Farewell to Brutus

Last week we experienced the most difficult part of pet companionship: loss. Our shelter mascot, Brutus, died last Friday. Brutus was a handsome and supremely confident Ragdoll cat. He was surrendered to the shelter in August 2001 because his owner was moving. His name at the time was Brutella because when he was a kitten his owner thought he was a female. Of course, he was a neutered male so we thought the name Brutus was much more appropriate.

We had been without a mascot for two years since our long-time shelter cat, Wilson, had died. A former staff member campaigned for Brutus to become Wilson’s successor, and he certainly proved himself worthy. At first he spent his days at our front desk greeting (or not) all our visitors. But he proved to be somewhat moody and was not always as welcoming as one might want. Therefore, we decided that Brutus would be better off spending his time in our offices.

He kept a strict eye on all our activities and helped out sitting on papers and keyboards. His most important job, however, was that of dog behavior evaluator. All the shelter dogs would meet Brutus before being made available for adoption so that we could see how they reacted to a cat. These encounters helped us inform potential adopters about whether their prospective dog would do well with cats.

Brutus, of course, was no ordinary cat and did not react the way an ordinary cat might. He never ran. He would stand his ground while facing the (leashed) dog and dare it to annoy him. Some dogs weren’t even worthy of notice, so he would turn his back to them. Most dogs needed only a scowl from Brutus to back off, but the pushy ones were met with a smack from his hefty paw. I once saw an unfortunate puppy stick his nose in Brutus’ food dish. In a split second Brutus had bitten him on the top of the head, and the puppy ran squealing away.

Brutus did play favorites among our staff. Lisa was his prime source of food, and he followed her wherever she went. Ann, Alice, and Rita were his executive assistants charged with brushing his long fur and arranging his favorite cat beds. When none of the four were available, he visited with others of us who could provide less desirable attention.

During his seven years with us (he was about seven years old in 2001), Brutus had several health problems that were carefully treated and monitored. So it was shocking when we found him unable to stand last Thursday morning. We took him to his veterinarian at Caring Hands Animal Hospital, and after examining him he referred us to SouthPaws Veterinary Referral Center. But Brutus continued to decline. On Friday morning, in consultation with the veterinarian at South Paws, we decided to have him humanely euthanized.

We weren’t prepared for Brutus’s death, and even if we had been it wouldn’t make it any easier to walk in the shelter offices in the morning and not see him. Like any well loved companion, Brutus made his mark on all of us. It will be a long time before we look at his large gold chair and not imagine him lounging in it.

Many, many animals pass through our shelter and make lasting impressions on staff and volunteers, but one that we will think of for years to come is Brutus, the Ragdoll cat.