A tabby cat showed up in a cat colony for food one day and just kept coming back. He demanded food when rescuers arrived and worked his way into their hearts and their shoulders.
Meet Boss Cat!
Courtesy: John Sibley
It all began when John Sibley, an avid animal rescuer, went to a cat colony to work on a TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) project for the local feral cats. "A friend of mine and I were TNR'ing a feral colony that the caregiver estimated at five (cats) and turned out to be a lot more than five," Sibley told Love Meow.
"So every week we'd go down to trap and this dude kept showing up - he followed his caregiver around like a dog and was obviously not in any way feral."
Once the kitty figured out that their truck contained fish, he started watching and waiting for them to arrive. Because of his insatiable love for food, he was able to ease other feral cats' concerns about the humans and they just followed suit.
"Sometimes we'd use him as 'bait' to inspire the other cats to come near a drop trap." But other times the kitty would repeatedly walk into a trap in order to get more nibbles. "He didn't care much either way, as long as he was eating."
Until one day they came to find him ill, and knew they had to get him out of there. "We grabbed him and decided that he wouldn't be going back to the street."
Courtesy: John Sibley
Sibley took the food loving feline home and started nursing him back to health. Boss Cat immediately took over from the moment he walked in, fully confident. Despite his illness, nothing seemed to be able to deter his appetite.
"He's lived at my house for the past few months. His stomach is much better now, although he needed all of his teeth pulled. Street living (and a voracious appetite) had left him with a mouthful of broken teeth and tooth reabsorption. He doesn't care. Still first one to the food bowl," Sibley told Love Meow.
Courtesy: John Sibley
Boss Cat shows his human companion what a true boss really is. He likes shoulder rides, but he's not into warnings...
"The best way to describe his personality is... 'I DO WHAT I WANT.' Not in a bad way, of course, in a very typically cat-like way," Sibley said. "The shoulder ride warning is quite literal, you have to be careful getting a sandwich at 2am because.... surprise shoulder ride!"
Courtesy: John Sibley
When it comes time to find Boss Cat a forever loving home, Sibley describes him as the following so his potential adopter will know what they are getting themselves into:
"Rules? You used to have rules. Boss Cat is here now. You're eating, he's eating. That's the rule. No cats on the counter? Hahaha. You must be joking. He will pre-wash all of your dishes. That is non-negotiable.
"Oh, you'll get plenty in exchange - this super-confident 5 year old guy loves to give head bonks and is very into shoulder rides. Sometimes he'll even warn you first. You'll get used to it. There's never a question that he loves you. Even if he's in charge."
Boss Cat looks at his foster dad's new apparatus and isn't sure what to think of it.Courtesy: John Sibley
"Boss Cat is not a beginner cat, unless you think you might enjoy being crushed under his benign, fluffy reign.
"He gets along with some cats and can co-exist with dogs, although he's not likely to enjoy that and will tell you about it at length on a daily basis while perched up high, glowering."
Courtesy: John Sibley
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Related story: Stray Cat Walks into Trap, Begging to Be Rescued Along with Kittens He Looked After