After finding Internet fame, Bruno, an overweight cat that can stand on its two hind legs, has found a new home.
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“I don’t honestly know how he could be doing any better,” said Lauren Paris, who brought Bruno home Aug. 21 from the Wright-Way Rescue animal shelter in Morton Grove.
“It was pretty sensational,” said Paris, who lives in Chicago. “He just completely opened up in a way I thought he was going to. He was been following us around the house purring, very social. He wants to be petted and cuddled. The second I got home he ran to the door.”
Bruno became popular online recently after workers at the shelter posted photos of the cat standing on his hind legs, something he is prone to do when he wants a treat or to be fed, said Jacoby Andrick, the director of marketing and communications with the shelter.
Andrick said the shelter routinely posts photos of animals up for adoption on its website and Facebook page, but she said the images of Bruno created an online buzz that no one was expecting.
“It was very surprising to us,” Andrick said. “This just really organically took off. People were enamored with photos of him standing on his hind legs.”
Andrick said the shelter received more than 150 applications from people wanting to adopt Bruno, including submissions from Canada, Australia and Wales.
Weighing in at 25 pounds, Bruno is literally a fat cat. But Paris, 27, said she fell in love the minute she saw his picture and said she was determined to make a good home for him.
She said that to that end, she wrote a letter of intent to Wright-Way to adopt the feline, and her boss wrote her a letter of recommendation. She also filmed a tour of her home, including interviews with herself and her boyfriend explaining why they should be allowed to adopt Bruno.
Paris also had a friend write a song about Bruno, which was played with an online video.
“I knew our application had to stand out for them to even review it,” she said.
Paris said she has now been getting calls from potential sponsors and others who may want to use Bruno in various promotions. And considering that another Internet celebrity feline named “Grumpy Cat” has over 29 million views on his YouTube channel and more that 7 million “Likes” on Facebook, Paris said she is fielding all calls.
“We are already being approached,” she said. “He has had an email address for about 48 hours and an Instagram account with 25,000 followers. We’ve been getting a lot of inquiries about all sorts of things, which is pretty wild.”
Meanwhile, Andrick said the shelter is still surprised by the Internet buzz Bruno created.
“It got the attention of people all across the world,” she said. “It worked in his favor.”