Josie Ell Stith

You were a cool cat.  I mean it. I’ll never forget the day I came to the County Animal Shelter seeking a cat to call my own.  I strolled around the cages looking for a Calico to grab my attention. I saw only a rather frail Calico kitten.  Not an attention grabber.

Then there you were, a large cat, coal black with a white chest and dainty white feet, posed, lying on your side, in a cage with two other big cats.  I saw your eyes follow me.  But, you didn’t make a move.  It was obvious you and your cage mates, a grey Tabby and a golden one, were old – kitten-days long gone.  While your cage mates repositioned themselves to keep my attention, it was only your bright eyes staring at me that made it clear you knew I was there.  Yet, your long, ample, unmoving body said, “I could care less about you liking me.”

I walked away. You stayed as you were.  One of your mates climbed off his/her perch, the other came as far as he/she could to angle for my interest.   I continued walking, searching for a pet connection that said, “we should be family”.

The assortment of dogs, cats, kittens, and puppies at that animal shelter was wonderful. Unfortunately, an emotional attachment just couldn’t be dredged up between any of them and me – no matter how long and thoughtfully I lingered. To the exit door I headed, resigned to leaving without a cat which I had taken so long to realize I wanted to share my home with me.

Sauntering toward the door, passing the big cats’ cage my eyes read the sign above you, the independent one who had eyes for me but apparently no interest in belonging to me.

“Joey”,  Arrival Date:  5/15

Domestic Short Hair – Black & White

Age: 8 yrs    Size:  XL

I said to myself, “Well, Joey.  You’ve been here in this animal shelter for more than  2 months and no one has picked you.  No wonder you’re not showing any interest in appealing to me.  You’ve had enough rejection, right? Let me go see what your story is.”

And that’s what I did. 

They told me she was a super-sweet, older cat, obese, really needed to lose weight to fend off the strong possibility of becoming diabetic.  Joey had been given up, brought to the shelter by the previous owner.

Hold it!  “She?”  It was then I learned Joey was a female. Her previous owners had thought otherwise when they named her.

I connected with “Joey” who was old, overweight, and beautiful and enjoyed staring at me.  She had to come home with me.  We belonged together. Joey didn’t balk when I suggested we would rename her “Josie”.   She did cry all the way home in the SUV.  I just kept softly talking to her.

So Josie became my lovable pet on July 17, 2009.  She was terrific, a truly super-sweet cat. 

As soon as we entered the house and I let her out of the travel cage, she scurried away.  Josie went throughout the house, from top to bottom, into every room.   I did see her peering at me as I set up her litter boxes – one in the basement, the other in the upstairs bathroom.  But, she was mostly ‘lost’ to me for her first hour in the house.  Then while I was talking to my daughter on the telephone and getting something out of the refrigerator, there she was, sitting on my toes, looking into the fridge. She was so close I thought she was aiming to go in  it.  I said, “no, no” and Josie, showing she was an obedient pet, backed away.  She didn’t run away.  She stayed in the kitchen with me.  She was always more close-by than distant.  From the beginning and always, Josie evidenced her gratitude for being out of that cage and in our home.

Josie was put on the veterinarian’s recommended diet.  I went online and found just the right baby scale to regularly track her weight loss.  She did well.  I discovered her previous owners must have fed her salty snacks because anytime I had a corn curl or Dorito or even popcorn, Josie begged, big time.  She didn’t get any. 

Unfortunately the next spring Josie was sick, a kind of feline cancer, the Vet said.  She died May 24^th, 2010 in this house she loved.

I don't believe I'll ever forget Josie.