Baby Bug!
A few months ago I started following Baby Bug, a happy and healthy kitty who doesn't quite look like other cats. The Las Vegas native describes herself as "just a cat with a facial deformity who is fabulous," and it's hard to disagree. In fact, it's those unique looks and sassy attitude that have helped her claim a spot as one of the internet's top felines. Her popular Instagram page (@thebabybug) already boasts over 11,000 loyal followers, putting her in the ranks of other quirky kitties like Lil Bub, Chase No Face, and Quasi from My Ugly Kitty.
I recently asked Bug's mom, Melissa, to tell us a little more about the famous feline. She also spilled on how the cat "no one wanted" finally found her forever home.
Check out Bug's story in Melissa's words below!
Put your paws up, cuz you were born this way Baby (Bug)!
I got Bug when she was 5-months-old. A few months earlier, my kitten, Max, who was also 5-months-old, passed away from a problem with his intestines twisting, and I had been devastated. My fiancé and friends told me to get another kitten, but I wasn't ready. On a whim, I was on Petfinder one day "just to look" at some cats, and came across this picture:
I thought she was so different looking. I sent the picture to a fellow crazy cat lady friend of mine and she told me I HAD to go adopt her. I still wasn't sure I was ready, so I didn't go to the shelter. I think it was two days later I checked Petfinder again and found this picture of her:
The feline formerly known as "Goonie"
The shelter had named her "Goonie" because they thought she resembled the character Sloth from the movie "Goonies." I thought this was the cutest picture ever and immediately decided to go meet her. She was at the local pound, which is a kill shelter, and I just couldn't leave her. I grabbed my 11-year-old-son and headed straight there.
At the shelter we walked around looking for her, and the staff was pretty uninterested. They told me that my son wouldn't be allowed to hold a cat once we found the one we were looking for. When we finally found Bug, she wasn't sleeping in a corner of her cage like most of the other cats. She was pacing like a little tiger and meowing her own little meow that has a long 'brrrrrrrrrrrrreow' sound like she's rolling her R's. She came right up to the glass and started rubbing her head against it. This is the first picture I took of her in the cage at the shelter:
Are you my new mom?
As soon as the staff saw we were interested in Bug, they became super friendly and helpful and insisted it was totally ok if my son held her. We took her out, and they told me that she had been there for some time and they had been trying hard to get her adopted.
Caught Catchatting again..
Most of the staff had fallen in love with her and had been posting pictures of her on their personal Facebook pages trying to get her a home. They said people liked to look at her as an oddity, but no one wanted to actually take her home because of her funny face.
Who you calling "funny face"?
The vets I have spoken to have said she has a facial deformity that she was born with. For just meeting her she was uncommonly friendly. I've never seen a cat so comfortable in a situation like that. My son and I immediately fell in love with her and decided to adopt her right away. Even on the car ride home she showed no signs of stress. It was weird but really cool. This picture was taken on the way home:
After we adopted her, I was completely obsessed with taking pictures of her. I was posting so many that I decided to make her an Instagram account so that my cat loving friends could see pictures of her without annoying everyone else. I wasn't expecting her to get as popular as she has become. I've had her for ten months now, and I'm still obsessed.
Bug likes napping with her mama...
...and cozying up to her furry family members, too!
Everyone loves how she looks, but I wish people could meet her and see how much her personality matches what's on the outside. She is the silliest, sweetest little thing. She can't stand any doors closed in the house ever and will do her weird little meow non-stop if there is one closed.
She likes to ride on shoulders and will claw her way up there if you pick her up. She looooves ice cream and hair ties. She has a condition called Pica that causes her to want to eat EVERYTHING. Her vet says that she is a little mentally challenged, lol... so she does act a bit odd. She's not like any other cat I've ever had, but I love her and I don't know what I'd do without her.
Special thanks to Melissa for taking the time to share Baby Bug's story! Get access to all of her latest pics on the official Baby Bug Instagram and Facebook page.
12 comments:
what a sweet story and beautiful kitty. <3
So sad, precious and adorable all at once!
Her little face is sweet and dear. I see nothing odd or funny about this darling.
What a heartwarming story. She is adorable.
Sue B
What is the "oddity" or "deformity"? I agree with Katie Isabella in that I don't see any type of oddity.
I love Bug! I just shared her with my Facebook fans!
I think my cat has PICA. She licks everything all the time. My face, hair, arms, blankets, sweaters... It's kind of annoying because it hurts my face when she licks me awake (my nose is pretty much perma-rudloph) but it's cute too.
I have to agree with Carol F. Looking at the first photo I was trying to figure out what was so "wrong" with her. The placement of her eyes makes her even cuter!
As soon as I finished reading this I got on instagram to follow Bug. :)
Oh, my gosh, what a lovely, and precious kitty...she is just beautiful! I see her spirit and she is a lovely kitty on the outside too! Do not tell her that she is anything less that BEAUTIFUL, for she is just that! She needs to hear how beautiful she is inside and out...please tell her, for me! I love her! Don't let anyone tell her anything else, she must not hear it! Love her, and help her to know how wonderful she is! Cats can sense things, and she needs to know, I can see it in her eyes! Make her happy by doing just that! Please, for me, but especially for her...she loves you and thinks you are beautiful too!
I wish I were so "deformed"!
I love kitties like this--so loving despite everything!
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