Gus 

Gus: The Church Parking Lot Miracle · Professional Loaf · Certified Good Boy Assumed Birthday: April 15, 2024 · Tax Day Cat

Origin Story

About a year before Gus came along, Kip lost his beloved cat Tod to cancer. Tod was one of those rare pets — awesome cat, behaved like a dog, all heart — and losing him left a real hole. Grief like that doesn't just go away, but eventually, it makes room.

Kip has had cats his whole life, since around the age of 12. Over the decades he discovered something most people never figure out — that a cat, raised with the right love and intention, can be better behaved and more loyal than most people's dogs. He had simply never had a grey one.

On a Wednesday night at dinner, Kip told his wife, "I want a grey cat to spoil and raise like a dog." Just four days later — on a Sunday morning, in a church parking lot — a tiny little grey kitten appeared as if Tod himself had put in a good word upstairs.

Someone had left him there. Whether by accident or providence, no one quite knows. But Kip and his wife know what they saw: a silvery, whisker-faced answer to a Wednesday night dinner wish. They scooped him up, brought him home, and Gus has belonged to Kip ever since.

"Kip mentioned it at dinner on a Wednesday — and by Sunday, there he was."

The Gus Experience

With a lifetime of cat-raising wisdom behind him, Kip knew exactly what he was doing. Gus is raised with intention — loyal, present, well-mannered in the way that makes visitors do a double take. He has been spoiled thoroughly and without apology since day one, because Kip knows that spoiled and well-raised are not mutually exclusive. His birthday falls on Tax Day — or at least, that's what Kip has decided — which means every April 15th, while the rest of America is stressed about deductions, Gus gets treated like royalty.

Life According to Gus

Gus lives the enviable life of a snowbird — and he has never once seen snow, nor does he intend to. He splits his year between Ohio summers and Florida winters, and he has opinions about both.

Come summer in Ohio, Gus can be found stretched out in the cool grass, living his best life and chasing sticks with the enthusiasm of a Labrador. He never ventures out without Kip nearby — supervised adventures only — but within those boundaries, he is absolutely in his element.

When winter arrives, Gus heads south to Florida where the real action is. This is lizard season. He has a gift for catching them, though he has never once hurt a single one. Gus is a gentle soul at his core — the thrill is in the chase, not the catch, and every lizard he has ever nabbed has lived to tell the tale.

Through all of it — the cool Ohio grass, the Florida sunshine, the sticks, the lizards — Gus is genuinely, wonderfully silly. Not in spite of being well-raised, but somehow because of it. Confident enough in himself to be completely ridiculously loving and playful whenever the mood strikes, which is often.

On the Subject of Dogs

Gus has no fear of dogs. None whatsoever. In fact, he rather likes them — and has quietly decided that they all like him back, which as far as he is concerned is simply a fact. The bigger the dog, the more interested Gus becomes. A German Shepard is not a threat to Gus. A German Shepard is a new friend he hasn't properly introduced himself to yet.

Back in Florida, he has a standing arrangement with the little dog that lives behind him— a regular game of chase that both parties seem to enjoy enormously. Gus, gentle as ever, plays along with his whole heart and absolutely no aggression. He is, at the end of the day, a lover. A silly, fearless, lizard-catching lover who just happens to think every dog in the world is already on his side.

Gus has a heart condition — but his heart has never been anything less than full. Kip has made a quiet, loving promise: Gus will "Live A Full Life", surrounded by warmth, treats, and all the spoiling the world can offer. Every single day counts, and every single day he gets the very best of it. 🩷