From the archives: This story was last updated in July 2019.
When Kathryn van Beek spotted Bruce crawling along the road during a rainstorm, she didn’t know what he was. He was so tiny that she almost missed him, and at first, she mistook him for a mouse.The tiny, gray-haired animal was drenched to the bone, and van Beek rushed over to save its life. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was a newborn kitten that looked to be just a few hours old.
It still had its umbilical cord attached, but there was no sign of its mother anywhere.
She quickly scooped up the sopping-wet kitten and brought it to a safe, warm place to dry off.
That was two years ago.
Van Beek, from Auckland, New Zealand, had brought the kitten home with her and named it Bruce. His grayish fur and tiny size added to his mouse-like appearance. Bruce also had blue eyes—a normal trait for baby cats.
Nor was nursing Bruce back to health as easy a task as van Beek first thought it would be. She didn’t realize that newborn kittens in Bruce’s condition are highly susceptible of dying. Over the course of the next few days, Bruce’s health only got worse.
“As I researched newborn kitten care, I realized that a lot of kittens in Bruce’s situation don’t make it,” van Beek said.
She spared no efforts to ensure Bruce didn’t die. She planned constant, around-the-clock formula feedings (which wasn’t that hard, as Bruce had become very vocal when he was hungry), arranged a trained babysitter to look after him while she was at work, and made many trips to the vet with him. It wasn’t easy, but van Beek was determined, and it worked.
After six weeks, Bruce finally showed signs of recovery—and that’s when she noticed Bruce’s gray fur begin to change. It got darker, and darker, and darker, until Bruce had fully transformed into a legit black cat. And his previously blue eyes turned green.
Van Beek soon found out that this transformation was likely caused by a condition called “fever coat,” which occurs when kittens are born from a mother cat that is either sick or under stress. The babies’ fur is either gray, reddish, or cream color. But it doesn’t last.
Van Beek told The Dodo, “By the time he was 3 months, his coat had turned completely black.
“He was prancing around like a mad teenager. That’s when I really knew he was out of the woods!”
Later, Bruce’s stunning transformation of a gray street cat into a handsome black housecat inspired van Beek to write a children’s book titled, “Bruce Finds a Home.”
