When we bought our house six years ago, we already had two cats, littermates Jeter and Posey.

We knew there was a stray cat that hung around the neighborhood. But one night, I saw an orange kitten run across the deck!

It turns out that stray cat had a litter of three. Neighbors told us they didn’t think this was her first litter.

I got in touch with a local Trap-Neuter-Return group that loaned me humane traps and a large cage. We captured the kittens and tamed them, and got momma spayed.

We knew all along we couldn’t keep the kittens since we already had two, but thought we might keep one. How to decide?

It turns out the decision was made for us, unfortunately. Two of the kittens tested positive for feline leukemia. The feral cat group found a place that would take the infected kitties, and we kept the third.

We named him Joey.

To be safe, we kept Joey in the basement and tested him again after 90 days. He was still negative, so it was safe to introduce him to Jeter and Posey.

As I’ve mentioned, Posey was not, and still is not, happy with our decision to adopt another cat!

Joey can be a bit of a troublemaker, but he can also be a sweetie. He likes to be carried, and will grab my shoulder to hang on. I joke that I could carry him in a baby carrier!

While Joey is the baby, he is now the largest of the three by at least three pounds. That’s a big difference on a cat.

Joey’s mom is still happily living in our backyard. More on her later!