Bandit's Story

We had recently lost a long time resident at the rescue to cancer.  His name was Leo and he was truly the king of the "family".  One of the cats I got the closest to, I was shaken by his suffering death after a life of abuse.  When I rescued him at the shelter, he was covered in cigarette burns and had been declawed.  He ended up being the most expensive cat we've ever had, having everything from cystitis to cancer and dieing at only 10 years of age.  So I was upset when I had to put him down.  Not long after, my friend called me and said she had a cat who was living next door and was being abused.  I went over there to see what she was talking about.  I saw a very large man in camoflauge fatigues going in and out of the apartment next door and when he did so, he would kick a kitten so hard she would fly though the air and land nearby.  I was aghast.  I could hear the cat meowing desperately.  My friend told him his wife had gotten the cat and that they were both treating it horribly.  I told her to get the cat and feed it and while it was eating in her apartment, to call me.  She did this. I went over with a carrier and stole that cat.  When I got her back to the "family" she hid under the bed for weeks, trembling.  I would push food under the bed for her to eat and I left her alone.  After awhile it became apparent that my jewelry was disappearing.  I lived alone there with the cats so I thought I'd just misplaced it. That is, until in the middle of the night, I awoke to discover the rescue crawling under the bed with a necklace in her mouth!  Thus she acquired the name "Bandit".  Bandit is still with me today and is the matriarch of our current brood.   She is 13 years old and she is in great health.  She is one cat that, right now, is not in need of vet care.

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