RUFFIN Domestic Medium Hair & Domestic Long Hair Mix Grand Rapids, MI

It was no surprise to me when a client of mine (and avid Crash's Landing supporter) came into the vet's office with yet another stray that she had been caring for since late October. Problem was, it was getting colder outside, and he really wanted in, but with the current menagerie she had, adding another to the mix was pushing her luck, so she decided she would get him checked out, then let him take shelter on her porch/in her garage. Well, when he arrived for his visit on December 2nd, 2011, and I discovered he was already neutered and front declawed, I felt there was no other choice than to take him into our program. Shirley was happy, he was happy, and I was happy that one more skinny stray had a place to go:) Shirley mentioned to me that he was a sucker for Temptation treats, and that was one way that she lured him into the carrier for his car trip; she also made friends with him by filling his belly in this way. So, I took advantage of his love of all things tasty and crunchy when naming him Ruffin, one of the band members of The Temptations:) She mentioned to me he was a bit leery of being picked up, but honestly, when I did so ever so gently, he melted into my arms; I took this as an exceptionally good sign!


Born in the winter of 2007, this fine fella sure took to indoor living with a vigor and eagerness but was a bit unsure of the other kitties. As you can see from his picture here, Ruffin is anything but rough, sporting a sleek, shiny black coat and bright, beautiful eyes. And now that he finally has some solid meat on his bones, he is stunning! He is very active, very inquisitive, very much an energetic boy who likes to know what is going on and how he can get involved; where the action is is where he has to be!


**Update 9-13** One of our volunteers took Ruffin home, who proved to be a bit more rough around the edges than we anticipated, and never fully accepted the fact that he had to share living quarters with 129 other cats. He didn't do as well as we had hoped at her place, as she had herself quite a feline crew, and sharing her attention proved to be just too much for him. He failed miserably in the manner department, taking to acting out and piddling where he shouldn't in spite of her best efforts and medical intervention to calm the anxiety he was feeling. We feel Ruffin is worth the extra effort, as one-on-one, he is an absolutely affectionate fella, but we just can't house him in a place with other cats for the long term. So he will hang here with us, much to his chagrin, until we can locate a castle that he can be the king of.