This is Buster, with the emphasis on the "Bus." He was found in an old school bus on July 26th, 1997 at the age of 9 days. The bus had been converted to store benching cages and show supplies.
Our cat club (in our younger days) benched shows. Since time has taken its toll on most of us, we decided to sell our equipment. Two weeks before finding Buster, fellow club member, Bob Everett and I went to take inventory. Feral cats inhabited the storage yard and some cat lovers had been trapping and neutering the colony. The kittens were taken to be socialized and placed.
Bob and I met the buyers on a Saturday. Upon opening the back door of the bus, a loud cry emerged. I thought, "Oh no," just what I need. One of the men went in the bus and located the tiny kitten under a pile of wooden judging platforms. It is a good thing we found him when we did, as we had to tow the bus away from a fence to unload it. When we did, things shifted and part of the undercarriage of the bus fell off. Buster would have been squashed. When he was brought to me, he was crying and tried to nurse on my finger. I had to stay at the lot for over an hour, but when I got the kitten home, he took a little formula and settled down. Now, I have other rescues plus purebreds, so a trip to the vet was the next thing to do. Buster was given a clean bill of health and defleaed.
It so happened that on July 14th, my Siamese, Co Co, had her first litter. She lost one, but was doing fine with the other four. When I brought Buster home, my daughter was there, and we decided he would do much better with good old Siamese milk, so we showed him to Co Co. She was nursing her babies at that time, but she sniffed him and licked his head as I held him. My daughter and I looked at each other and said, "Well, what will be, will be. Let's give it a try." I put Buster next to Co Co, she sniffed him again, took her paw, turned him over on his back and washed him from top to bottom. He was nursing in a short time, and now thinks he is a Siamese, but he is much bigger and can't quite do Siamese things.
It has been an experience for my family as this was my first time raising a litter of kittens, and Buster has made it something special. I am now showing him in Household Pet classes and he has been doing quite well. He has even won a Best Cat!
Barbara Breault
Return to the Past Winners page