"JOEY BEAR"
(From the Latin term "esca strigiforme" meaning "owl bait". I also discovered his name translates [Spanish] into "oso del joey" which means "bear of the joey". LOL.)
Aka: Jujube, Slipp'ry Foot, Joo Boo, Jubilee
Joey Bear is the newest member of our constantly growing fur family. Herb discovered him the end of March, 2005, on our road a little ways down and he looked very scared and very skinny. When Herb got home around 7PM, it was dark but we got our coats on and went to try and find the skittish kittish but to no avail. The next night when I went to put the dogs out, I could hear him in the woods yowling and tried to get him to come to me but he wouldn't. So I went in and got some cat food and placed it by the garage and went in. He came closer to the house but not to the food. So then we placed it on the front porch and went in and spied through the front blinds and sure enough eventually he came up and ate. After he was done, he was easily corralled into the garage. When we got him in, we noticed a huge gaping wound on his neck that looked fresh. When we took him to the vet, we had him feline leukemia tested and rabies tested as well as vaccinations and some antibiotics. However, since the wound was fresh, the doctor recommended keeping him quarantined from the rest of the kitties for 4 months!! That's the incubation period for feline leukemia and this was in case the wound was from a cat bite. We didn't think that's what it was but we erred on the side of caution and did as the doc suggested. If you look at the wound, it looks like one side has talon marks. We're wondering if he may have been the target of a hungry owl! That must have been a scary moment for Joey Bear, poor little guy!!
Joey Bear got his name after we rejected a few others such as Nigel, Reggie and Corby, which means "dark like a raven". All those names are British boy's names but they seemed too stuffy for such a lovable little fella. For some reason, "Joey Bear" popped into my head...a nickname from the TV Show "Wings", and it stuck like glue!
UPDATE, AUGUST 28, 2005:
Joey Bear's neck wound didn't heal after FIVE months! The doc and Herb were starting to think it may have actually been a burn from a car muffler as if he had gotten under a car to stay warm and was thrown free when the car started going down the road. Then, the week of August 15th sometime, we had an eerie experience. Joey Bear was in the windowsill of our bedroom when all of a sudden the fur went up on his back and he started growling. We looked outside and there was a vulture circling in the sky! So maybe the owl/hawk theory is true!! Spooky! Poor little Joey Bear. I hope he doesn't still have nightmares!
He had surgery to remove the wound after they tested it to see if it was actually a cancersous lesion or just healing tissue and discovered it was just healing. We gave him a super-antibiotic, and that started some healing but just not enough. So they cut the wound out and he is doing just fine! I'm sure he will be happy to get his "sweater" off once and for all!
"Of all God's creatures, there is only one that cannot be made slave of the leash. That one is the cat. If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve the man, but it would deteriorate the cat."
~ Mark Twain
