Tuesday’s Show and Tail… J. R., Our Cat-dog

It’s time "Tuesday’s Show & Tail" time again! Angela, over at West Virginia Treasures, has been hosting this special time for several months, and it is always a lot of fun to see all the interesting posts of the people who join in! This is the 37th week that Angela has hosted this meme to share about past or present pets, animal friends we’ve known, or interesting stories about animals. If you’d like to join, here is the link to the Guidelines.

Today, I thought I’d do a quick few notes on our old cat, J.R. We got him for my son, Manuel, who wanted to name him Manuel… he wanted to name EVERYTHING Manuel. I talked him into naming the kitten, Manuel Jr., which got shortened to J. R.

J.R. was raised with dogs and thought he was a dog, I think. He even used to drool a lot when he was petted and would start to purr. He was a really sweet cat, probably because he was neutered very early, so he never learned to wander. In fact, that’s probably why he lasted into old age around here when most of our cats didn’t with the coyote problem we have. (In this picture you can see most of the "Crucified Christ" on the cross marking he had on his side... all but the head.)

He would follow us out if we went on a walk, but if we got toward the edges of our property, he would start to meow… like he was telling us that “It’s NOT safe out here!” “We NEED to stop and go BACK!” “YOU ARE BEING STUPID!” It would get louder and louder until we were back on our property and safe.

He was one of OC’s best friends from the time she was a little puppy! He seemed to think the pups (her and her brother) were his own babies and would snuggle them. When they would get too rambunctious, and run up to him and almost knock him over, he would sit up and bat them on their ears with both paws… bat, bat, bat… but with his claws sheathed so he never hurt them. He and OC would clean each others faces for years until he passed away…