Meet our Pal Joey!

OUR NEW PAL, JOEY

So, we are fairing pretty well, two weeks after Clyde's passing.

Clyde was such an integral part of our home, his sudden death from cancer at such a young age left many voids.

We were devastated, but so were the other cats.

Louie stopped eating during Clyde's last week. This was his second brother to die in his 17 years and he took it pretty hard. He spent much of the last days sitting quietly at Clyde's side. Louie is our cuddlier.

Sammy is just too young to really understand much of what's going on, other than his running buddy is gone. He now fetches his toy mice, bringing them to me for me to throw across the room. He still resents that old man Louie does not play with him like Clyde did. He's just out of sorts. Plus, he has no idea why Louie is trying to sleep next to him all of the time. He finds that annoying.

Now, we had decided not to bring another cat into the house until after our August vacation. Emotionally, we were drained. But it was clear that Sammy needed a playmate and Louie needed a new cuddlier.

Enter, our new Pal Joey.

Mary found him first, under his old name, "Patch." She was searching for Maine Coons - like Clyde and the late, great Ditka - which are great cats for cuddling and playing. Really, we can't imagine our house without a Maine Coon.

Here is how a website described his incredible rescue tale:

Patch Adams is a beautiful, sweet boy, with soulful eyes. This Maine Coon mix was abandoned at some point in his life, and was humanely trapped and removed from a low income housing development as a "raggedy nuisance cat." When brought in to the shelter for euthanasia, we realized that this rough looking cat with the beautiful face and eyes was not a feral cat. Patch had been merely coping in this strange world by going into "survival mode" those many months or years that he was forced to live outside as an abandoned pet. He was filthy, and had an enormous swath of hair down the center of his back that was matted tightly to his skin. We had to shave that off right away, and he has since been properly groomed, as you can see in his first photo. The last photo was taken within days of his arrival where it appears that other matted areas must have peeled off earlier, as hair was growing back. Poor Patch must have been quite cold out there all winter, the coldest winter yet in this part of Ohio!
Patch is not an aggressive cat and gets along quite well with the other foster cats and kittens in his foster home. He absolutely LOVES to play with the 10 week old kittens, and enjoys grooming them when they stop to snuggle with him. He makes happy, chirruppy noises when he is playing, which puts a smile on everyone's face.

Most visitors find Patch to be irresistible, and he has melted the hearts of the staunchest dog lovers when he stretches a paw up towards them, searching their face with those big, beautiful green eyes. Although he likes to look out the window now and then, he is not interested in returning to life outside. Patch is such a likeable fellow that you will find yourself wondering "Who could have abandoned such a sweet boy?" We are anxious to see him once his hair has all grown back in. He is going to be gorgeous! Of course, by then we expect he should be living in his new home.

Patch Adams has been tested for Feline AIDS and Feline Leukemia, is up to date on vaccinations, dewormer, flea treatment, has been neutered and microchipped.

Mary found this tale online first, but was not sure if I as ready for a new cat so soon, especially since Clyde was my cat (he had actually picked me). I happened across this story at work while researching a story that is running in Monday's paper about the fantastic Angels for Animals shelter. When I casually mentioned Patch's story in passing, Mary was elated and confessed she really wanted to check him out.

It seemed like fate.

So, we contacted Brenda, the wonderful person providing the foster home for Patch and net with her Sunday. We ended up taking him home! The speed of all of this surprised us, too!

We cleared out the Elvis bedroom and that will be his temporary home for a few days as he becomes acclimated to our household. Louie and Sammy saw him come home. Some hisses were exchanged (not from Louie) and he entered the bedroom and immediately went under the bed. We coaxed him out with a little milk.

By late in the afternoon, after his new name of "Pal Joey" was selected, he was purring up a storm and enjoying lots of attention. He has such a wonderful personality! He's about 5 years old and he does seem like a Clyde/Ditka combo, although that is a lot of pressure to put on him on his first day here… His brothers have spent some time outside his door, trying to figure out exactly what's going on…

We'll keep everyone posted on how this all works out…

More later,


Mark