Babou

Meet Babou

LOVE BUG ALERT!!! THIS GUY IS A CUDDLER!!!

Babou is a GORGEOUS brown spotted Bengal/Cheetoh cat. He is 8-years-old and is currently living with his owner’s Grandmother.

Babou was adopted as a 12-week-old kitten by his owner, shortly after she graduated from college. They have been together for eight years during which she has moved six times and has been developing her career as a professional photographer. Her career has taken off and now requires a lot of travel and work away from home. She and Babou are very bonded, but the increasing separations have caused him great stress.

The owner’s Grandmother has been caring for him and she absolutely loves him (it’s mutual!) but there are other cats in the home and she soon learned that Babou is extremely prey-driven. He was an only child, after all, so that isn’t surprising. He is currently living in an all-glass sunroom - so he can see what is going on in the home but he can’t participate the way that he would like to.

A few years ago, he was diagnosed with FLUTD (Idiopathic Cystitis) that resulted in him urinating outside the box when he was having an episode and causing the associated damage to living areas that accompanies that behavior. When he was initially diagnosed with FLUTD, he was prescribed fluoxetine and was tried on melatonin in addition to working with a behaviorist, but these efforts were not effective, so every subsequent Cystitis episode resulted in more out-of-box episodes.

The mother of the owner told us (she’s a longtime foster):

“I agreed with the understanding that I was going to work to figure out his urinating outside the box behavior and hopefully stop it so that it would no longer be an issue when he went home. Over the course of a couple of months I collaborated closely with my veterinarian who thoroughly checked him – bloodwork, urinalysis, x-rays, physical exam. Babou is on a daily on-going course of Amitriptyline. Since that episode in early April, and only during that episode, Babou has never urinated outside his litter box while staying with me. I also completely changed the type of litter I was using because he came to associate the previous litter with painful urination. Other than the FLUTD he is a healthy boy.

Babou has no interest in other cats. Once his litter box issues were under control, he was allowed to run the house where four other cats live. For a couple of days things were going great but then he began systematically hunting them down, treating them like prey. He was not aggressive, and it seemed like more like sport to him, but he scared the cats so badly he is now isolated in a sunroom (10 x 12 size). It is all-glass so he can still see things going on, but he cannot participate. He is so affectionate otherwise, but it makes me so sad to keep him confined to one room. He deserves much much more!”

Babou is bored in his confined space and is hungry for human contact and affection. He has had no more problems urinating outside his litter box and would like a home of his own. The owner feels he would do better being an only cat. He has lived with a cat-friendly dog and seemed to get along with it. Babou has not lived with children so only older children would be appropriate.

He is chatty when seeking attention and feeling stress or left alone for too long.

He has done better on the Amitriptyline/Gabapentin. Babou can be constipated so he responds well to 1/8 tsp of Miralax on his food twice a day helps with this. Babou eats a variety of canned food: Nulo pate, Wellness Core, Purine One (Turkey) and Purina Pro plan Complete Essentials (Chicken and Salmon) The wet food is mixed with Crumbled freeze-dried chicken which he adores. He is offered dry kibble but doesn’t care too much for kibble.

Babou loves to be snuggled and ADORES lap time. He loves being on top of his cat tree watching birds. He likes being brushed and is food motivated. He enjoys cat-nip toys and silver vine sticks. He gets bored easily so his attention can be short when playing. He hates being confined and wants to be where the humans are. He hates being pilled, fusses but accepts it.

Babou is the happiest when he is sitting with his person, sharing quality time. He has a gentle soul and craves attention. He is curious and likes to play with wand toys or hunt and find hidden treats.

Babou is good company and isn’t high energy, but he sure is a happy boy, now that he has his meds that are addressing his FLUTD. He is healthy otherwise and up to date on his vaccines. If he were to stop his hunting behavior of the younger cats, we would have him in the house with everyone else.

This is a hard decision and they just want Babou to have a wonderful home that can show him the love he needs and deserves.

Babou is neutered, has been vaccinated, and his owners have provided him with excellent medical care.

If you are interested in adopting Babou, please fill out our adoption application.