Grace Choi fostered cats and kittens for as long as she can remember. During all these years she encountered sick, abandoned, disabled, and abused cats.
However, she had never met a cat like Bruno in her fostering career. So let’s get ready for their amazing and challenging story.
Grace met Bruno at the shelter, after he was rescued from the street. He was one of the most beautiful stray cats the shelter workers had ever seen, but unfortunately, they quickly learned he had some issues.
Whenever the staff tried to come close to Bruno, he would snap at them. It was not just a hiss, Bruno would lash out and attack anyone who came close to him.
Labeling him as aggressive, the shelter needed someone brave enough to foster this angry boy. Grace decided to meet him, and to everyone’s surprise, Bruno suddenly became the sweetest boy. As Grace said in her post:
“When I came in to meet him, Bruno was surprisingly very warm and friendly! He came right up to the front of his cage and asked for pets. When I opened the cage door, he came out and continued rubbing on me! Even the staff member was shocked at how sweet he was.”
Grace instantly fell in love with him, confused as to why would anyone label him aggressive. She brought Bruno home and soon learned the harsh truth.
The moment she opened his cage at home, Bruno lashed out at her. As she also shared:
“He started growling, hissing, and swatting at me. He wouldn’t even let me come close to his carrier.”
At this moment, Grace realized she would have a difficult time ahead of her. At first, she let Bruno calm down inside his cage, while she prepared a room for him away from her other foster cats.
Grace decided to document every day with Bruno, hoping his transformation would take only a couple of days. Little did she know, the two were about to embark on a long journey together.
After three days together, Bruno finally decided to give Grace a chance. He came out of his hiding spot, as Grace said in an update:
“Bruno is starting to show more interest in me and really seems to want pets! He’ll slowly approach me, but then quickly gets scared and defensive. I have to stay very still and calm, because he snaps if I make any sudden movements.”
It seemed like poor Bruno wanted attention desperately, but deep inside he was extremely scared of humans. Grace felt like he was constantly giving her mixed signals, as she couldn’t figure out if he wanted cuddles or to snap at her.
She even made a vet appointment, wanting to rule out any serious issue that might be causing him to behave like that.
However, the vet couldn’t find anything wrong with feisty Bruno. Except for some issues stray cats usually have, Bruno seemed to be completely healthy.
Both Grace and the vet assumed it was just an emotional trauma and this was his way of responding to it.
Sadly, just when Grace thought she made some progress with him, the unimaginable happened. While she was cleaning his room and his litter box, Bruno attacked her from behind. As mentioned in her update:
“He quietly sneaked up from behind and attacked my leg. I screamed because I was so caught off guard, and he immediately backed off.”
Afterwards, poor Bruno seemed confused and sorry in the same time. He knew what he did was wrong, but his trauma response was to attack and defend himself from any potential danger.
Grace was feeling completely fine, but this little setback crushed her spirit. Although she didn’t know Bruno’s story, Grace knew it would take more than just a couple of days to help him recover from what happened in his past.
One night while Grace was sitting in Bruno’s room, something amazing happened. He came close to her and gently touched her with his paw. Grace couldn’t believe what was happening. For the first time, Bruno asked for some love.
This moment proved to Grace that he was worth all the hard work she’d been going through. Although he still had some triggers, Grace spent every minute of her day working hard to help Bruno overcome his fears.
From that day on, the two became best buddies. Any chance he got, Bruno would come and ask for some love and attention. As Grace shared:
“Bruno has been the most challenging by far. But with love, time and patience, we uncovered a gentle soul just craving love and affection.”
In a recent update, Grace shared that poor Bruno was fighting with arthritis in his lower back. This might be a huge reason why he was angry at times since he was in so much pain.
With proper medication and care, Grace hopes that Bruno will soon be able to lead a pain-free life. Until then, he will stay under her caring wing until he’s ready to move on!
Leave a comment