Little Joe, 199?-2013
Submitted by Sarah D. Bunting on February 5, 2013 – 11:43 AM245 Comments
Angels, prepare to receive among you my little friend. Please make him welcome with people food, especially Kix, because he likes to chase them, and lettuce, because I still don’t know why, but I know he deserves it. No fuzzy little butterpants ever took better care of a broken heart. Except for this one.
Little bear, I miss you terribly. Until we meet again, remember that I love you, and that shoelaces are toys, always.
Sarah
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Thanks again, everyone. He drove me ABSOLUTELY CRAZY with the climbing in my lap in my office, clambering onto the desk, sleeping on the work laptop and emailing colleagues with his ass, squeezing me out of my desk chair, etc., and I never thought I would long to be perched on the front four inches of my seat, or looking at my computer through a pair of little ears…I mean, that little freak fried my MacBook by “drinking” out of a water glass with his paw! Badly! Again! He never got good at it! The money I’m going to save in paper towels alone, I’ll tell you.
God, I miss him.
Oh, Joe! I’m so sorry, Sars! Tales of Jozef and his Post-It Note eating antics have a special place in my heart; how much more for the Provider of Post-Its. I hope you accept all of our sympathies – and know how wonderful a life he must have had with you.
Sorry for your loss, that really sucks.
I’m gonna go and hug my cat Sasha.
Aw, I’m so sorry for your loss. RIP Little Joe! He had a happy life and brought many of us to your site through his adventures.
I am so sorry.
Love and hugs to you, Sars. He brought great things to your life and you to his, the best kind of companionship.
I’m so sorry to hear of your kitty’s passing. What a terribly hard thing to bear.
I gave my niece-cat (what do you call the cat of your sister, when you live together?) an extra hug today even though that brat keeps “forgetting” her litter box isn’t in the dining room.
I’m addressing that very brat on The Vine today, as a tribute to the Tootsie Rolls of unrequited love a certain much-missed feline used to leave for his stalkee, Serena, in the downstairs foyer.
Oh Sars I’m so sorry for your loss. RIP Little Joe.
Sarah, I’m so sorry for the loss of your fuzzy-faced friend. Few animals, I think, were written of by their people more gracefully or with more vividness. As others have said, your gift for telling his stories means he was widely loved, and will be sorely missed. Thanks for sharing him with us.
Oh, my. What a kitty. What a lucky, zany kitty who will be much missed even by those of us who never met him. I am genuinely sorry for the loss.
I’m so sorry for your loss. Like many here, I’ve loved reading your Little Joe stories for years.
So sorry. I guess it is only right that after crying tears of laughter at Little Joe’s expense in the past, I should cry tears of sadness now.
When I lost my own sweet kitty a few months ago, a friend suggested that she had joined all our friends’ pets who were somewhere together, happy and warm and reminiscing about all of us. Little Joe has joined that tribe and he will be sorely missed by those who knew him and those who only knew of him. Thanks for sharing him with us.
Sars so sorry you lost a member of you family. My heart is with you and your other fur children. (Not so little) Little Joe will be missed.
Sweet Little Joe! Such a sad day. And I hope they have more than just Kix and lettuce for him in cat heaven. :) XOXO, Sars!
I’m very sorry for your loss.
And thank you for sharing him with us all these years.
Hey, so don’t read the Rainbow Bridge thing if you have anything to do in the half hour that follows.
God Bless you, Little Joe. You have given so many of us the gift of laughter through your human companion, and we are a grateful Nation.
Your tales of Little Joe have always been so vivid. As a measure of that, I saw his obit and am siting here sniffling, as though I’d lost a good friend.
I’m so sorry he had to leave you, I know all too well that hole-in-the-heart feeling and it sucks. Little furry heartbreaks they are, but I can’t imagine my life with out a few cats in it.
Sending all sympathy and condolences~
I’m so sorry for your loss. The stories you told about Joe were some of my favourites.
Thoughts and hugs and sympathy with you today; Miss Olivia Pinkpaws, herself a zaftig lap-sitting tortoiseshell, and I will share some extra ear skritchles in Joe’s memory. I thank him, and you, for the term “startle-poo,” which has entered my family’s lexicon.
I’m so sorry for your loss Sars. The first time I ever truly laughed (well, guffawed and verged on hyperventilating might be a better description) while reading something on the internet was one of your essays in the early 2000’s about the antics of your cats. Now I will need to find it again, for Little Joe.
Oh, god, the Rainbow Bridge thing! Yeah, that has made me cry before. So does the eulogy from the physicist piece. That one might be worse for me, actually. Ugh.
I’m so sorry for your loss, Sars.
“The animal shall not be measured by man. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendor and travail of the earth.”
Henry Beston, The Outermost House
Another long-time reader who is so, so sorry for your loss.
So sorry to hear about Little Joe, Sars. I always loved reading about all your feline friends, since I could usually relate through one of the feline friends I’ve had in my life. One of my very favorite things you’ve ever written about anything was about wanting to stuff Little Joe in the broiler, but he would let out the tiniest “mee” to get out of trouble. I always thought, “Wouldn’t he be too big for the broiler?” He seemed like one hell of a furface, and will be remembered fondly by many.
I’m so sorry, Sars. It’s just fundamentally unfair that these creatures can’t stay with us very long. We’re exceedingly lucky for the time we do get…
So sorry for your loss Sars.
See you over the Rainbow Bridge Little Joe!
Oh, no! You gave him many, many good years, and your cat stories always have given me a good laugh. RIP, furry friend.
I’m so terribly sorry Sarah.
Condolences on your loss. From what I’ve read about him over the years, he was very well loved and had a good life. All any of us can ask for, really. I hope you are doing okay!
Oh, I’m so very sorry, Sars.
So sorry to hear of your loss. I have a couple Senior Catizens myself and I just don’t think there’s any way to prepare yourself for their absence. Here’s to lots of people food and shoelaces in the sky!
Little Joe stories got me through my cat-less years until my then-boyfriend (now husband) could get our own kitty. So very sorry to hear he is gone. Many warm, good thoughts are headed your way from down south.
Oh, Sars, I’m so sorry. I always giggled foolishly about the adventures of Little Joe and Hobie. RIP, Joe.
Sarah, I’m so very very sorry for your loss. I had to say goodbye to 2 kitties this past year — Toast and Schroedinger will show Little Joe the best warm spots in heaven, I know it.
So sorry to hear this. May his memory be a blessing.
I’m so sorry, Sars. No cat could have hoped for a happier life than the one Little Joe had with you. Both of you were very lucky.
I’m so sorry! He was a special guy. And I love that picture of him.
Aw, Little Joe!
I’m so sorry for your loss. Your stories about Little Joe and his antics have made me cackle many, many times since the early 2000’s.
Sarah,
I’m so sorry to hear this. As a cat owner, I know how hard this loss must be on you!
Anna, DonorsChoose.org
I still forward “Night of the Living Bed” to people. So sorry for your loss…
So sorry for your loss. I shed some tears after reading your touching eulogy and the thoughtful comments from the pet-loving Nationals. Rest well, Little Joe.
This is the second cat today who has moved on to kitty heaven. Ear skritches to them, and peace to the owners. It’s always a tough situation to endure the loss of a pet.
Oh Sarah, you’ve been in our thoughts! The world will miss you so much, Little Joe.
xxo,
Jenny, DonorsChoose.org
RIP Little Joe. So sorry for your loss, Sars.
And there go the tears! My heart goes out to you – there are few heartbreaks in life that compare to the loss of a pet. I’ve so enjoyed your tales of Little Joe over the years and think fondly of your interactions with his vet everytime I take my dog to the vet inquiring if she has in fact grown another nipple. This has happened 4 times I can recall, and no, none of these growths were anywhere near where a nipple ought to be! Oh these pets, they make us utter sentences I would have never thought possible! But if it’s any consolation, no one could have loved Little Joe more than you, and he’s surely enjoying TONS of Kix up in heaven. And I can only assume the gravity is different up there so he’s probably practically a super-model-weight cat! RIP Little Joe.
I am so sorry for your loss. I’ve loved your cats through you. Thank you for sharing them. Peace to you and Godspeed, Little Joe, with little cat feet.