Baloo the cat brings owner a very special gift

You know your cat truly loves you when she brings you "gifts" and loudly announces that she is doing so. Many cat owners experience the joy of receiving trinkets of love from their beloved felines, and those gifts can come in various ugly and disgusting forms: dead mice, bugs and other creatures who had the misfortune to cross the cat's path.

Such is the story of Baloo, a tortoiseshell cat, who insisted on bringing live gifts to her owner Ben every morning. Baloo did not understand why her owner did not react happily to the live creatures deposited on his chest, so this smarty cat tried a different kind of gift.

Ben found Baloo when she was just a kitten, and she immediately stole his heart. "She's a very loving cat … She will comfort me when I'm feeling down and will sit on my chest purring like mad and nuzzling my face with her nose," said Ben. However, Baloo took her worship for Ben a bit too far when she started to bring him presents each morning.

"She brought little dormice, and on a couple of occasions, little birds, and they were always alive. It would certainly wake me up because I'd then have to chase the things around my room first thing in the morning," Ben explained. "I don't know if she expected me to think it was breakfast or that it was simply a gift. I was getting woken up by a small rodent being dropped on my face and that solicits a certain reaction in the morning. I'd shoot out of bed to try and catch the thing."

When Ben caught whatever live animal Baloo has brought to him, he would set it free, much to Baloo's dismay. "She always looked so confused and sad, which made me feel pretty bad. She was doing her part by bringing home the bacon so to speak. Seeing the lifestyle I was living she probably thought I could do with a nice 'healthy' breakfast. Who knows?" Ben mused.

That's when Baloo got the hint: no more live (or dead) animals. So she began to bring her beloved owner a different gift each day – a leaf. "Sometimes it was a small branch, sometimes it was a giant leaf. They were always big, nice looking leaves. It was such a relief from the live mice every morning that I would show my gratitude by taking the leaf and playing with it while she sat on my chest," Ben said.

"The image of opening my eyes to see my little kitty staring at me with a giant leaf in her mouth is so cute. [...] I would lay there smiling, thanking her for the gift and stroking her for all those sweet morning purrs. Job well done on account of the kitty," Ben stated. That was all the encouragement Baloo needed.

"It warms my heart thinking about her on a little mission each morning to find a gift for her human. I wonder what her criteria was for a good gift. How many did she go through to find the right one?" noted Ben. "Just picturing her wondering around 'oh that's a nice leaf, he'll love this one!' 'no this one's far too similar to the one he's already got'. It's just too cute."

Congratulations on a job well done, Baloo! Follow Ben and Baloo's adventures on their Twitch channel for the latest news about this stunning viral feline.