Bruce

BRUCE

aka: Brucie, Bwuce

**before I start this.... NO, there is nothing wrong with Bruce and nothing has happened to him!

We have three cats. Ries.... rescued at the age of 4 weeks and bottle fed, named after our old Fire Lieutenant and friend Jon Ries. She is 9 1/2 years old now. (wow... haven't thought about how old she has gotten until right this second). Super smart and the only girl. Bruce was our first boy and we adopted him about 6 months after we got Ries. He was found abandoned in a parking lot, near death, and was nursed back to health by the vet. He already had his name when we got him. Then we got Dillon about 6 months after that and he is our second boy.... he is an orange and white, very thick (and plump) cat who was feral for several months before being rescued by Alley Cat Allies in the DC area. Dillon is extremely shy but seriously the sweetest cat in the world.

So back to Bruce.... when I first saw him, I immediately loved him. His hair was sticking out in every direction.... and he was not very graceful- he bonked his head while he was running around the room. I can relate to this cat!! So home with me he went!

We have always referred to Bruce as being... "Not as smart or graceful as Ries" because we didn't want to hurt his feelings by simply calling him a klutz or saying he is dumb. He tries really hard to be a brave kitty, too. He also has a jealous streak.... particularly when it comes to where I give my attention. He thinks that I am HIS mommy and his mommy ONLY. If he sees me petting one of the other cats or giving them attention, he will wait til I'm not looking and then bite the daylights out of the other cat. Hmmm... maybe not so dumb after all, huh? On that note, he can also be a bit of a bully.... he will push the other two around a bit. He wears a bell on his collar... he thinks it is because he is super special and "gets to wear" a bell. In reality, the bell is there so the other cats can hear him coming. Yep.

Bruce is also absolutely BEAUTIFUL. Turns out, this tossed-into-a-parking-lot-near-a-dumpster cat is part Maine Coon. Purebred Maine Coons carry a pretty hefty price. We paid fifty bucks in adoption fees. They are often referred to as the "Gentle Giants" of cats because they are so big yet have such a sweet and gentle nature. There could not be truer words about Bruce....

When Caelan came along, I was worried about the cats' reactions. I figured Ries would be the "caretaker" of the three.... that she would express concern over this baby. Dillon I knew would simply adjust. Bruce, I was intensely concerned about. I knew about his jealous streak.... what if tried to hurt the baby? I knew about his other issues... what if he stressed out and started peeing all over the house? Ugh.

So we brought Caelan home... I was so far off in my assessment. I was sitting in the recliner holding Caelan. Brucie jumped up onto the arm of the chair and leaned over to check out what I was holding. Bruce sniffed Caelan's head, every inch of it. Then he very slowly, very gently, reached his paw over and placed it so gently on Caelan's head. The look on Bruce's face was so sweet. And he has made every single step with Caelan since then. He showed protectiveness over Caelan from day one- when Caelan was a baby and would cry, Bruce would be sitting there meowing at me and I would literally be tripping over him as "we" had to go check on the baby.

Caelan LOVES Bruce. They have the sweetest relationship. He plays peekaboo and hide-and-seek with him, Caelan pulls Bruce into his cardboard house with him, wants to show him things and share with him, and likes to brush him. And being a little kid.... Caelan pulls poor Brucie's tail, drags him around, lays on top of him (bear in mind Caelan now weighs 40 pounds) and uses Bruce's fur as "handles" to "help" Bruce go where Caelan wants him to go. And Bruce STILL makes every step with Caelan.

Bruce has never once nipped at Caelan or shown the slightest twitch toward scratching or harming Caelan in any way. He has wimpered a time or two as Caelan lays on him or tugs a bit much, but never a move more than that. Bruce has the option of staying away from Caelan. There are plenty of places in the house that he can go to get away. But he doesn't. He chooses to stay right alongside Caelan.

Caelan refers to Bruce by his name, "Bwuce"..... he refers to Ries and Dillon as "cats." If Caelan has a book or sees pictures of random cats, he refers to them all as cats.... unless there is one that looks like Bruce, then he gets excited and says "There's Bwuce!" Caelan always says Goodnight to Bruce. ("goodnight bwuce") before going into his room each night. He greets him in the morning as well. I love to watch these two together. And I cannot wait to see how they grow closer over time. There is nothing like the love of a pet. Especially one like Brucie.

Below are just a handful of pictures of these two.... as I looked over a couple of years worth of snapshots, I realized that if Caelan is not interacting directly with Bruce, Bruce is still somewhere very near his precious boy Caelan. And because of that.... Bruce earned his very own, very lengthy post.

Christmas 2009, Bruce with Caelan as he checks out what Santa brought

Caelan and Brucie sharing a balloon... they both love balloons!

Caelan snuggling with Bruce

...... more loving on Bruce

and since we are always telling Caelan to "stop laying on top of Bruce" Caelan has started pulling Bruce on top of him instead.... and of course, Bruce just goes with the flow!

Thank you Bruce for being so awesome to our boy...
and thank you God for blessing us with this amazing, throw-away cat. We pray for many more years with him!!