I love busting stereotypes when it concerns cats and the humans who love them. cat lovers come from all sorts of backgrounds, and there’s no such thing as a common cat person. We do ourselves, and cats, a substantial disservice by insisting on perpetuating stereotypes. Today, I’d like to introduce you to bill Hudson, who is anything but a common cat guy. heavily tattooed, with multiple piercings, this heavy metal guitarist, songwriter and guitar teacher looks every inch the difficult man – but bill has a soft spot not just for cats, but all animals.
Bill was born in Sao Paolo, Brazil. He started playing guitar at the age of 12. He moved to Los Angeles in 2005, where he attended the Musician’s Institute of contemporary Music. bill performed with a variety of bands, including Cellador, Circle II Circle and Jon Oliva’s Pain. many recently, bill was on trip with the wildly popular Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I met bill backstage after a TSO show this past December, and much to my delight discovered that in addition to being a supremely talented guitarist, bill is also a substantial animal lover. He and his partner share their LA home with their two cats, Mougli and Fozzi, and Paco, a Chihuahua mix.
Bill graciously agreed to answer some questions. I hope you delight in “meeting” this consummate animal lover as much as I did.
Tell us a little about your pets.
Mougli was our first pet and he is practically 9 years old. If I remember correctly, his mother was hit by a automobile and all of the kittens had to be hand-fed. He was the runt and practically didn’t make it. We call him our “cat-dog” because he’s so friendly and loves everyone. He’ll go best up to you, lay on your lap and start purring after meeting you for the first time!
We got Fozzie in 2012, so he’s a little over 3, from a no-kill cat rescue organization in Los Angeles. We’d been wanting to get a pal for Mougli and they’re pretty much inseparable. He’s not as outgoing as Mougli, but he’s a lover once he gets to know you!
Paco is our min pin/chihuahua mix canine and the newest member of our family. We got him in June 2014, he just turned 2 in August. He was in a foster home through a rescue organization that works with one of the Los Angeles city shelters and my partner found him on Facebook. We signed up to foster-to-adopt and within 15 minutes we knew he was ours! We take him out essentially all over with us, and always try to find canine friendly things to do. He has the cutest ears in the world and loves tummy rubs!
Do all three get along?
Absolutely! Fozzie is not the biggest fan of Paco, he typically avoids him and Paco loves to mess with him for that. Paco and Mougli will cuddle if they are on your lap together and every once in a while they will even play together! We’re very lucky that they can all exist in the same space as well as they do.
You’re on the road a good part of the year. It should be hard to be away from your pets for long stretches of time. how do you cope?
My partner sends me photos of them pretty much everyday! We also Facetime a lot! It’s not the same surely, but it helps! I’ve also taken Paco with me to a 6-week rehearsal period in Florida, haha! I have a lot of different photos of them on my phone, plus Paco has his own Instagram and Facebook page and I always see the messages he makes ?
What does a common day with your pets look like for you when you’re not on the road?
I typically feed all 3 of them around 8 AM and walk Paco around my neighborhood several times a day. in some cases I’ll take him to a canine park nearby. then everyone eats again around 5 PM. during the day they just hang around the house…nothing special. Mougli and Paco both like to lay on my lap while I work on music, that’s really cute and in some cases I just stay in the chair because they’re comfortable, haha.
We tried to get leashes for the cats but didn’t work out very well, hahaha. They just like to hang out at the house. They like laying in the sun on the balcony during the day, not to mention they have a million beds to choose from.
I would think of that Mougli and Fozzie are used to hearing music all the time. However, not all cats delight in loud music. how do yours react to music?
I would think they’d leave if it bothered them, but Mougli will jump on my lap and just sit there while I work on music, or listen to it. He, Fozzie and Paco all seem to be alright with it.
Do they have a favorite genre or band?
I wouldn’t be able to say… haha.Whatever I’m working on at the time.
Have you ever written a song about your cats?
Not yet, but I have written an instrumental song named “Paco”. There are no lyrics, so the song isn’t exactly about him, but he was sitting on my lap while I wrote it…so I named it after him.
You volunteer with a local shelter whenever you’re not on tour. What do you do at the shelter?
Kinder4Rescue is a low cost clinic based in North Hollywood. Thenullnull
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