Happy Tails: Blues (formerly Bruce)
In another, more fantastical dimension than our own, “adorable, lovely” eight-year-old Blues would be regarded as something of a polymath, at once a linguist, ace athlete, and star musician. True to his cat nature, he is also a champion mouser.
Those are mighty credentials. But talk with his adopter Sophie, and you’ll be persuaded by this assertion. Blues, Sophie confirms, “understands French very well and answers me when I speak to him in French. He also likes chasing treats and is so good at catching them, he could play baseball.”
As for the musical part of the equation, Sophie suspects that Blues — named for the genre she loves and listens to frequently, with Blues’ assent — would be a killer sax player. “He’d look great as a black cat with the shiny saxophone on him,” Sophie laughs.
Given Blues’ rather rocky path towards forever-home life, it’s clear he is exceptional. When Bruce, as Blues was first known, landed with Sophie in August 2021 as her first-ever foster — and soon-to-be “foster fail” — he had already endured two unsuccessful placements.
Born outdoors in summer 2017, Bruce originally came into ACR as a kitten and was adopted by a foster who ultimately returned him to ACR’s care. Placed with a second foster, Bruce was adored but triggered allergies. Back to ACR he came as per the org’s policy: once an ACR cat, always an ACR cat.
A friend had suggested Sophie consider fostering with ACR, an idea she signed up for. “When foster approached me about the cat, I thought ‘What kind of name is Bruce?’” she laughs “But I looked at his pictures, and he was so cute. I always liked the idea of having a black cat, as they’re usually less wanted. I go for the opposite of what’s most sought-after. Funny to think the first match was spot-on with Blues!
“Anyway, when he was dropped off here by a nice volunteer, he was friendly from the start. He quickly became my new roommate. We went through some medical issues but once he was stable and healthy and ready for adoption, I was asked to write a few paragraphs about him. And I just couldn’t,” she says.
That’s because the beforementioned “medical issues” included major surgery and recovery. “In June 2022, I realized he hadn’t visited the litter in a few days and was straining. ACR organized a vet visit.”
Blues needed “a subtotal colectomy surgery. He stayed in emergency for a few nights, and my place felt empty. I was worried and felt guilty that it happened,” Sophie recalls, marvelling that Blues caught a mouse as soon as he was back home after surgery despite his diminished state while wearing the dreaded cone. “Months later, when it came to putting him up for adoption, we had gone through so much together. I wanted him to stay!”
That was in January 2023, and Blues and Sophie remain best buds. Sophie confirms the plumpish Blues has successfully lost about a pound in the last year. And he is a big fan of play.
“He loves a simple spring toy that he ends up chasing so much it always ends up getting lost behind some piece of furniture until I do a big clean. He also loves the phone charger cord. And he loves DIY stuff like tinfoil balls. He is adorable, so lovely to be around,” Sophie says. “He makes my place a home.”
-Kim Hughes
