JuJu Bear

I hate writing this post but I also don’t want to forget things, so here’s my feeble attempt to talk about our sweet little osito (Spanish for baby bear), JuJu.

I guess we should start at the beginning …

We think Julius was born on August 25th or 26th, 2012, somewhere in Cobb County. We adopted him and his brother, Otis, right after Turbo died in November 2012. He had a big ol’ head and big ol blue eyes. He was a chonk, for sure. He was so handsome that most people just assumed he was a girl. “She’s so pretty,” they’d say.

It didn’t take long for his gorgeous white fur to begin turning darker as he grew into his “Seal Point” Siamese look. When we lived in Peachtree Park he loved sitting on the porch in his belly up position.

JuJu was always Scott’s cat. For whatever reasons, O-doggie was drawn to me and JuJu was drawn to Scott. No matter how hard I tried to woo him away, JuJu would choose Scott over me almost every single time. On the rare occasions when he did choose me, it made my day. 

JuJu and Otis might be from the same litter, but they are very, very different kitties. JuJu was always more of a little minx. He loved to hide from Otis, wait for Otis to walk by then SURPRISE! He’d jump out and scare Otis. JuJu was obsessed with flowers. All I had to do was walk in the door with flowers and he would bolt out of a dead sleep to run downstairs and inspect. 

He was always chewing on things - blind cords, dining room chairs, pony tail holders, blanket threads, pottery and sculpture, he loved the painting we have by Jimmy Lee Sudduth because it had mud in it. Otis won’t eat much human food, JuJu LOVES it. 

He and Scott had their morning routines of treats and Noosa yogurt. But JuJu also loved hummus, butter beans, boiled peanuts, cream cheese, eggs, rotisserie chicken and so much more. He used to sit at the dining room table with us in the early days and wait for us to feed him. 

He loved “pankins” - my word for little love taps on his rear end. He got backrubs from Otis on a pretty regular basis. Otis has always been the alpha, but JuJu challenged him on many occasions, only to surrender to the backrubs later.

JuJu would let me pick up him and kiss his belly, but I couldn’t touch it with my hands. We called it marshmallow mountain because there was so much white fluffy fur under there, along with a little cappuccino, mocha, latte and caramel swirls. Oooooh that JuJu belly was so cute.

                                                    JuJu on the left, O-doggie on the right

JuJu loved to hide. He loved playing in the sheets, hiding in Scott’s closet and sleeping upstairs under the hot sun in the summer. After a day of sleeping, he’d saunter downstairs and I’d pick him up only to smell a sweaty little boy. 

He slept with Scott, Otis sleeps with me. JuJu was our little alarm clock. There were many mornings when I heard him head butt the lamp next to Scott before I heard Scott’s alarm. And he could nail that 5:30 alarm allllmost on the dot. If I didn’t get up, he’d walk over to me, stick his face in my face and meooooow. 

Julius had a great temperament. He was never sassy and I’m not sure he ever hissed - maybe *maybe* a handful of times but only after being aggravated by his brother. 

He almost always let me take his picture (Otis does not like photos). He ran when the doorbell rang, but usually after a few minutes, he’d walk downstairs and make friends with whoever was here.

Those big blue eyes rolled around like marbles, but he never had trouble finding food :)

He was healthy and happy for so long. In January this year we took him for a wellness visit and things were slightly off. We thought we were back on track but noticed he was not himself. Apparently veterinarians use the term “ADR.” I saw the vet tech write that down yesterday and I googled it as soon as she walked away. It means “Ain’t Doin Right.” You know when something’s off, you just know.

We’re not entirely sure what the root of the problem was, but it sounded like it was either cancer or something called FIP. Either way, it was not recoverable and JuJu was absolutely miserable. We’re thankful he did not suffer long. And while we are completely heartbroken, we are also so grateful for 12+ years with one of the sweetest animals that ever walked the Earth.

The hardest part, I think, are the routines. When I hear the neighbor’s chimes ring when the wind blows, I will think of JuJu watching leaves fall. He knew that wind chimes = falling leaves. And he’d run to the window to try and catch them. When I go to take a shower, I’ll miss kissing his head while he waits for me on the edge of the sink. It was the only time he’d let me kiss him. 

I’ll miss watching him tap Scott on the shoulder when he’s ready for more sour cream. I’ll miss him walking through my Timelapse videos while I paint and draw. 

And I don’t think I can ever change the sheets again without missing him wrapping himself up and kicking the sheets, playing hide and seek.

How will Otis respond? Well, we aren’t sure. He’s been stuck to me like glue. That’s all I know for now. We will take it day by day, week by week. All three of us. We love you Mista Too-Too and we miss you JuJu Bear.