G.O.B.

G.O.B.
a.k.a. Jobey, Gob, Goblin

Our beloved cat now resides in Cat Heaven.  He was born in May 2007 in a garage in Cedar Hills, Utah.  Vickie first saw him when a student brought three kittens to school for Show & Tell.  Vickie asked the student’s mother, “What are you doing with the kittens?”  The mother replied, “We are moving and we have to get rid of them.”  Vickie told her that she wanted the orange kitten when he was ready to leave the mama cat.

In June, the Richey family received their new kitten—a long haired male orange tabby with hazel eyes.  He joined two other cats, Meisha and Ashley/Hunter, and one dog, Milo.  He got along great with Milo and they would play and chase each other.  Milo sometimes dragged him by the ear across the wooden floor and the kitten would just complacently sit there.  Our new kitten was named after a character from the TV series, Arrested Development: G.O.B. after Gob (pronounced Job, like from the Bible). G.O.B. stands for George Oliver Bluth from the same TV series.

The family had difficulty keeping GOB inside the house.  He loved being outside and would sneak out whenever the garage was opened.  He became increasingly crafty at eluding capture.  That first summer, 2007, someone from the road construction crew in front of our house, took him home thinking he was lost.  After a little investigating, he was returned and quickly fitted with an identification collar.

Jobey loved to be petted, brushed, and cuddled.  He had a daily morning routine which began with his “sonic meow”, followed by being brushed, eating canned cat food, and nursing his fleece blanket while purring.  He would then wait in the garage until Brent and Vickie opened it to leave for work each morning.   Then he would shoot out of the garage and dash across the street to the big pine tree.

Jobey was a very affectionate and mischievous cat.  He was friendly to everyone and every animal in the neighborhood.  There were numerous reports of his affection for neighborhood dogs:  Jobey would simply lie down in front of the dog and pat the animal.  Dogs were very confused by his behavior.  Small children could easily pick him up or pet him.  He loved and was loved by everyone.

GOB loved to curl up at night in any comfy chair, especially the rocking chair in the upstairs family room--and that’s the last we saw of him.

Early Monday morning, August 1, 2011, the family received a call.  “Do you have a cat named G.O.B.?  He is in the street, not moving, maybe hit by a car.”  He was about a block from home, 1540 N 200 W—safely across the busy 1600 street and probably hit by a car on a seemingly quiet side street.

The family grieves for their sweet pet.  He will truly be missed.