Adorable Cat Gets Returned By Its Hoomans For Being "Too Affectionate," Later Becomes The Hot Cake Everyone Wants To Adopt
A cat named Bruno got sent back to the shelter for one reason that sounds suspiciously like a compliment: he was “too affectionate.” He would headbutt his mom while she worked from home, then insist on sleeping in the daughter’s bed, which meant the kid stayed up late playing instead of winding down. One week later, Bruno was returned, and the whole thing could have ended with a sad sign-off.
But Lindsay Persico watched Bruno sink into depression after the return, then posted his story on Facebook. The post took off fast, racking up hundreds of thousands of views, and suddenly Bruno was the hot ticket everyone wanted to adopt, even though he had already been adopted once before the viral moment hit.
By the time Catherine and Andrew saw Bruno online on Petfinder the day before the post blew up, they knew they had to move fast, because Bruno’s “affection problem” was about to become everybody’s obsession.
Meet Bruno, the cat that is "too affectionate"
Lindsay Persico of the shelter described what transpired to the local media, saying:
"The mother worked from home, and the cat would constantly headbutt her, making it difficult to get work done. The cat also insisted on sleeping in the young daughter’s bed, which resulted in the latter staying up late to play with the former. So, a week later, Bruno was brought back to the shelter."
It seemed that Bruno was obstructing workflow and being too cute
That first week of Bruno headbutting and bedtime chaos is exactly what put him back on the shelter’s doorstep.
Persico added that Bruno fell into depression after returning to the shelter. Who could have imagined that someone had sent him back for being overly cordial?
That's why she chose to post his story on Facebook. Bruno went from being rejected to being the most sought-after cat after the post received hundreds of thousands of views!
Bruno was put up for adoption by almost fifty families; however, it turns out that he was previously adopted by another family before the post went viral.
The depressed Bruno
Then Lindsay Persico watched him slide into depression and turned his story into a viral Facebook post, and everything changed overnight.
Bruno’s “too affectionate” problem echoes Jerry the cat, abandoned for headbutting and cuddling too much.
There was a spike in interest in the shelter because of all the exposure Bruno garnered.
"People were coming to our door to meet Bruno, and we got almost all the cats in the store adopted in the meantime," she said. "We only have two black cats left in our adoption room. So, that was a good response as well," Persico said.
Bruno enjoying some petting
Before the post even fully took off, Catherine and Andrew spotted Bruno on Petfinder, and they sprinted through the adoption process.
Prior to Bruno becoming an internet sensation, Denville couple Catherine and Andrew had set their sights on adopting him. They had seen him online on the shelter's Petfinder page the day before the Facebook post and believed he might be the one.
They realized they needed to move quickly after seeing the post go viral the following day, so they acted swiftly to adopt Bruno.
Bruno, the "too-affectionate" cat, sparked so much attention that an update had to be provided
After Bruno’s “too affectionate” reputation got thousands of shares, families showed up in droves, leaving only two black cats in the adoption room.
"It was before the post blew up," Andrew said of their application. "A few hours later, [Catherine] sends me a screenshot of the post with like a thousand shares, freaking out like, ‘What if we don’t get him? What if he gets too famous?"
Bruno loved the couple as soon as he met them.
"He’s very outgoing when you first meet him," Catherine said. "When we first picked him up, he basically crawled into my neck… I think he was very excited to leave the shelter and be held again."
Bruno in his forever home
Bruno felt a bit uneasy when he got home, but his "too affectionate" side soon surfaced. His signature headbutts roused them from their sleep, and this time, his people thought it was cute.
Better yet, while the cat adapted to his new life, Catherine worked from home because she adored him so much. Congratulations to Montville Animal Shelter, New Jersey, Bruno, and his forever family!
Bruno wasn’t the problem, he was just the cat everyone wanted to cuddle.
For another shelter return twist, read what happened after a woman went back to her “problem child” cat.
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