Grieving Pitbull Finds Joy In Kitten Who Gets Him In Trouble

• Pitbulls have been regarded as mean or vicious but Dude has been gentle, sweet and affectionate.
• The death of his older sister left Dude in mourning.
• Dude has recovered from the grief he was feeling and found happiness again with a kitten named Ace.

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Dude has always been an affectionate, sweet dog.  His pit bull breed may have had bad publicity, but Dude can prove all that wrong.

He has maintained his sweet nature ever since he was rescued as a parvo puppy from a Caribbean island in 2015 by Julie Burroughs and lived in Florida.  He, together with his older sister Harley Jane, helped ease the bumps in Julie’s life.

But Harley Jane died and Dude was devastated.  Julie said, “I felt really bad for Dude because he was really sad and very mopey. I even tried pheromone collars. I just knew he needed a friend.”

The pandemic has made Julie very busy working as a finance and insurance manager for an RV dealership. To help Dude deal with grief, she thought of getting him a kitten companion instead of a dog.

Enter Ace, a tabby kitten rescued by a firefighter.  Julie immediately felt that the kitten would really help Dude. Getting them together had to be handled delicately. And the first couple of weeks were a little interesting according to her.

Ace had to be placed on a crate while Dude was on a leash.  After days of smelling and looking at each other, she decided it was time to give it a go.

Julie said, “They were fine, and now they are best buddies. Ace is definitely in charge.”

The kitten has even gotten Dude into some mischievous acts like eating a bag of treats that Ace has knocked to the ground. A stack of recipes even got chewed up.

She is definite that it was Ace. “I’m sure Dude is now participating in some of that because I don’t think Ace ate the paper, but Dude never would have done anything like that before.”

The unlikely pair plays, wrestles, conspires, and takes naps together and have formed a beautiful bond.

Proof is how they behaved during a photoshoot with pit bull advocates Adam and Mary Goldberg.

Adam said, “Photographing Dude and Ace together seemed impossible at first, but with the help of a little string cheese, we were able to easily capture the bond they have together.”

The gentle pit bull allows the much smaller but mischievous cat to have his way with him.  Exactly the opposite of the breed’s reputation as vicious or mean.

Julie said, “Harley Jane was my first pit bull and she was the sweetest dog, and I think Dude is even sweeter. He’s such a lover. I’ve always said that our pets find us; we don’t find them. I think that really has held true (for me), especially with these two.”

Source: TODAY