Introducing Sidney Crosby

To begin with, I do not know how or when he acquired the name Sidney Crosby. According to his fosterer with Toronto Cat Rescue¹, he was originally named “Buster”. He was apparently surrendered by his former owners and needed a lifesaving perineal urethrostomy to treat a severe urinary blockage.² In Judaism, there is a tradition of changing a gravely ill person’s name in order to change their fate; I like to think there is perhaps a symbolic connection. (Then again, traditionally we do not name people after someone who is still living.) Anyway, Sidney Crosby he now is.

Sidney standing up on his hind legs at a window, resting his front paws on a large square box fan so he can gnaw at a spider plant on the shelf above. — This was his first day home. I got him some cat grass after this.

A crop of the previous image, showing his ears flat back and his mouth open. He looks like a little demon, or Venom, or something. — Look at this little gremlin.

A collage of four images in a 2x2 grid, showing Sidney Crosby the cat up on a shelf trying to get into a black cardboard box, then half inside it. — He is a very nosy cat.

My roommate and I took him home about a month ago. You are supposed to keep a new cat in a small, quiet room at first. But in Sidney Crosby’s opinion, closed doors are a personal affront. He spent the first day (and night) exploring every corner of the apartment he could reach (and he can jump powerfully high), and meowing plaintively if he could not get in somewhere. The second night, he curled up on my legs and has done so ever since. Here he is making himself at home:

Sidney Crosby sitting in a blue velvet cat bed staring intently out the window into yellow-green foliage. — Sidney enjoys watching birds and squirrels.

Sidney Crosby curled up shrimplike, his hind legs extended, on a black office chair. — Yes, I have almost sat on him when coming back to my computer when it’s dark.

Sidney the cat lying on a bed, clutching a furry grey mouse toy on the end of a string. He looks very alert. — So far this is the only mouse he has caught.

A large black cat lying on a bed, head a blur as he shakes the "tail" of a Giant Microbes cholera plush toy. — Cats are surprisingly effective against the cholera bacterium *Vibrio cholerae*.

Sidney lying on top of an old-fashioned cast iron radiator that is covered with a green towel. The afternoon sun is shining on him. He cannot quite fit on the top of the radiator and one leg is hanging off, resting on a plastic storage bin next to it. — This has become one of his favourite spots in the house.

Sidney lying on top of two black cardboard boxes on a shelf, only his head visible. He is looking pensive. — Sidney supervising me from the shelf above my computer.

Whereas my beloved late cat Wasabi was timid and neurotic, Sidney Crosby is affable and fearless. He was not at all afraid at the vet or on the streetcar there and back. And while he will absolutely swat or bite if you pet him too long, he is good at “pulling his punches” and does not really hold a grudge about it. He is fearsomely intelligent (among other things, my roommate and I have both caught him trying to use doorknobs by leaping up and grabbing the handle with both front paws), and when he is bored he starts getting into trouble. We are starting to teach him tricks to occupy his brain.

He is also very silly.

Sidney the large black cat looking ridiculous as he sprawls on his side while lying on my legs on the couch. One of his back legs is hanging off and his head is turned sideways. — If you let him lie on your lap, you’re gonna be there for a while.

Close-up of Sidney's face as he's lying on my legs, his head almost upside down. One eye is squeezed shut, one is looking up at me, and his fangs are out. — Teef.

Sidney stretched out on his back on a large black foam mat, back legs stretched out and front legs up daintily like a squirrel's. — The belly is a trap, by the way.

If you want to see more of Sidney Crosby, I post pics on my fediverse account @nev@status.nevillepark.ca (or the Bluesky bridge or RSS feed). Now, if you’ll excuse me, he’s demanding more attention…

For those who don’t know, TCR isn’t a shelter; cats are fostered by individual volunteers and sometimes pet stores. Do consider fostering! ↩
What first got my attention in the (overly twee, probably LLM-written) bio in the adoption listing was the phrase “female-presenting”:

Sidney has also been through quite a journey. After a severe urinary blockage, he underwent an extensive surgery that saved his life and means he is now female-presenting. Because of this, he’ll need to stay on a special urinary diet for the rest of his life to keep him healthy and thriving.

It is an odd turn of phrase. But, as a trans person, it piqued my empathy, and in the end that made the difference. ↩

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