Meet the hidden dorm cats of BU

Everyone at BU knows that alcohol, drugs, coffee makers, space heaters, and electric blankets are a part of the banned dorm item list people ignore. But one thing on the list that might not be as common are pets. Every year, someone talks about sneaking a pet on-campus, but does anyone actually go through with it? The answer is yes. 

Dizzy the Russian Blue cat of Rich Hall

Dizzy lived in Rich Hall of West Campus in 2014. Her original owners snuck her into the dorm in their bookbag after adopting her from the shelter. After a day of having her, they realized they couldn’t take care of her, so a boy down the hall took her in as his own.

How did you get Dizzy to your room?

I literally just carried her down the hall and we kept her in the room. We made sure to not get in trouble so the RA never had to come around.

Did you tell people you had a pet?

A lot of people ended up knowing about Dizzy my freshman year, people I didn’t know were stopping by just to see her.

Did you ever take Dizzy out of the room?

We took her to the room next door once but she was kind of freaked out by the change of scenery and hid under the bed the whole time.

What happened to Dizzy when you were gone?

I had to go home for a weekend once and I just had someone else on my floor stop in and feed her while I was gone. We had found another family to adopt her that lived in a legitimate house by the end of the semester, but I was planning on bringing her home if things didn’t work out.

Did you ever get caught?

I got busted by for having a cat at the end of the semester since the RA had a crush on my friend and followed her on Instagram. My friend posted a picture of Dizzy with my room number as the location, and when the RA came to write me up they called a bunch of other RAs to come see the cat. It was kind of a dick move in the sense that my room was full of people trying to pet my cat while they were also super excited to have finally caught me for it. I ended up only getting a noise complaint for having a cat because I had a bunch of people come to my judicial meeting and explain that I was only holding onto Dizzy to be a good person and try to find her a suitable home to live in.

Samuel the Stratcat of Warren Towers

Samuel lived in Warren Towers, Tower A in 2016. He came to live on campus when his owner was going through a breakup and needed something to relieve stress. Samuel was found on Craigslist and was carried to Warren in a lunchbox. The Craigslist man was “creepy” and his soon-to-be owners worried that he wasn’t being taken care of properly, so they took him to Warren right away. 

How did you get Samuel to your room?

He was taken through security in a purse and never left Warren until we moved out with everyone for summer.

Did you tell people you had a pet?

Samuel became very popular through Snapchat and Instagram, and eventually people I didn’t even know would ask to come see him. I eventually made him his own Instagram and he’s got his own following as the self-proclaimed “Alpha phi-line.” You can follow him @samuelstrat_cat.

Did you ever take Samuel out of the room?

One time we freaked out because we had a fire drill in Warren and I tried to sneak Samuel out in my backpack but he kept jumping out so we had to leave him in the room.

What happened to Samuel if you were gone?

I took him home with me to New Jersey but we were considering getting him a passport and flying him to Turkey with my roommate because my dad’s allergic.

Did you ever get caught?

I lived right next to my RA but we never got in trouble. We would always leave the TV on so no one could hear him meowing.

Although Dizzy and Samuel have both moved off campus now, they definitely aren’t the only pets to have lived on campus, and they won’t be the last. There will be new cats snuck through security in backpacks for many more years to come.