Dancing JoJo Welcomes You

This very special surprise guest arrived on the feast day of St. Francis.  My wife and I were watching television in the early morning hours just before bedtime.  All of a sudden we heard the loudest crying at our back door.  There is a stray cat in the neighborhood and we thought that it might have been hurt.

I went out to investigate and continued to hear the cries but could not see the one that was causing the fuss.  Then all of a sudden I caught a glimpse and realized that it was not the stray cat but a kitten.  I went back to get a flashlight and then to my surprise and shock I discovered an eight week old Siamese kitten.

Then the fun began: he was scared and the shrubs was thick and made it very difficult to catch the little ball of fuzz.  My wife was the hero in this scenario for it was she that snagged it--or should I say that it was she that got snagged, for the fact that the little booger bit her.  Some thanks for the mighty rescue effort.

  However, once we and the kitten had calmed down things went better.  The poor thing was STARVED.  It ate so fast that it choked on every other mouthful but no harm because of it.  We stood outside with it while it continued to eat and pondered what in the world we were going to do next.  At that point we were not happy with any of the options we were considering but then we realized that it was going to have to spend the night and so it did.  We had a carrier that was big enough for a bed and other amenities and it stayed with us in the bedroom.

The next day we took him to the vet and discovered that he seemed healthy other than the fleas, ear mites and worms that came with him.  He was tested and vaccinated and treated for his unwanted parasites and we took him back home.  We continued to ponder for days as to keeping him or finding him a good home.

As the days continued to pass we decided to let him stay with us and so we named our many personalities Siamese "JoJo". Many names crossed our minds one of the first was Monkey Face.  This was not actually an insult but rather a name that was fitting his deep chocolate face and his amazing desire to climb and hang by one front leg as he dangled from his new cat tree.  Another choice was "Psycho".  This was my call for his alter ego " I am bad as I want to be".

JoJo is now four months old and he was neutered the day after our Thanksgiving holiday.  We are pleased to report that the surgery went well and JoJo is all back to normal.

After midnight before surgery JoJo was not allowed any food and just a little water.  Well if JoJo had a vote in the matter, I believe that the order would have been reversed.  We decided to go to bed early since JoJo needed to be at the hospital at an hour that we normally are not accustomed  to.

 JoJo is a free feeder, which means there is food down for him at all times.  This has worked fine and he has never completely finished his daily ration.  However, JoJo makes it very clear that his food bowl should not be empty at any time, day or night.  So JoJo was not pleased at all with the 'no food rule'.  What this all came down to was JoJo and I spending the night before surgery together, awake.

I tried to keep him entertained so that my wife could get some rest.  We played the usual games for awhile.  I even resorted to singing his theme song to him...no good.  I know what you are thinking but trust me, I was tired and would have done almost anything to have gotten some sleep.  Well the time had finally arrived and it was off to the hospital.  Oh, by the way, I mentioned that I was up with JoJo to let my wife get some rest.  She asked me after she got up, "Why were you singing to JoJo".  Whoops!

The afternoon that we picked him up at the hospital he was a happy little meezer and I do mean happy.  JoJo was still under the effects of the anesthesia and he certainly had a look of bewilderment but also a look of someone on one happy high.  He saw a dog on the way to the waiting area and he had an unusual fascination with the dog.  We figured in his state of mind that maybe he thought the dog was Molly, our Golden Retriever, one of JoJo's housemates but then again the way he was looking at that dog, who knows.

The vet technician told us to be sure to let JoJo get plenty of rest.  Give him a safe place to rest and be by himself.  She did not explain that to him.  JoJo was so happy to be home.  He could not wait to say 'Hi' to the dogs.

 JoJo strolled over to Megan, our Shih Tzu, with a wobble in his walk.  That dog took one look at him and she took off.  I mean to say she did not want that cat no where near her.  JoJo was persistent but could not persuade her to let him be near her.  We finally figured it was his eyes.  His eyelids were just a little bit puffy from the anesthesia and I guess JoJo looked like some kind of zombie to the dog.  The next day the eyes were normal and the dog was just fine with JoJo.  Other than his unsteady movements, the evening after his surgery, he acted as though nothing happened.  So much for bed rest!  Oh yes, finally that evening JoJo and I went to bed for a good nights sleep.

Well JoJo and the gang are looking forward to his first Christmas with us.  JoJo really thinks the idea of a tree with lights and decorations was a great idea.  He really thinks that we are crazy though.  Why put up such a fantastic cat toy in the living room and not let him go near it.  JoJo says, "Humans are really strange".

Come back  from time to time and we will share with you, the wacky happenings of our little meezer.