In June 1993, while working as a Music Therapist/Activity Aide at the Lutheran Care Center in Baden MO, Josie happened to come into my life. A maintenance employee, who knew I liked cats, told me his cat had three kittens under his home. "Sigh...why wasn't that cat spayed!!!" was my first thought. My second thought was "Please bring them here when they are six to eight weeks old as momma will be pushing them away by then, and I will find homes for the three."
So, in late July 1993, three bundles of fur arrived at the Care Center. All three went home w/me to get flea baths, and the one I was going to keep (white and brown tabby 'Josie') went to the vet. Anything that Josie was treated for (ear mites, worms etc), the other two were treated for, too, at my apartment. A brown-tabby brother went home w/a social worker within the week. The 'Sylvester' black/white brother stayed w/me and Josie for a couple of weeks. I named him "Buster" as he had four white spats, like 'Bustopher Jones' in the musical, "Cats." Josie (named for my Grandmother, Martha Helen Josephine) and Buster played and played and played. I am so glad I took VHS video of them! ....now to get that tape to digital...
A CNA at the Center fell in love w/Buster two weeks later, and he went home w/her. So, it was Josie and Zorro cat and Tabby cat. The three of them got along fairly well. When I wasn't looking, they would snuggle together. They didn't want me to know that they actually got along.
Josie continued to visit the Care Center, visiting a few residents that liked kitties, especially Ruthie. Josie would sit in her lap while Ruthie pet and pet and pet her while Josie RUMBLED her LOUD RUMBLY purr. Josie was very good on a leash, and didn't try to play w/it or get out of it. It was as if Josie knew this was her job. Josie was even able to coax Ruthie out of her room as Ruthie couldn't believe that a cat would walk on a leash! So thru the hallways the three of us went, Ruthie in her wheelchair, Josie on her leash and me. What a sight!! A couple of years later, I moved onto another job, so Josie retired. However, anytime ANYONE would come to the apartment or house door, Josie expected them to pet her. She was on well-socialized little lady!
Time marches on, and Zorro passes away due to hyperthyroid related issues in March 1997 at the age of 11 years. So now, it is Josie & Tabby.
Time again marches on, and we meet David in June 02 who has a dog, Mars, and two cats, Grover & Q - three boys. I have two girls, and we laugh, stating it is like the Brady Bunch. Josie tolerates Mars when Mars visits my apartment, and it is Tabby that likes Mars. We thought it would have been the other way around.
David asks why I have no fuzzy mice around for my girls. I state that cats really don't play w/those, do they? So he purchases some fuzzy mice, and Josie LOVES them! She liked to carry one around and announce to her 'kittens' that she has lunch!!! Tabby could take them or leave them.
In Oct 03, Tabby passes away due to hyperthyroid related issues.
In Dec 03, Daisy cat comes into our lives. THAT is a story to be shared HERE (COMING SOON!!). Josie and Tabby both tolerate her, but they all end up getting along.
In Jan 04, Shawnee cat comes into our lives. Now THAT is a story to be shared HERE (COMING SOON!!). Shawnee lives at my apartment sometimes and at David's house sometimes. Oh, and Shawnee REALLY LOVES MARS!! And Shawnee and Daisy like each other, too.
In Aug 08, we all move in w/David in his house. So now it really IS the Brady Bunch!! Three furry boys and three furry girls, and of course, David and me. We all live happily together in one house, w/of course, Josie being in charge of ALL critters.
In Oct 08, Mars passes away. Shawnee, David and I miss him greatly.
In June 09, Ripple dog arrives from Stray Rescue and in Aug 09, Phobey dog from the Humane Society of MO. Josie tolerates...she just really likes people!! But she keeps the dogs in their places. :o)
In Aug 10, we notice that Josie is getting very thin and not keeping on weight. She was diagnosed w/diabetes. She did well on insulin for quite sometime, but had difficulty going into March 11. She was treated to Fancy Feast Can and Appetizers, which she ate w/great gusto until March.
In March, before going to bed at 1am, I checked on her and she was in a seizure! We immediately got the glucose sprayed onto her gums and David bravely drove us to the ER at 2am. She was unconscious the entire drive to the ER. When we arrived at 2:30am, she 'woke' up and MEOWED as if to say, "What is all the fuss?" She spent two nights in the ER (the staff loved her there!), and then an entire week at the St Louis Cat Clinic, (loved her there, too) as David and I had a trip to Boston the last week of March (we were married in Boston on April 1).
Josie came out of the seizure, as if she never had one, but it was downhill from there. Her little thin body was just not able to regulate, no matter how much we adjusted her daily dose(s) of insulin, her once thick and soft fur was becoming matted, no matter how many baths and how much brushing she received, and at the end of April, she quit eating and was lethargic, but alert. On Wed April 27, we made the decision that Josie had had a wonderful and full and happy life, and needed to visit the St Louis Cat Clinic one last time. On Fri April 29, she was at the Rainbow Bridge.
She is buried, w/a fuzzy mouse, in the ravine behind our house w/Spike, Tabby and Mars.
Josie loved string and yarn, but never cared for laser lights. She loved her fuzzy mice. She loved to 'dig' to get under the blankets w/me laying on the couch or in bed. She loved to sit in front of the fireplace. Josie loved to sit on a heating pad, too, and always found the patch of sun shining thru the windows.
I miss my little Josie.
So, in late July 1993, three bundles of fur arrived at the Care Center. All three went home w/me to get flea baths, and the one I was going to keep (white and brown tabby 'Josie') went to the vet. Anything that Josie was treated for (ear mites, worms etc), the other two were treated for, too, at my apartment. A brown-tabby brother went home w/a social worker within the week. The 'Sylvester' black/white brother stayed w/me and Josie for a couple of weeks. I named him "Buster" as he had four white spats, like 'Bustopher Jones' in the musical, "Cats." Josie (named for my Grandmother, Martha Helen Josephine) and Buster played and played and played. I am so glad I took VHS video of them! ....now to get that tape to digital...
A CNA at the Center fell in love w/Buster two weeks later, and he went home w/her. So, it was Josie and Zorro cat and Tabby cat. The three of them got along fairly well. When I wasn't looking, they would snuggle together. They didn't want me to know that they actually got along.
Josie continued to visit the Care Center, visiting a few residents that liked kitties, especially Ruthie. Josie would sit in her lap while Ruthie pet and pet and pet her while Josie RUMBLED her LOUD RUMBLY purr. Josie was very good on a leash, and didn't try to play w/it or get out of it. It was as if Josie knew this was her job. Josie was even able to coax Ruthie out of her room as Ruthie couldn't believe that a cat would walk on a leash! So thru the hallways the three of us went, Ruthie in her wheelchair, Josie on her leash and me. What a sight!! A couple of years later, I moved onto another job, so Josie retired. However, anytime ANYONE would come to the apartment or house door, Josie expected them to pet her. She was on well-socialized little lady!
Time marches on, and Zorro passes away due to hyperthyroid related issues in March 1997 at the age of 11 years. So now, it is Josie & Tabby.
Time again marches on, and we meet David in June 02 who has a dog, Mars, and two cats, Grover & Q - three boys. I have two girls, and we laugh, stating it is like the Brady Bunch. Josie tolerates Mars when Mars visits my apartment, and it is Tabby that likes Mars. We thought it would have been the other way around.
David asks why I have no fuzzy mice around for my girls. I state that cats really don't play w/those, do they? So he purchases some fuzzy mice, and Josie LOVES them! She liked to carry one around and announce to her 'kittens' that she has lunch!!! Tabby could take them or leave them.
In Oct 03, Tabby passes away due to hyperthyroid related issues.
In Dec 03, Daisy cat comes into our lives. THAT is a story to be shared HERE (COMING SOON!!). Josie and Tabby both tolerate her, but they all end up getting along.
In Jan 04, Shawnee cat comes into our lives. Now THAT is a story to be shared HERE (COMING SOON!!). Shawnee lives at my apartment sometimes and at David's house sometimes. Oh, and Shawnee REALLY LOVES MARS!! And Shawnee and Daisy like each other, too.
In Aug 08, we all move in w/David in his house. So now it really IS the Brady Bunch!! Three furry boys and three furry girls, and of course, David and me. We all live happily together in one house, w/of course, Josie being in charge of ALL critters.
In Oct 08, Mars passes away. Shawnee, David and I miss him greatly.
In June 09, Ripple dog arrives from Stray Rescue and in Aug 09, Phobey dog from the Humane Society of MO. Josie tolerates...she just really likes people!! But she keeps the dogs in their places. :o)
In Aug 10, we notice that Josie is getting very thin and not keeping on weight. She was diagnosed w/diabetes. She did well on insulin for quite sometime, but had difficulty going into March 11. She was treated to Fancy Feast Can and Appetizers, which she ate w/great gusto until March.
In March, before going to bed at 1am, I checked on her and she was in a seizure! We immediately got the glucose sprayed onto her gums and David bravely drove us to the ER at 2am. She was unconscious the entire drive to the ER. When we arrived at 2:30am, she 'woke' up and MEOWED as if to say, "What is all the fuss?" She spent two nights in the ER (the staff loved her there!), and then an entire week at the St Louis Cat Clinic, (loved her there, too) as David and I had a trip to Boston the last week of March (we were married in Boston on April 1).
Josie came out of the seizure, as if she never had one, but it was downhill from there. Her little thin body was just not able to regulate, no matter how much we adjusted her daily dose(s) of insulin, her once thick and soft fur was becoming matted, no matter how many baths and how much brushing she received, and at the end of April, she quit eating and was lethargic, but alert. On Wed April 27, we made the decision that Josie had had a wonderful and full and happy life, and needed to visit the St Louis Cat Clinic one last time. On Fri April 29, she was at the Rainbow Bridge.
She is buried, w/a fuzzy mouse, in the ravine behind our house w/Spike, Tabby and Mars.
Josie loved string and yarn, but never cared for laser lights. She loved her fuzzy mice. She loved to 'dig' to get under the blankets w/me laying on the couch or in bed. She loved to sit in front of the fireplace. Josie loved to sit on a heating pad, too, and always found the patch of sun shining thru the windows.
I miss my little Josie.
In June 1993, while working as a Music Therapist/Activity Aide at the Lutheran Care Center in Baden MO, Josie happened to come into my life. A maintenance employee, who knew I liked cats, told me his cat had three kittens under his home. "Sigh...why wasn't that cat spayed!!!" was my first thought. My second thought was "Please bring them here when they are six to eight weeks old as momma will be pushing them away by then, and I will find homes for the three."
So, in late July 1993, three bundles of fur arrived at the Care Center. All three went home w/me to get flea baths, and the one I was going to keep (white and brown tabby 'Josie') went to the vet. Anything that Josie was treated for (ear mites, worms etc), the other two were treated for, too, at my apartment. A brown-tabby brother went home w/a social worker within the week. The 'Sylvester' black/white brother stayed w/me and Josie for a couple of weeks. I named him "Buster" as he had four white spats, like 'Bustopher Jones' in the musical, "Cats." Josie (named for my Grandmother, Martha Helen Josephine) and Buster played and played and played. I am so glad I took VHS video of them! ....now to get that tape to digital...
A CNA at the Center fell in love w/Buster two weeks later, and he went home w/her. So, it was Josie and Zorro cat and Tabby cat. The three of them got along fairly well. When I wasn't looking, they would snuggle together. They didn't want me to know that they actually got along.
Josie continued to visit the Care Center, visiting a few residents that liked kitties, especially Ruthie. Josie would sit in her lap while Ruthie pet and pet and pet her while Josie RUMBLED her LOUD RUMBLY purr. Josie was very good on a leash, and didn't try to play w/it or get out of it. It was as if Josie knew this was her job. Josie was even able to coax Ruthie out of her room as Ruthie couldn't believe that a cat would walk on a leash! So thru the hallways the three of us went, Ruthie in her wheelchair, Josie on her leash and me. What a sight!! A couple of years later, I moved onto another job, so Josie retired. However, anytime ANYONE would come to the apartment or house door, Josie expected them to pet her. She was on well-socialized little lady!
Time marches on, and Zorro passes away due to hyperthyroid related issues in March 1997 at the age of 11 years. So now, it is Josie & Tabby.
Time again marches on, and we meet David in June 02 who has a dog, Mars, and two cats, Grover & Q - three boys. I have two girls, and we laugh, stating it is like the Brady Bunch. Josie tolerates Mars when Mars visits my apartment, and it is Tabby that likes Mars. We thought it would have been the other way around.
David asks why I have no fuzzy mice around for my girls. I state that cats really don't play w/those, do they? So he purchases some fuzzy mice, and Josie LOVES them! She liked to carry one around and announce to her 'kittens' that she has lunch!!! Tabby could take them or leave them.
In Oct 03, Tabby passes away due to hyperthyroid related issues.
In Dec 03, Daisy cat comes into our lives. THAT is a story to be shared HERE (COMING SOON!!). Josie and Tabby both tolerate her, but they all end up getting along.
In Jan 04, Shawnee cat comes into our lives. Now THAT is a story to be shared HERE (COMING SOON!!). Shawnee lives at my apartment sometimes and at David's house sometimes. Oh, and Shawnee REALLY LOVES MARS!! And Shawnee and Daisy like each other, too.
In Aug 08, we all move in w/David in his house. So now it really IS the Brady Bunch!! Three furry boys and three furry girls, and of course, David and me. We all live happily together in one house, w/of course, Josie being in charge of ALL critters.
In Oct 08, Mars passes away. Shawnee, David and I miss him greatly.
In June 09, Ripple dog arrives from Stray Rescue and in Aug 09, Phobey dog from the Humane Society of MO. Josie tolerates...she just really likes people!! But she keeps the dogs in their places. :o)
In Aug 10, we notice that Josie is getting very thin and not keeping on weight. She was diagnosed w/diabetes. She did well on insulin for quite sometime, but had difficulty going into March 11. She was treated to Fancy Feast Can and Appetizers, which she ate w/great gusto until March.
In March, before going to bed at 1am, I checked on her and she was in a seizure! We immediately got the glucose sprayed onto her gums and David bravely drove us to the ER at 2am. She was unconscious the entire drive to the ER. When we arrived at 2:30am, she 'woke' up and MEOWED as if to say, "What is all the fuss?" She spent two nights in the ER (the staff loved her there!), and then an entire week at the St Louis Cat Clinic, (loved her there, too) as David and I had a trip to Boston the last week of March (we were married in Boston on April 1).
Josie came out of the seizure, as if she never had one, but it was downhill from there. Her little thin body was just not able to regulate, no matter how much we adjusted her daily dose(s) of insulin, her once thick and soft fur was becoming matted, no matter how many baths and how much brushing she received, and at the end of April, she quit eating and was lethargic, but alert. On Wed April 27, we made the decision that Josie had had a wonderful and full and happy life, and needed to visit the St Louis Cat Clinic one last time. On Fri April 29, she was at the Rainbow Bridge.
She is buried, w/a fuzzy mouse, in the ravine behind our house w/Spike, Tabby and Mars.
Josie loved string and yarn, but never cared for laser lights. She loved her fuzzy mice. She loved to 'dig' to get under the blankets w/me laying on the couch or in bed. She loved to sit in front of the fireplace. Josie loved to sit on a heating pad, too, and always found the patch of sun shining thru the windows.
I miss my little Josie.
So, in late July 1993, three bundles of fur arrived at the Care Center. All three went home w/me to get flea baths, and the one I was going to keep (white and brown tabby 'Josie') went to the vet. Anything that Josie was treated for (ear mites, worms etc), the other two were treated for, too, at my apartment. A brown-tabby brother went home w/a social worker within the week. The 'Sylvester' black/white brother stayed w/me and Josie for a couple of weeks. I named him "Buster" as he had four white spats, like 'Bustopher Jones' in the musical, "Cats." Josie (named for my Grandmother, Martha Helen Josephine) and Buster played and played and played. I am so glad I took VHS video of them! ....now to get that tape to digital...
A CNA at the Center fell in love w/Buster two weeks later, and he went home w/her. So, it was Josie and Zorro cat and Tabby cat. The three of them got along fairly well. When I wasn't looking, they would snuggle together. They didn't want me to know that they actually got along.
Josie continued to visit the Care Center, visiting a few residents that liked kitties, especially Ruthie. Josie would sit in her lap while Ruthie pet and pet and pet her while Josie RUMBLED her LOUD RUMBLY purr. Josie was very good on a leash, and didn't try to play w/it or get out of it. It was as if Josie knew this was her job. Josie was even able to coax Ruthie out of her room as Ruthie couldn't believe that a cat would walk on a leash! So thru the hallways the three of us went, Ruthie in her wheelchair, Josie on her leash and me. What a sight!! A couple of years later, I moved onto another job, so Josie retired. However, anytime ANYONE would come to the apartment or house door, Josie expected them to pet her. She was on well-socialized little lady!
Time marches on, and Zorro passes away due to hyperthyroid related issues in March 1997 at the age of 11 years. So now, it is Josie & Tabby.
Time again marches on, and we meet David in June 02 who has a dog, Mars, and two cats, Grover & Q - three boys. I have two girls, and we laugh, stating it is like the Brady Bunch. Josie tolerates Mars when Mars visits my apartment, and it is Tabby that likes Mars. We thought it would have been the other way around.
David asks why I have no fuzzy mice around for my girls. I state that cats really don't play w/those, do they? So he purchases some fuzzy mice, and Josie LOVES them! She liked to carry one around and announce to her 'kittens' that she has lunch!!! Tabby could take them or leave them.
In Oct 03, Tabby passes away due to hyperthyroid related issues.
In Dec 03, Daisy cat comes into our lives. THAT is a story to be shared HERE (COMING SOON!!). Josie and Tabby both tolerate her, but they all end up getting along.
In Jan 04, Shawnee cat comes into our lives. Now THAT is a story to be shared HERE (COMING SOON!!). Shawnee lives at my apartment sometimes and at David's house sometimes. Oh, and Shawnee REALLY LOVES MARS!! And Shawnee and Daisy like each other, too.
In Aug 08, we all move in w/David in his house. So now it really IS the Brady Bunch!! Three furry boys and three furry girls, and of course, David and me. We all live happily together in one house, w/of course, Josie being in charge of ALL critters.
In Oct 08, Mars passes away. Shawnee, David and I miss him greatly.
In June 09, Ripple dog arrives from Stray Rescue and in Aug 09, Phobey dog from the Humane Society of MO. Josie tolerates...she just really likes people!! But she keeps the dogs in their places. :o)
In Aug 10, we notice that Josie is getting very thin and not keeping on weight. She was diagnosed w/diabetes. She did well on insulin for quite sometime, but had difficulty going into March 11. She was treated to Fancy Feast Can and Appetizers, which she ate w/great gusto until March.
In March, before going to bed at 1am, I checked on her and she was in a seizure! We immediately got the glucose sprayed onto her gums and David bravely drove us to the ER at 2am. She was unconscious the entire drive to the ER. When we arrived at 2:30am, she 'woke' up and MEOWED as if to say, "What is all the fuss?" She spent two nights in the ER (the staff loved her there!), and then an entire week at the St Louis Cat Clinic, (loved her there, too) as David and I had a trip to Boston the last week of March (we were married in Boston on April 1).
Josie came out of the seizure, as if she never had one, but it was downhill from there. Her little thin body was just not able to regulate, no matter how much we adjusted her daily dose(s) of insulin, her once thick and soft fur was becoming matted, no matter how many baths and how much brushing she received, and at the end of April, she quit eating and was lethargic, but alert. On Wed April 27, we made the decision that Josie had had a wonderful and full and happy life, and needed to visit the St Louis Cat Clinic one last time. On Fri April 29, she was at the Rainbow Bridge.
She is buried, w/a fuzzy mouse, in the ravine behind our house w/Spike, Tabby and Mars.
Josie loved string and yarn, but never cared for laser lights. She loved her fuzzy mice. She loved to 'dig' to get under the blankets w/me laying on the couch or in bed. She loved to sit in front of the fireplace. Josie loved to sit on a heating pad, too, and always found the patch of sun shining thru the windows.
I miss my little Josie.
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