Dumpster. I grew up with dogs and had never had a cat as a pet. I wasn't really a fan of cats. As a kid we had a huge sandbox, which the roaming neighborhood cats would use as a litterbox, which I found to be rather disgusting.
For some reason I peered into that box of kittens. I first looked at the black one. And then I picked up the fuzzy gray one. My boyfriend at the time was also working at Petsmart. I took the gray furball over to him and asked him what he thought. We decided to keep him. All the other kittens were also scooped up by other employees.
The Petsmart I worked at had a vet's clinic next door. I took the kitten over there for a quick check up and to find out how old he was. The vet estimated he was 6 weeks. So I declared his birthday April 15, 1994.
The boyfriend was Italian and for some reason wanted either Vinny, Guitto or Joey as a name. Why I went with this I am not sure ... but I picked Joey.
Since I worked at Petsmart I had a lot of knowledge of care and foods to feed Joey. And, of course, Joey had just about any cat toy that was available. Though he preferred the plastic wrap from a CD, ribbons on gifts or to lick a plastic bag. (One time while living in Salem I was wrapping Christmas presents. All of a sudden I realized one was missing. Joey had picked it up and carried it to another part of the living room.)
From the moment I had Joey until the day he died I loved him so much. He received lots of hugs and kisses, petting, brushing and loving. Joey loved to be brush. So much so that Curt and I had to start calling it the B word.
Joey started off with me in Tucson. When I moved to Oregon Joey flew on his one and only plane ride. I was a little worried about Joey flying cargo. My friend Mary flew with me and we gave him one tranquilizer in the evening. The one in the morning didn't go as smoothly. And really, who wants to get bit by a cat right before they have to jump on a plane?
When we arrived in Portland we wondered how we would find him. Would he come out with the luggage? As we were wondering where he would be we saw his carrier sitting in the area where the large pieces of luggage sit waiting to be claimed. He survived the plane ride and was not traumatized one bit.
When Joey and I moved to Oregon he had then lived in more states than about 95% of my family.
Joey at some point learned how to open cabinets and drawers. The first time he ever did it I thought we had been robbed. Joey taught Claudia--Robert's cat--how to do this as well, while Claudia, Robert and Leah stayed with Joey and me for a week when they first moved to Salem.
Oh, and the time Joey had some sort of infection and for two weeks I dragged my butt out of bed for an 8 a.m. appointment at the vet's office for his shot and Robert and Leah would help me every evening for the p.m. shot. (I worked until about 1 in the morning at the paper. So getting up at 8 a.m. was tough.) I called it quits near the end when Joey had had enough and bit me. I will never forget Robert and Leah for their help.
I had many friends help me watch him when I would be out of town. And they were all good to him: Kate E., the Currie family, Kay and Jay (though Jay "accidentally" let Joey out, Joey was indoor only) and the poor Currie family were frantically looking for him. We, of course, found him. He was OK. He was a little dirty. But other than that he surived pretty OK from his little adventure.
Curt and I moved to Phoenix in July 2001 for my job at The Arizona Republic. Joey rode in the back seat all the way. And we visited Grandma Phyllis for four days in San Diego. Our townhouse in Mesa was the first time Curt and I lived together. And when the three of us officially became a family.
Joey hated having his feet (and tummy) touched. And I don't believe in declawing. I think it is a cruel act. So about every two months Joey got stuffed in that carrier and off to Petsmart, Petco or the vet we went for his mani/pedi.
When Curt and I got married in 2003 we were at our rehersal dinner and guests were welcome to tell any stories about us. My brother stood up and started talking about my "baby." Uh, OK, not a baby baby. I clarified that the baby was a cat. John continued with his story of how when Curt and I got ready to move to Phoenix Curt asked me how long cats lived ... (at the time Joey was about 7).
When Curt and I lived in Phoenix my friend Stephanie and I would trade petsitting. We lived pretty close. She had a dog and a cat and I had Joey. My friend Mary also cat sat. As did Kate G. ...
Kate was getting ready to move back east. Curt and I headed to Missouri for a long weekend. It worked out that Kate could house/cat sit and have a place to stay before she took off. While Kate (and Jason who drove back with her) were staying at our place our landlord had doors put on our closet. The guy putting them up left the front door wide open. After that Kate couldn't find Joey anywhere. She shook his treats (sure thing to get him running) and called for him. Nothing. She had a family event to attend and had to get ready. While she got ready, Jason (who is not a fan of cats) walked up and down our street shaking the treats and calling for Joey while asking neighbors if they had seen him. Eventually Kate found Joey ... curled up in our closet.
Joey had a twin cat in Phoenix, which at some point we found out lived next door. I tried to get that twin cat into the house once. I eventually figured out it wasn't Joey when the doppleganger wouldn't go in the house and the fact that it had a nip in its ear, which Joey didn't have, oh and a different meow, too. Curt's dad, Ed, wrestled with the twin cat and brought him back into the house one time. He asked Curt's mom and grandma, who let Joey out? Marilyn's response, Ed, that's the twin cat.
In 2005 Curt, Joey and I moved to the Bay Area. Curt drove out ahead of Joey and me. My mom, Fred and I drove with Joey three weeks later to Berkeley. We even snuck him into a hotel room for a night. For about a year and a half we lived in Berkeley and became neighbors and friends with Jim and Jennifer. They looked after Joey when we were out of town.
At the end of 2006, Curt, Joey and I moved to Oakland (Rockridge) where we still live today. Ronda and Sue each took care of Joey. At some point we started using Ruff Ruff Pet Care, which Sue recommended. Bettina and Joey were amazing petsitters. They loved Joey and really care about animals. We trusted them so much. And I never worried when my Joey was in their care. My favorite part of their services was the report card they would leave after every visit. Joey always got an A+, a nice note about him and photos of him on the report card.
Also in 2006/2007 we started visiting Broadway Pet Hospital. All of the staff and doctors are great. But our favorite vet is Dr. Miller. The clinic needs to update their staff site as Dr. Hollenback is missing. She was the vet who helped us yesterday. She was so kind and reassuring. I wanted Dr. Miller to be there since he was our regular vet. But Dr. Hollenback was so comforting and kind. And the vet tech (I need to find out her name) who was working yesterday was kind to us and treated Joey lovingly after he was gone.
Joey loved treats. He knew they were in a drawer in the kitchen. Whenever you would walk in the kitchen he would go running in and give you that sweet cute look hoping for treats ... even if he just had them five minutes ago. I still remember when Marilyn, Curt's mom, wanted to give him more. It was those eyes and that face that would get you every time.
And Joey loved catnip. Sometimes we would sprinkle it on his cardboard scratcher. He would slobber all over that thing and then roll around. He would have catnip all over his back.
Joey also loved the warm sun and basking in it. He was a true Arizona kitty. We had a kitty perch in a high window in our place for Joey to soak up the sun and keep watch on the hood. He loved that spot. And it made me sad when he could no longer get up there on his own. We helped him get up there for some time. Eventually we stopped helping him up there as we worried he would hurt himself coming down.
It is very possible that on that very kitty perch Joey witnessed a police shooting right next door where Oakland PD shot a guy with a fake assault rifle, which, obviously, was determined later. A few weeks after the shooting a PI came around the street asking questions. He asked me if anyone was home at the time. My response, just the cat.
My dad who was never a fan of cats became one ... at least a fan of Joey. My dad and Hilda stayed at our house once when we were in the UK and another time we traded houses. Curt and I were in Tucson and stayed at their house and they stayed at our house while they were in the Bay Area for the weekend. My dad was amazed at what a great kitty Joey was, how friendly and sweet and cuddly. Of course, Hilda already knew.
My mom was always sweet to Joey. But I think they formed a special bond this summer. Curt and I headed to Barcelona for holiday in June. My mom and Fred house/cat sat while we were away. After Joey became diabetic my mom volunteered to come out and take care of her furgrandbaby. It was nice to have someone staying at the house the whole time and take care of my furbaby.
For about the past month Joey had gotten super cuddly, way more than normal. I could be knitting or blogging and he would nudge whatever out of the way to sit on my stomach (not my lap) or my chest. He started sleeping on my stomach, chest or even my side at night. He had a hard time getting into bed so he found another way to get in, which required some tecnhique and a lot of noise. He would stick his nose in my face and tickle me with his whiskers. For the past month I haven't gotten great sleep. But I didn't want to discourage the love I was getting--especially if Joey sensed the end was near or that he was cold. Poor guy was so scrawny he no longer had any body fat.
About 10 days ago (the Friday after Thanksgiving) we thought we were gonna lose Joey. He was so sick. We kept Joey warm with lots of blankets and a cat heating pad. He could sense I was upset and was very cuddly or just stayed close by most of the day.
We went to the vet that Saturday. The vet ran tests and everything was pretty much the same as the week before. The only difference was the poor guy had an abscess in his mouth, which was so painful that he wasn't eating. He got antibiotics and pain meds. He almost immediately started feeling better and eating on Saturday. For about six days Joey was eating and feeling better.
Then we noticed on Thursday and Friday he stopped eating again. When I took him to the vet on Friday for his fluids his weigh in showed that he had lost 6 ounces from Tuesday. Dr. Miller thought fluids on Saturday and Sunday could make him feel better. He also told me we could do diagnostic tests if we wanted but if we didn't that was OK, too. We decided against the tests and just extra fluids.
By Saturday afternoon we realized Joey wasn't going to get better. Joey wasn't eating, he was getting weaker and he just wasn't himself. Joey and I got lots of cuddle time in.
On Sunday we had a little family time to cuddle and then we headed to the vet. Joey had a fluids appointment at 9:30. I wrapped him in an A's stadium blanket and Curt and I took him in. We asked to see the doctor.
Dr. Hollenback said she would normally run tests to determine next steps. But just by looking at Joey's face she knew he had checked out and it was time. She reassured us that we were making the right decision and our last act of love with him was to be humane and put him to sleep. (I believe in death with dignity for animals and humans.)
The decision to put Joey to sleep sucked, believe me. But that wasn't the hard part. The hard part was just losing him after 17 1/2 years. Joey was failing quickly. We couldn't leave him alone. He couldn't take care of himself. I didn't want to go to work and come home and find him dead ... alone.
So I was there for his last moments, looking into his eyes, petting his head, telling him I loved him through my tears. And Curt was right there with me.
The loss hurts my heart but I will always remember the many, many years (almost half my life) of joy, love and happiness he gave me and I will always be grateful for two men finding a litter of kittens in a Dumpster in Tucson, Ariz., and bringing them into Petsmart that night.
Joey, thank you for 17 1/2 years of unconditional love and cuddling. I will never forget it or you.
Joey Chihak: Born ~April 15, 1994, came into my life June 2, 1994 and joined kitty heaven on Dec. 4, 2011.
