It’s the stuff that dreams are made of: a cat of privilege, raised in a comfortable home in urban Oklahoma. A clean litter box every day, fresh catio air, and a caring family. But things don’t always go the way a loving mother or father might hope for their feline children.
This is the story of three different cats. Cats that had the right upbringing, the right environment, and the right dreams. Squandered opportunities and poor choices, each culminating in a lesson we should all bear in mind.
These are the lessons we all must heed, lest we find ourselves caught up in the wrong clowder.
Brock: The Weed of our Discontent
Handsome, rugged, with a thick undercoat that made him impervious to insult or hardship. His family describes him as confident and at times caring, but he was always one to add a little "bite" to his affections. "He was always so fluffy, so cottony, but... then he'd lay next to your arm and before you knew it, CHOMP, he had his teeth on your skin," his adoptive mother said.
Oh no... his humble beginnings did not result in a humble feline. He knew his good looks and charm could take him places that few could imagine.
Before anyone realized what was happening with this fine fellow, he had become mixed up in the wrong crowd, the kind of cats that you just don't want to bring home to meet your momma.

He discovered catnip at a young age. Likely inadvertently given to him in a package delivered from the pet food store, he took to it immediately. Rolling around in the nip, getting it in his fur. Yes, he was hooked the moment he found it.

And he wasn't content to just keep it to himself. Our investigation found he wanted to share it with those around him. And it wasn't just his friends. He even tried to convince even his younger sister of the "medicinal" benefits of the nip. But fortunately, the little tot never took to the stuff... though she did grow up with her own demons to bear (see Part 3 of this exposé).
But his friends did take to the stuff. And his friends suddenly became very famous friends. Before "Brockstar" (a nickname allegedly coined by Keith Richards) knew what was happening, he was at parties in Las Vegas, Red Carpet interviews in Los Angeles, New Year's Eve bashes in New York City. He became fast friends with the Johnnys, the Kates and the Kims, the whole crew of Saturday Night Live. He was their friend... but also their supplier.

But at each turn he was able to dodge the law man.
One day, according to his friends and family, he woke up and realized what was happening - what his life was destined to become. And he didn't find it pretty. "We were so worried about him," his Humom told us. "We always hoped that the good cat inside of him would help him find his way back to us."

Now a devoted pastafarian, he has completely given up his old habits, his old ways. Today, he can be seen visiting with inner city kitties and sharing his experience with them, helping to keep them from wandering down the wrong, dark path. He volunteers his time to work with other foster kittens. He knows that life. And he knows how to help them stay out of the dank corners of Catnip Alley.
Next in our series, we follow Brock's sister, Molly - forced to raise her siblings from the time she herself was a child. Kittens raising kittens, in Part 2 of our exposé.