Bootsie Chose Me

About three to four years ago, my then-husband had told me about something that kind of freaked him out from the night before. He had been outside smoking a cigarette and he noticed a few of the neighbors looking into the local community dumpster bin with a flashlight. He thought maybe they had thrown something in there and were trying to locate it before the city came to empty it the following morning. He said they had been looking for about ten minutes before, I'm assuming, they gave up. So, of course, this peaked his curiosity and he waited until they had gone back inside their house. He started to walk towards the dumpster and all of a sudden he said he heard a faint cry. He said it sounded like a kitten crying for his momma. So, he went back to the house and got his flashlight and went back to the dumpster. He said he heard the kitten cry a few more times, but he could not seem to pinpoint where it was coming from. So, like the neighbors, he gave up and went back inside.

The next day, in the late afternoon, I had to take him to work at a local sports bar and grill. As we were walking towards the carport, we both noticed something sitting next to the car. As we walked closer, we saw a little orange kitten. We walked slowly towards him as to not startle him, but I guess he was so hungry, he was taking the chance that we weren't bad people. When we got to him, he was this cute little fluff ball. I bent down to pet him, and immediately I felt like I had to do something. So my then-husband told me to go inside the house and get a can of cat food for him. As I was walking towards my front door, the little guy followed right behind me as if he knew where I was going and what I was getting. I got the can of cat food and dumped it on the floor in front of our door. I was afraid he would cut himself if he tried to eat out of the can since he was so little. So, as much as I didn't want to, I had to take off to take him to work.

What happened next, is something that to this day, seems like something out of a movie. When I got back after dropping him off at work, I noticed that the food was completely gone. So, I went inside my house and when I walked in, there was this kitten that I had just fed, sitting on my recliner like he owned it. I remember saying these exact words: "You were not here when I left. How on earth did you get in here?" Turns out that my step-daughter, who was living with us at the time, had heard a scratching noise on the door, so when she opened it up, in ran the kitten that we had given the food to. Ran in and jumped up onto the recliner and just stayed there. When I looked at him, he gave me a look as if to say: "Well, here I am. I chose you human because you were kind enough to feed me".

And so, it took a lot of convincing my then-husband to let me keep him. I kept trying to think of a name for him. He was a dark orange and very noticeable stripes. Then I looked at his eyes, and just like that, I knew I had to name him Bootsie. At the time, I was unsure of his sex, so I chose a name that was somewhat neutral. He had these huge eyes that reminded me of the cat in Puss in Boots. So, that's how I came up with his name Bootsie.

Ever since I "rescued" him, he's always been the not-so-bright kind of cat. He is scared of ceiling fans. I'm not sure why he has a phobia of ceiling fans, but if he sees one turned on, he will crouch down and scurry out of the room. He also has the worst balance problems ever. The vet said there is nothing wrong with him, other than the fact that, well, he's a dummy. But this weirdness about him, has actually made me love him even more. He does the dumbest things. He's fallen off of so many window sills and ran into so many walls. He can't get enough of flushing toilets. Any time I flush the toilet, he has to be there to see the stuff swirl around in the bowl and then disappear down the tube. It almost seems like he's waiting for the stuff to come back. The funniest thing that he's ever done is if you tell him "go to your room Bootsie", he will walk towards the room and be bitching the whole way, like a child would after getting scolded by his parents. His latest funny is instead of eating normal out of the bowl or plate of food, he will slowly reach towards the dish, and scoop up the food in his paw and eat it that way. Sometimes he'll scoop it up, put it in his mouth, and run to another room. I'm not sure why he does this, but it's pretty entertaining to say the least. I'm glad that he "chose" me. They always talk about rescuing cats, but they hardly talk about the ones who choose us. I was very lucky to have been chosen by my Bootsie.