Jan 25, 2016 3 min read

Six or seven years ago, we brought a kitten home from our next-door neighbors. Because of his propensity to curl up in the pouch or hood of our sweatshirts while we carried him, we named him Joey. He quickly settled in to our barn and became quite a prolific hunter. He has been there ever since.

He has never been particularly fond of other cats, although he tolerates our other long-term resident, Tom Cat, mostly by ignoring him. Additionally, he detests our dog (though when he has the opportunity to tease him by walking just out of the dog’s reach, he takes it.)

But he is friendly enough with us and has been a nice addition to our barn family.

This week, I hadn’t seen Joey for a couple of days. This concerned me somewhat with the cold weather. We debated about bringing him inside as we did for two of the other barn cats (the one guy won’t leave the food bowl, and I’m afraid he might explode!) However, the only evidence we could find was a tunnel burrowed back into the straw pile and his repeatedly empty food bowl.

Fear was averted yesterday, however, when my middle girl and I went out to feed and water her horse. Both he and Tom Cat were waiting for food. I scooped out a large portion and stood scratching ears and backs while they ate. As I was about to walk away, I heard a meow come from across the stall near the manger.

I looked back at the food pan and still saw two cats. Another meow from across the stall. I tiptoed over to see what was in there, and to my surprise, I saw Joey. How could that be when I had just seen him at the feed pan? I looked unbelievingly back again, and beside Tom Cat sat Joey. And yet, over here, sat Joey.

And then I realized this Not Joey was actually much friendlier than Joey. He immediately began purring and rubbing on my outstretched hand, seeking affection. He stood and let me scratch his head for several minutes, purring the whole time. Then, he hopped down from the manger and strutted over toward the food bowl.

Joey and Not Joey aren’t too fond of one another quite yet, so I put another pile of food down for Not Joey to eat. Then, I stood looking at the two of them, still not quite sure it wasn’t a trick.

Both cats are gray tiger-striped cats, but Not Joey is somewhat lighter. He also has a slightly shorter tail. Otherwise, they are identical and would be extremely difficult to tell apart at distance. He is a lovely cat and very friendly, and I’m sure he and Joey will be friends in no time.

The only thing I find more unbelievable than the coincidence of a second Joey appearing in my barn is the thought someone could have dumped him on the side of the road in the first place. (He is far too friendly to be feral.) He will be neutered and welcome here as long as he chooses to stay.

Hopefully, that is a long, long time.

Laura Zoeller can be reached at zoeller5@verizon.net.