A Memory Of A Special Kitty..., Sharing a tale of the amazing Bartelbee Options

[jharbeck]

It's been two weeks since I lost my little guy and I have been missing him terribly. I guess I just wanted to share my memories of this special kitty.

I remember the first time I saw him at the shelter where I volonteer. He was actually hiding under the only thing available to him in the cage……his kitty bed. His brother was up front, meowing and looking for attention. Bartlebee was so afraid, so little and shy. I wanted to say hello, so I removed his bed to pet him. He instinctively cowered further into the corner of the cage as I gently stroked his head with a single finger. He barely lifted his head to look at me. He was a sweet little furry bundle of fear and confusion. I immediately felt for him, but knew I was only further stressing him out, so I put his bed back over him said goodbye, and shut the door.

I began playing with him every time I came to the shelter. I would move my hand closer to the end of the toy each time. Finally he began to get use to my hand being close to him and stopped running to the back of the cage. He slowly started trusting me as I petted him. He would still shy away but never for long. He began enjoying our petting sessions. In no time he became so comfortable with me he would let me pick him up. I couldn’t let him roam the room since he was still sick so he would sit patently on my lap. He would be so relaxed his little head and front paws would be hanging off my leg as he slept. Sometimes he would even fall asleep next to my chest.

For a while he was kept in a cage. I remember letting him out to play with him. He was tentative and looked around first before slowly putting one little arm out, then the other. But once he was in the main cat room, watch out! You’d better keep an eye on him because he was on the move! He wasn’t afraid of anyone. He was shy, but not intimidated. It’s very common for cats to bump into each other, hiss and bat each other. Bartlebee would play with GUSTO! But he would never hiss or bat another cat and when he received such treatment, he never fought back. He would kind of look at them as if to say “Sorry ‘bout that. We’re cool, right?” He would acknowledge that he slammed into someone but would move on. He never got caught up in the heirerarchy, power struggles or even strike out due to stress or boredom like so many of the other cats. He was truly a unique and special cat. He was smart, peaceful and loving. We all could learn a thing or two from Bartlebee.

Speaking of Bartlebee’s “Zen-like coolness”, I remember one time he was watching birds from our back door. Ramses, our oldest cat, wanted to kick him out of his spot, so he walked up to him from behind and hissed at him. Bartlebee just looked over his shoulder at Ramses and went back to watching birds. Ramses paused a second (he used to getting his way), the hissed and lightly batted Bartlebee. Again Bartlebee just looked over his should at Ramses as if to say, “I acknowledge you and I know you want my spot, but I’m here minding my business watching outside and I’m not done yet.” Ramses gave up and left. Maybe Ramses cut Bartlebee slack because he perceived him as being a kitten because he was so small. Or maybe Bartlebee was just special and we all knew it.

Thanks for letting me share Bartelbee's story. He is always in our heart and will never be forgotten.

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[Ken Albin]

What a beautiful story of a wonderful kitty!

All the best,
Ken