Bruce Lee

This is Bruce’s story

I met Bruce after I moved in with Dan. I don’t remember the first time I saw him, but I remember being very affected by him. He has the most intense face, like he’s been through a lot. He is at least 13 years old, at least he was already here when Dan’s parents bought this house. A lady in our court was feeding him and when she moved away she asked Dan to keep an eye on him and feed him once in a while. Well, it’s as though Bruce knew because we’ve been feeding him since then.

He used to eat not too far from our back door...so he could get away quickly if he needed to (i.e. if LuLu pounced)

This cat is by far the most Zen (if I can even say that about an animal…they’re all Zen by nature…they are nature…) cat I ever met. I mean, who do I have to compare to…LuLu? But still, if you met him you’d know exactly what I mean.

So we fed him for a couple of years…in the summer he would chill with us in the back yard; he always came to say hello when I got home from work, he is extremely polite…but a little fearful. It’s as though he is traumatized by something that happened in his past. He is very jumpy and does not let anyone touch him except people in this house. We have worked very hard on trust and we finally got it! After two years!

Two winters ago he lost the tip of his right ear to frost bite. We got him inside the house but as soon as we closed the window behind him he started throwing himself at the window trying to escape…over and over…so we let him go. It broke our hearts but we did not want to traumatize this little fellow, he obviously could take care of himself (street cats have an average life span of 3 years!)

Bruce saying hello outside the house

Last December, however, I noticed that after getting fed on our kitchen windowsill he wouldn’t leave. He would just hide under our back porch. I became worried. I couldn’t sleep at night thinking there is a cat under my porch slowly freezing to death…so the first chance we got, we closed the window behind him again…and this time he didn’t mind. We were so relieved! We immediately got him his own room (we are blessed to have the house) away from LuLu, with his own litter box and everything! He now has his own bed, he relaxes and eats all day and at night he comes to cuddle on the couch…who would have thunk it?

Chilling with me in the summer

Safely on the bed, in his room

Eating a bit of stewing beef...yum

Bruce is on a raw diet with supplements to care for his age and suspected arthritis. He becomes constipated very easily so melted butter is added to his meals and he also receives less protein. He gets more veggies like steamed carrots and organic canned pumpkin. Soon I will try a green pea puree.

The challenge with Bruce is a simple one: keep him comfortable until the end.