Budd Stuff
June 2025
I can’t explain Budd in a few paragraphs or less, so giving the world the chance to learn about my treasure and all that comes with him.
I adopted Budd in January 2021 after recognizing that he was going to be a difficult cat to place. He came from Dave’s Burgers in Fairfield, CA and was 12 weeks old when I took him in as a foster. He was shy, fearful, and reactive when approached, but he trusted me and we made progress immediately. He needed a special name because he made me work harder for his affection than his sisters did. I LOVE Quentin Tarantino and had just finished watching Kill Bill for the umpteenth time and decided that this sleek, black panther, baby needed a “killer” name. Budd is Bill’s brother, aptly codenamed Sidewinder. Read about him here.
Budd preferred to hide behind the sisal post of his cat tree when we first met. Every so often he would strike me with 2 claws and leave a “snake bite” behind-but once he learned I wasn’t going to manhandle him-he began to do target training. It didn’t take long for him to wait for me to toss toys into the bathtub for him to chase or for him to happily let me trim his nails.
I didn’t plan to keep Budd-in fact-it never crossed my mind until the day it did. I have a policy that once a cat is starting to feel safe and ask for my attention, we move them to the next foster home to give them more exposure. After the 4th time I moved Budd, he stayed and never left.
Every time he moved to a new foster home, he would forget that he was a confident, affectionate, and gentle boy. This also wasn’t a few hisses and hiding-this was full on aggressive, swiping, lunging, and yowling at new people. I was baffled because he did so well at our busy home, the only plausible theory was that he was bonded to me. This can happen, but I’ve never had a foster become so attached in such a short time and with such intensity.
The “hey babe, we need to keep this cat” conversation isn’t my patient spouse’s favorite. We have discussions and make mutual decisions for the home to ensure we are on the same page. Keeping Budd was not a debate for me, so I went into it knowing that there may be some frustration on my husband’s part. I had a few options for Budd’s future:
Trap-Neuter-Return to the restaurant parking lot
Placement into a home with someone who didn’t want to interact with him
Euthanasia-not an appropriate option for this instance
Keep him
Budd was renamed Bagheera in March 2021, but has many names. He’s affectionately known as: baggy butt, Buddy beans, buddbudd, Budd, Bug, Buggy, Bugaboo, Boog, and Treasure. Budd loves and trusts me implicitly-we even joke that I’m the only acceptable human in his existence. He is not handleable by strangers and I have a specific vet team I work with for him. He is by no means feral or aggressive-but he has a strong sense of autonomy and what is likely an underlying neurological condition.
Why would I write a blog about my strange and perfect boy? Budd is the most interesting and special cat I have ever met. I learn new things from him everyday and feel all of the happiest mama thoughts when I think of him. I think it’s important for people to see that I don’t have all of the answers. I cannot explain most of what Budd does, but I’m the only person who KNOWS him. What I can say is he enjoys being picked up, slamming his head into my face, and getting his forehead kissed-but only by me.
