Meet Buster, my spoiled kitty
In 2012, I was working as an apartment manager. The apartment complex I was working at had way too many stray cats. The cats were causing problems. People who didn't have pets were getting fleas in their apartments and cars, and there were loud cat fights during the nights. I was given the order to trap the stray cats and give them to animal control. I decided to do as much as I could to do my job humanly. While I could understand the problem, I wanted to do anything to keep from having to turn the cats over to animal control, where I felt they would probably be killed.
I'd had cats years before, but had sworn not to have another indoor cat as I have allergies and had noticed that my health got better after my last one passed away. So, I wasn't intending to adopt any of them, though a few did stay with me while I looked for homes for them.
I caught one friendly and scraggly adult mother cat, and her kitten, the kitten first, the mother cat later. The kitten was the first to find a loving home. I got the mother cat neutered to increase her chances of finding a home, and eventually managed to find her a loving home too. I did catch two feral adult cats. I didn't feel I had any options with them, and turned them over to animal control. Fortunately, at least one of them was neutered and re-released to help keep the stray population down in our area. I hadn't even known that was an option!
Sometime in the middle of all this, I caught a little, angry, feral kitten in the trap. He was a small fluff ball bouncing off the walls of the cage, threatening to kill me if I got close. I didn't know what to do! Kittens can find homes, but not angry feral ones. Everyone was telling me that you can't teach a feral kitten to be friendly, but I decided to try. I figured if I could teach him to like people, I could find him a home, and he could have a good life. The way he acted, I gave him the name Beelzebub (an old name for the devil).
So, the devil came to live with me. He moved into my bathroom, and despite my having a bed in there for him, he ignored the bed and made himself a nest elsewhere in the cabinet. We had what I called "forced petting sessions" where I would put on a long sleeved top, grab the kitten and sit in front of the tv, petting him. He was not getting friendlier. He still wanted to kill everyone. I would walk around telling people that the world was safer because Beelzebub (the devil) was in my bathroom under the sink.
A note to those who loose a kitten in the bathroom... it doesn't mean they got out, it turns out kittens can crawl up in back of drawers and sleep very comfortably in the drawer. It took me forever to figure that trick out. Lol!
I did have the kitten neutered, but he wasn't any friendlier. I was depressed, thinking he would never get friendly. He was getting bigger too. He was now a teenager, not a kitten any more, which made his chances of finding a loving home, even if he did get friendly, not as good.
I don't have any pictures of him when he first came to live with me, but this is a picture of him a little older, still living in the bathroom cabinet, pictured with his pillow and the shoes he claimed as his play toys.
When I took him to be neutered, in the car, in front of the vet's, at the last minute, I changed his name. I didn't want him stuck with the name Beelzebub forever. He became "Bumper." That name still described the way he had been bouncing off the walls of the cage when he was caught, it just left out the "I will kill you" part. Lol! I didn't get comfortable with the name Bumper. The next day I changed his name to "Buster." I admit, it's unimaginative, but it stuck. Buster he was.
Then came the time for my annual vacation. I arranged for friends to come and feed him and take care of the litter pan, but neither would do the forced petting sessions, Beelzebub still came off angry and ferocious.
I on vacation for two weeks. While I was gone, I prayed a lot about what to do. The kitten and I had gotten stuck in this awkward situation. He couldn't live in my bathroom forever, that was unfair to both of us. I thought about trying to find a farm for him to be on, but he had been taken care of too long and would never last in the wild. I decided the only thing to do was to turn him over to animal control, knowing he would probably be killed. I didn't want to do it, but it seemed the only option.
I came back from vacation sad about the decision, but convinced it was the only thing to do. When I got back, I wanted to wait a bit, I just didn't want to deal with it, and as long as I was waiting a few days, we might as well have another forced petting session. Well, it was a miracle! I started petting Buster and there was a small sound I'd never heard. His first purr!
We've come a long way since then. It took him at least 2 years to become "OK" with my friends. He was "my" cat. Now, I have a few friends he's OK with, he'll come out and sit next to them, and they can play with toys with him, but he's still "my" cat. My friend Scott who helps watch him when I'm on vacation has a goal of being able to pick up Buster by the time I go on vacation this year. We'll see if that happens.
He's kind of a "dog" cat. He'll follow me around the house and prefers to be in the same room with me... unless he wants a deep nap. Sometimes for that he'll go to a preferred napping place.
That small little kitten??? He became a BIG cat. For awhile we thought he might be a Maine coon. He just kept growing! He's only about 1/2 the size of a Maine Coon. Maybe he's part Maine coon, who knows?
One of the things about having a big cat, is that most of the pet products out there just don't work for him. I get frustrated looking for things that he'll like (yes, he is spoiled) and be able to use. So, I thought I'd start this blog to talk about the products that work and don't work for my big boy. And, of course, to also talk about my baby, who I love and adore and wouldn't want to live without.
Buster isn't fat he's just big. For reference to your cat... Buster is 13.4 lbs, from the floor to the top of his back is 14 inches, from tip of nose to base of tail is about 20 inches.
I like this picture of us together. It shows our relative sizes well.
I'd had cats years before, but had sworn not to have another indoor cat as I have allergies and had noticed that my health got better after my last one passed away. So, I wasn't intending to adopt any of them, though a few did stay with me while I looked for homes for them.
I caught one friendly and scraggly adult mother cat, and her kitten, the kitten first, the mother cat later. The kitten was the first to find a loving home. I got the mother cat neutered to increase her chances of finding a home, and eventually managed to find her a loving home too. I did catch two feral adult cats. I didn't feel I had any options with them, and turned them over to animal control. Fortunately, at least one of them was neutered and re-released to help keep the stray population down in our area. I hadn't even known that was an option!
Sometime in the middle of all this, I caught a little, angry, feral kitten in the trap. He was a small fluff ball bouncing off the walls of the cage, threatening to kill me if I got close. I didn't know what to do! Kittens can find homes, but not angry feral ones. Everyone was telling me that you can't teach a feral kitten to be friendly, but I decided to try. I figured if I could teach him to like people, I could find him a home, and he could have a good life. The way he acted, I gave him the name Beelzebub (an old name for the devil).
So, the devil came to live with me. He moved into my bathroom, and despite my having a bed in there for him, he ignored the bed and made himself a nest elsewhere in the cabinet. We had what I called "forced petting sessions" where I would put on a long sleeved top, grab the kitten and sit in front of the tv, petting him. He was not getting friendlier. He still wanted to kill everyone. I would walk around telling people that the world was safer because Beelzebub (the devil) was in my bathroom under the sink.
A note to those who loose a kitten in the bathroom... it doesn't mean they got out, it turns out kittens can crawl up in back of drawers and sleep very comfortably in the drawer. It took me forever to figure that trick out. Lol!
I did have the kitten neutered, but he wasn't any friendlier. I was depressed, thinking he would never get friendly. He was getting bigger too. He was now a teenager, not a kitten any more, which made his chances of finding a loving home, even if he did get friendly, not as good.
I don't have any pictures of him when he first came to live with me, but this is a picture of him a little older, still living in the bathroom cabinet, pictured with his pillow and the shoes he claimed as his play toys.
When I took him to be neutered, in the car, in front of the vet's, at the last minute, I changed his name. I didn't want him stuck with the name Beelzebub forever. He became "Bumper." That name still described the way he had been bouncing off the walls of the cage when he was caught, it just left out the "I will kill you" part. Lol! I didn't get comfortable with the name Bumper. The next day I changed his name to "Buster." I admit, it's unimaginative, but it stuck. Buster he was.
Then came the time for my annual vacation. I arranged for friends to come and feed him and take care of the litter pan, but neither would do the forced petting sessions, Beelzebub still came off angry and ferocious.
I on vacation for two weeks. While I was gone, I prayed a lot about what to do. The kitten and I had gotten stuck in this awkward situation. He couldn't live in my bathroom forever, that was unfair to both of us. I thought about trying to find a farm for him to be on, but he had been taken care of too long and would never last in the wild. I decided the only thing to do was to turn him over to animal control, knowing he would probably be killed. I didn't want to do it, but it seemed the only option.
I came back from vacation sad about the decision, but convinced it was the only thing to do. When I got back, I wanted to wait a bit, I just didn't want to deal with it, and as long as I was waiting a few days, we might as well have another forced petting session. Well, it was a miracle! I started petting Buster and there was a small sound I'd never heard. His first purr!
We've come a long way since then. It took him at least 2 years to become "OK" with my friends. He was "my" cat. Now, I have a few friends he's OK with, he'll come out and sit next to them, and they can play with toys with him, but he's still "my" cat. My friend Scott who helps watch him when I'm on vacation has a goal of being able to pick up Buster by the time I go on vacation this year. We'll see if that happens.
That small little kitten??? He became a BIG cat. For awhile we thought he might be a Maine coon. He just kept growing! He's only about 1/2 the size of a Maine Coon. Maybe he's part Maine coon, who knows?
One of the things about having a big cat, is that most of the pet products out there just don't work for him. I get frustrated looking for things that he'll like (yes, he is spoiled) and be able to use. So, I thought I'd start this blog to talk about the products that work and don't work for my big boy. And, of course, to also talk about my baby, who I love and adore and wouldn't want to live without.
Buster isn't fat he's just big. For reference to your cat... Buster is 13.4 lbs, from the floor to the top of his back is 14 inches, from tip of nose to base of tail is about 20 inches.
I like this picture of us together. It shows our relative sizes well.
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