Cats’ symptoms of PTSD might be different from the ones humans experience, but that doesn’t mean that our four-legged friends go through life without a care. Whether they’ve been abandoned, attacked on the streets, or experienced a traumatic event, cats can showcase strange behaviors as a trauma response.
Now, you might not be taken aback by mysterious moggies that appear “rough” at first glance, wear battle scars on their faces, and suffer from conditions and diseases you’ve never even heard of. But most people wouldn’t agree with you and wouldn’t even consider adopting cats that aren’t picture-perfect.
We’re aware that adopting a cat that’s been through pretty much everything negative you can think of wouldn’t be an easy thing to do.
Between figuring out how to care for her, making sure she gets checked out by a vet on a regular, paying for her medical bills, and walking on eggshells to ensure you don’t cause her more damage, there are so many things that could go wrong.
Caring for a cat nobody dared to care for takes courage, and that’s exactly the type of story we’re bringing you today.
We’re sharing with you a story of perseverance, patience, and prowess. We’re writing a story about Bruce Willis – not the actor, but the feline fighter that endured a life of hardships and came out the other end happier than ever.
Circling back to the beginning of the story, Bruce was a regular stray wandering the streets for years and years, hoping somebody would notice him and take him home.
Strays are known to toughen up and fend for themselves, but Bruce wasn’t one of them. He didn’t know how to fight for food and he struggled to find a place to sleep and stay warm. So, years went by and Bruce became bruised, beaten down, and unwell.
Because he looked like he contracted every disease ever, there weren’t many people that wanted to feed him, take care of him, or save him. But one day, to Bruce’s surprise, somebody swooped him off the street and took him to the Animal Humane Society (AHS).
Bruce couldn’t believe what was going on. Suddenly, he was surrounded by warm blankets, toys, and treats and he was bathed and massaged by the workers at the AHS.
Now, you’d think Bruce would be happy to finally have food, water, and a warm bed to sleep on, but the workers would soon uncover the sad truth – Bruce was suffering from much more than the very visible physical problems.
Bruce was suffering from PTSD and was soon deemed “the saddest cat in the world.” No matter what the workers at the AHS did, Bruce had the saddest eyes they’d ever seen. He was doing great physically – he was healing from wounds, bruises, and blisters, taking his medication, a recovering from surgery.
He wasn’t doing great mentally, though – he was scared, beaten down, and depressed for days, weeks, and months after the rescue. Not to mention that even though he was getting better and better with each day, nobody wanted to adopt him.
People would come by, comment on how sad he appeared, and even mention the word “home.” But none of the people would come back for Bruce.
Bruce adored the attention he was getting from the people and the workers at the AHS, but he was aware that something was wrong. He was aware that something kept them from coming back for him. He became more and more sad with each day.
To make matters even worse, Bruce was still suffering from a myriad of health problems. He had numerous scars, an eye injury, and chipped teeth, and he tested positive for feline immunodeficiency virus. Oh and, he caught a few infections at the shelter, too.
On top of that, Bruce ended up catching a cold that made the entire situation even more unfortunate. He was weak – so weak that he became unable to eat, play, or even walk. He was slowly giving up.
However, Bruce noticed that one of the people kept coming back to the rescue. She didn’t take him home, but she kept visiting him, spending time with him, and playing with him.
She came by when he became unwell and he couldn’t even get up to greet her – and that was the moment she decided she couldn’t leave Bruce there. Bruce didn’t know that, but Sandra wanted to take him home the very first time she visited him.
She saw the AHS’s Facebook post about Bruce and couldn’t believe her eyes. She never even wanted to adopt a furry friend, especially because her landlord insisted on a “no pets allowed” policy, but she couldn’t stop thinking about Bruce’s sad eyes.
She kept visiting the AHS, playing with Bruce, and plotting to convince her landlord to allow her to have a pet. She was able to do that and she decided to take Bruce home right away. Bruce deserved a mother, a family, and someone to take care of everything wrong – and Sandra was ready to do that.
Nowadays, Bruce spends every moment of the day making Sandra laugh, playing with her, and keeping her company.
Bruce couldn’t be more grateful to the AHS for taking him off the streets and introducing him to Sandra. Because of that, Bruce and Sandra teamed up to help the AHS battle a problem they’ve recently encountered. According to Bruce’s Instagram page, the dogs at the AHS contracted canine influenza.
Sadly, the AHS needed to choose between putting the dogs down or shutting the shelters down – they decided to shut the shelters down but that caused a huge loss of revenue. Bruce and Sandra managed to raise over $4000 to help the AHS. What a great duo these two are!
