It's Caturday!

Joey

Recently I was at a flea market (the same flea market where I found Priscilla ten years ago, to be exact), when I ran into a woman who had a gorgeous Maine Coon cat sitting in a kangaroo pouch strapped to her chest.

Now, I can tell you from experience that it's not every day (err..ever) that this happens, so naturally the situation gave me pause. After getting over my initial shock and excitement, I immediately started kicking myself because I didn't have a camera on me to document the momentous occasion.

Luckily, I was able to pass my information along to the woman, named Suzie, and sure enough she emailed me back with a ton of beautiful pictures, along with the amazing story of that very cat, who happens to go by the name of Joey!

How incredible is this photo?? (Click images to enlarge)

Suzie writes:

Joey is a Maine Coon cat, born June 6, 2010. I am a dog person but my boyfriend is a big cat lover. He had Persian cats since he was little but his dream was to have a Maine Coon cat. We were going to Cat shows all over the States and were talking to many breeders. Finally we got Joey when he was 5 months old and we loved him since the first time we saw him in a picture.

He is a very smart, adventurous and gentle cat who has a dog-like personality. Since the first week after we brought him home we trained him on the leash and took him for short walks. He got used to it very fast and loves to go out anywhere with us. He usually walks on his own (obediently like a dog).

We also carry him in a large kangaroo pouch (regular front pouch for dogs) when he is tired or we are in a crowded city or some noisy area (he doesn’t like noise and especially little screaming children). We also take him for all day hikes and he loves it. He is not afraid of anything. He even loves water and doesn’t mined showers, walks in the rain and he loves snow.

As I said I am more a dog person who owned and trained dogs all my life but I love Joey endlessly. I also trained Joey and taught him tricks. He knows how to heel, to sit, to lie down, how to jump, how to meow when asked, give high five, lie on his back when asked, roll around and dance a little dance when I sing “I love Rock ‘n’ Roll”. He is very smart so he does everything when he hears voice commands and also when he sees visual commands.

He loves to play and train all day. Of course he loves my attention and also the treats he gets every time he does something well.

But do not think he isn’t spoiled. He IS spoiled rotten because we treat him like a baby. He has every single toy you can see in the pet stores and we spend every single minute with him. Since we got him we didn’t leave him alone even for a half day. Our sweet baby.... So you can tell we are officially huge and crazy cat lovers.

Any bad experience with Joey: NONE

Funny and unusual things:

1. We go out for a short walks during the day and he relieves himself outside like a dog. When we are too lazy to go out he dutifully uses his litter box.

2. He is very vocal. He is talking (meowing) all day long. He wants to play - he tells us. He goes to the litter box - he tells us ahead. He wants to sleep – he tells us good night before every nap.

***

Wow! Very special thanks goes out to Suzie for taking the time to share Joey's story with us this week! I couldn't believe how calm, friendly and unaffected he was when I saw endless strangers approach to ask about him at the flea market, and now I know why!

And don't you just love that one cat was all it took to transform Suzie into such a dedicated, passionate cat lover? What else can I say except that I foresee many continued fabulous adventures ahead, and hope to run into them again in the future!

Want to see your cat(s) on Catsparella? I'm always accepting submissions for my weekly Caturday post! Just email your best kitty pics to catsparella@gmail.com, and include your cat's name and anything else you'd like to share! I can't wait to hear from you!