Anyone who has taken a class with Dr. Aimee Burns-Boisvert, Lakeland University’s assistant professor of communication, has seen the photo of her cat, Booty, in his Gryffindor outfit. They’ve witnessed her adoration of Booty whenever she mentions him. But few know about the friendship between this professor and her cat that traces back to Burns-Boisvert’s days as a graduate student.
The story began in August 2014, days before Burns-Boisvert started her master’s program and a teaching assistantship position at Northern Illinois University. She had just moved into her new apartment and described the days leading up to graduate school as “the most chaotic weekend of [her] life.”
Burns-Boisvert moved in on Friday, and on Saturday, her parents took her to Tails Humane Society in DeKalb, Ill., a few miles from campus. Among the cats, one was “definitely the runt of the litter.”
“This little one looked very disheveled and really small, and patches of hair were missing. So, when we saw that cat, my mom said, ‘Ish, ish. No, it looks sick. We don’t want. We want a cute one.’” Though Burns-Boisvert wanted to give the kitten the love it needed, she turned her attention to the other cats.
“We started looking at all the orange, fluffy ones, the poofies, […] every type of cool cat ever because it was a very popular shelter.” But Burns-Boisvert knew it would click when she found the right cat, and that didn’t happen with any of the cool cats.
Then, she heard her dad talking in the background. “I look behind me, and there’s the little scraggly, skinny, nothing-muffin kitty on top of my dad’s shoulders and chest begging for love, and its little behind is in his face. So, he’s like, ‘Oh, someone should call this cat Booty.’ In that minute that I saw all that personality, silliness in that kitty, […] I knew he was mine.” She christened him Booty John Burns, after her father, and brought him to her new apartment.
After Booty arrived, he set right out to “terrorizing” the apartment. Burns-Boisvert worried about what she would come home to after her first day of teaching that Monday. “But he did great, and he has been with me ever since,” she said. What Booty lacked as a scraggly, underweight kitten, he quickly gained through the love of his new human—an additional 15 pounds.
Booty lived with Burns-Boisvert for the duration of her master’s program at DeKalb, Ill, and moved with her to Ohio for her PhD at Bowling Green State University. In 2021, Burns-Boisvert became part of the Lakeland community and moved to Sheboygan, Wis. She and Booty later moved to Appleton, Wis.
A well-travelled cat, Booty prefers the car as his mode of transport. He curls up in the seat next to Burns-Boisvert, no carrier needed. “He sits there and takes naps, and I can pet him, and he just hangs out,” she said. “And he’s the best. He’s really, really chill like that.”
Booty quickly won the love of everyone, including Burns-Boisvert’s mom. Before she passed away, she gradually gifted Burns-Boisvert so many black cat decorations and memorabilia that she now has a “black cat wall” in her home.
“My parents loved him like that was their grandchild.”
Booty is also close with his grandparents’ cats, Lady Pouncezzarella Mozzarella, also known as Baby Kitty, and Frostoria Paulina. All around, Booty is a harmonious cat.
When Booty was 3 years old, he went with Burns-Boisvert to visit her parents in the Chicagoland area for Father’s Day. This time, though, the family reunion quickly turned to panic.
“I found Booty in a catatonic state in the bathroom, just frozen, still, stiff as a board.”
Because it was Sunday, Booty had to go to the emergency vet, which is more expensive than the already costly veterinary care. The vet found and removed bladder crystals, a $3,000 procedure. After three days, Burns-Boisvert got the call that Booty was ready to go home. But when she went to pick him up, she learned that the problems would likely recur every year — unless Booty had another $3,000 surgery. This surgery, called perineal urethrostomy, permanently widens the urethra to prevent future bladder crystals.
Booty got the surgery, which took Burns-Boisvert six years to pay off.
Then, in 2019, Booty tore his ACL, a rare occurrence in cats. After a major surgery to repair his ACL, he became Burns-Boisvert’s “little Robo kitty.” She said, “He’s got fake parts in him. He’s had surgeries. He’s a little Franken kitty, and I love him very much.”
Now, Booty is on a weight loss journey, a process that involves active play. Booty, though, prefers relaxation. “He loves to lay out flat and just enjoy life, what life has for him. He’s a very relaxed, lackadaisical guy.”
Two years ago, a very different feline personality became part of Booty’s life. In 2022, Burns-Boisvert’s now-husband was looking for a cat. “Of course, I advocated for black cats,” Burns-Boisvert said. Her partner did in fact get a black cat: Adeline, Addie for short. The two cats merged into the same household two years ago. “They have slowly but surely learned how to tolerate each other.”
Unlike the relaxed Booty, Addie is the boss. She is “the one in charge, no matter what. She controls the house, because Booty is so passive.”
Booty’s love and personality have taught Burns-Boisvert about relationships and communication, something she values as a communication professor. She said that having a cat is “an awesome journey of communication” through nonverbal cues and creating a safe environment. “You have to earn a cat’s respect. That, to me, is like the ultimate challenge.”
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