Here he is. The last vestiges of the extremely over-crowded cat colony we worked over a year ago. The lone ranger. The relic. A marlboro man, if you will. An enigma, a pain in the ass. Or the arm. Or your hip. This is none other than Gray Brother, and this man has been wearing us out for the last year.
With an introduction like that, we’re sorry he’s not better looking. Sure, at first glance, there’s some cuteness rattling a few dusty corners of our hearts. His adorable fluffy face, his beanie boo eyes, one glazed over from maybe time, maybe sorcery, maybe both. That squishy face gives you the illusion of safety when you’re interacting with him- an illusion Gray Brother was quite dedicated to shattering while we were evaluating him in his early days in rescue. As a man who had relished his outdoor survivalist lifestyle prior to our intervention, Gray Brother spent the first few weeks seething in captivity in the back of his tiered cage like an Independence Day scientist-strangling alien speaking through telepathy. “Reeeelease meeeeeee...” And one day, whilst cleaning his litter box, we did release him. Only not on purpose. What followed could be categorized as a frank exchange of ideas and ideals between Gray Bro and ourselves, and after an...adventurous... twenty-minute think-tank, said exchange culminated in a volunteer certain that her hip was dislocated with a bleeding arm and a throbbing left butt cheek, while Gray Bro went immediately back to drawing board to plan his next escape attempt.
Over the course of the next several weeks, Gray Bro began to ease up on some of his convictions. Turns out that living in a climate controlled environment with readily available food and water, away from the threat of predators isn’t such a drag after all. Huh. Who knew? He chilled out on the whole “hating our freaking guts” business, too. Granted, Gray Bro didn’t have a ton of choices when it came to acclimating to us. He got sicker than hell in his first few weeks with here, which required some extensive vetting and medicating- all things that required handling. And to his total surprise, his lunatic captors weren’t so bad after all. When we weren’t chasing him down after another escape, turns out we were actually pretty cool. We had some tasty treat tubes, our ear skritching game was ON POINT, and slowly but surely, he was feeling better. But the slow part was worrisome. In the course of trying to track down just why the guy couldn’t get healthy and stay that way, we learned that Gray Brother was infected with FIV. Some folks hear FIV and associate it directly with Victorian Wasting Disease or some other hyper-contagious fungus of the bungus that will destroy a cat and your credit score and your life in general, but that is simply not the case. Cats can, and often do, live long full lives despite the virus (and despite their hobbies, GRAY BRO) if they lead an indoor life with good eats and routine vet care.
Now you might be wondering why we have invested a year of our lives into a sick cat who isn’t particularly fond of people, and the answer is simple- we're suckers. Some folks look at Gray Bro and see a trainwreck, but we see the undeniable possibility that this rambling man of the outdoors could lay down his matches and swiss army knife and spend the rest of his life in a sunbeam, recuperating from a life he never should have had to endure. He’s halfway there already, moseying out from his hideout when the food lady enters the room, swirling between her legs for snacks and pats. What he needs now is someone like us- a like-minded sucker that refuses to quit on him. Someone who is willing to share their space with a fella that will plot their demise at first- but only at first. Someone who also has a thing for a beat to crap Tom with a face that tells a thousand stories of survival. Someone who is willing to share their life and their light with a guy who’ll likely never trust you 100%, but he’ll certainly hit the upper 90s. Are you the person Gray Brother may not want at the moment but certainly needs? Apply to take kinda sick, kinda beat up, but totally adorable Gray Brother at thephoenixremixrescue.com!
OSLO
Domestic Short Hair
🇺🇸
Lincoln, Nebraska
male, medium, baby, not mixed
Domestic Short Hair
Lincoln, Nebraska
