Meet princess, the cat that makes her own rules
Staff writer
Princess is a lover, not a fighter — unless you also happen to be a cat.
Princess adores people, but she’ll bring out the claws for other cats.
She’s a fan favorite at Zera Coffee and the Historic Elgin Hotel. She curls up on comfy chairs on Zera’s porch and waits for someone to pet her at the Elgin.
A family living behind Zera adopted Princess.
Princess makes her own rules, though.
She’s a nature girl, and no one’s going to keep her locked in a house.
“She decided she lived with us in March 2021,” Lesli Beery said. “In May 2021, she had five kittens. I have foster kids, and they had never had kittens before.”
The family kept one of the kittens, which they named Duchess.
“The daughter of a princess has to be called duchess,” Beery said. “She was her only calico.”
The father?
He’s a 15-pound Maine Coon, all muscle and long hair.
His name is Buster.
“He decided he lived with us in October 2021,” Beery said. “We claimed him as ours in November, and he got his shots and collar.”
Princess and Buster had five more kittens in March — raised in a 4-by-4-foot foyer, Beery said.
The family’s cat of 20 years died three days before the last litter Princess and Buster produced.
“My son worked it,” Beery said, referring to her heartstrings.
She agreed to let the kids keep another kitten.
His name is Prince Winston.
“He is ornery as all get-out,” Beery said.
Buster, she said, “has probably fathered every kitten in a 10-block area. We joke that he has a different home for every meal. He has breakfast and dinner at our house.”
Princess co-starred in a short video on Zera’s Facebook page last month. The camera caught her strolling through green grass, looking for someone to snug her up.
Princess sometimes beats up a little bit on a cat that lives at Zera.
But if you’re a human?
She’ll purr as you hold her like a baby.
Pro tip: Hold her like a baby. It’ll lower your blood pressure, and your heart will grow three sizes.