Tuesday 12 June 2012

In memory of Smokey Joe; a truly fantastic cat.


Today my cat, Smokey Joe, had to be put to sleep, so I would like to take the time to dedicate this small part of the internet to him.



This is the first picture we have of him. He was a stray kitten when he turned up on our door step looking for a home. After some gentle persuaison with Dad (just let him have some milk….and maybe some food….and maybe a bed for the night…okay forever) he became part of the family and always will be.



This is him derp facing. We grew up together, he was a kitten when my sister was only a few months old and he grew old while we grew up.



He was always my special little buddy and would walk me halfway to school (untill we got to the road) and be there to walk me back at the end of the day.



This is my favourite picture of me and him. We always had time for a cuddle and I always felt safe having him guard me in my sleep. The cuddle tradition never changed, even as I grew up, -I would come home from university every weekend and he’d come into the house to sit on the sofa with me and watch comedy programs.




Here he is pretending to be one of my stuffed toys, I hope we gave him the best life possible, I assume we did, if cats don’t like you they leave and he stayed with us for 17 1/2 years. He was loved by everyone, even the dogs. Millie the eldest dog was so distressed when she saw that he was no longer with us she lay beside him trembling. He was the boss of all the dogs and used them as body guards. When a particulary nasty ginger tom moved into the neighbour hood and chased him, he ran straight to our garden and straight into our dogs who let Smokey past and chased the other cat away.




I think he would like me to mention that he was also a fantastic hunter and a BAMF. He brought home many kills, and had a particular knack for getting rare and protected species, as you can imagine this didn’t always go down too well with a house hold full of vegetarian animal lovers. But I think he would like me to mention it, he was a brave, bold adventurer who survived many fights often with cats, once with a car. He nearly died after being run over when he was only a few years old and I am so glad that he got to spend so many more years with us.




Here is me and my sister now with him. He was always too interested in cameras to get a good photo of easily, so we sneak attacked him with this camera when he was having a lay down.




I started this post with the first picture we have of him and so I will end it with the last picture I have of him. This was taken this morning, before we had our final goodbye. It was a difficult decision to make, but the right one.

So heres to you Smokey, I love you and hope I made your life a happy one, all my love to long ago.

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