CASTLETON, Vt. (WCAX) – A community cat will “graduate” from Vermont State University at Castleton this weekend.
“I was asked, ‘What’s your affiliation with the college?’ I was like, ‘My cat is the emotional support animal,’” Ashley Dow said. “He likes to be carried around on backpacks. Students pick him up and he crawls up on their backs.”
An outdoor cat named Max is a local legend and a popular pet around Vermont State University’s Castleton campus, winning the hearts and minds of students and faculty alike.
“I’ll pet him, give him a quick hug. He’s always super-friendly, always super-sweet. Sometimes I see him chasing small animals but that was when he was younger,” said Adsel Sparrow, a senior at Castleton.
Max lives a few steps away from Castleton’s campus on Seminary Street. Ashley Dow and her family got him from Fair Haven four years ago.
The admissions office says sometimes he’s the highlight of the campus tours they give to prospective students and visitors.
“He comes out and actually greets most of our guests. He’ll follow them over to the old chapel where they get a general welcome, and then when they start their tour, he usually follows right along with them,” said Brandon Kennedy, the associate director of admissions.
Vermont State University recently posted on their Facebook page that the feline is receiving his doctorate in “litter-ature.” Faculty members say on top of his pseudo-studies, Max is a big help to students, especially during a busy week of finals.
“You can see him enlighten students. Day to day, I look out my window and see him walking along and I see students put down their phones and pick up Max, and he jumps on their back and they’re taking selfies with him. He draws the crowds,” said Jessica Duncan, the director of career development and innovation.
As the school year nears its end and university students head home for the summer, Max is bracing for a confusing time. Ashley Dow says breaks can confound the feline and throw him off his normal self.
“He’ll go looking and then come back, kind of disappointed, kind of sad, and he’ll stick around the house more. But it’s like he forgot they came back in the spring after one of the breaks and he really hasn’t gone back up,” she said.
The Dow family looks forward to spending a bit more time with him this summer as he waits for his other family down the road to return to Castleton for another school year.
“He’s very lovable because like almost every night I go to do my nighttime routine and he’s upstairs with me hanging out with me,” Sydney Dow said.
“There’s a while where he just stayed on campus; he’ll forget to come home,” Ashley Dow said. “The students will come back in the fall and he’ll be gone for three days, and we’ll have to go looking for him and he’s up there up on campus hanging out waiting for his people.”