Jojo attended about a dozen hashes over the last five years, beginning in 2008. At her first, she strolled through a relatively-new-to-her living room crowded with strangers, all talking, eating, drinking and bumping into each other. After checking out a few laps and requesting a few pats, she jumped to the arm of the sofa and settled into sphinx position, and remained there for most of the On In, observing the scene.
Jojo was an immensely sociable and personable cat. She could get chatty, and often used an
outdoor voice (imagine a runaway train braking or some kind of
nuclear-plant-meltdown-warning siren) indoors, although she was also capable of
some pretty adorable hiccuping meows.
She saw the human lap as her natural territory, and was very gracious in
rolling and stretching to indicate which part of her most desired extensive
patting at any particular time. When she
was done with patting, she would assume the sphinx pose.
At 13, when INDY and I first met her, she was agile and
playful, although only the string toys engaged her for long. But, oh, my, the acrobatics she performed
when a bit of yarn or ribbon flicked into view!
By 18, when we returned with her to the Arlington Animal Welfare League
for her Final Shot, she was less of a jumper, and the digestive issues that had
troubled her for two years had advanced to an untenable level. Expect Kleenex® prices in the Arlington area
to rise sharply, given the sharp uptick in demand on Friday.
She developed strong friendships with Suck, Squeeze, Bang
and Air Horn over the years, and was always happy to see Ole Fud, Blow in the
Hole, Bionic Babe (though not so much her older offspring, who came one weekend
to administer the meds – goodness, how that cat could deploy the acrobatics,
and the slashing, knife-sharp teeth, at pill-taking time), Paul S. and a few
others. Queen Cobra once made her the
fanciest toy ever seen, with feathers and wiggly bits and noisemakers and a
dozen different colors and fabrics, and Jojo so far forgot herself as to play
with it, briefly, before remembering her boycott of every non-string toy.
INDY will love and miss her forever and ever. I shall, too.
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