Adopted Pet Heroes Contest 3rd Place Winner!
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We decided to adopt Miss Jean-Luc Kitte', a feral calico kitten residing in my mother-in-law's backyard. She is the Queen in our home with a rescued Tortie, Chakotay, a Siamese survivor, Sasha, and three Asian Spotted Leopards. One winter, I had invasive surgery that required soaking in a tub of warm water every couple hours. While trying to hang Christmas lights one night, while my wife, Mary, was at work as an ER Trauma Nurse on the night shift, I developed a fever with chills. I could barely make it to bed. I shook violently with spasms as the fever overtook my body (106.7 degrees). Miss JLK wandered in to check on me. She jumped up by my chest and "snarfed" my face to see if I was breathing, then rested her head on my chest to check my heartbeat as I lay shivering in the fetal position. When she jumped down from the bed, I felt abandoned, and I was going to die there alone, unable to reach a telephone. But much to my amazement, a moment later in trotted the cats, with Jean-Luc prodding them all in. Chakotay curled up on my feet, Sasha rolled herself around the top of my head, and the three ASL cubs snuggled in firmly against my back! After making sure everyone was in place, Jean-Luc returned to her position in front of me. She would check my breathing and heartbeat many times over the next several hours, occasionally licking my face - kissing me.When Mary came home around 4:00 am, I was rushed to the hospital ER, then admitted. Several days would pass before I could return home. A month later, our water company acknowledged they had had an E.coli problem, but it was "taken care of". Miss Jean-Luc Kitte` saved my life that night by her actions in organizing the others cats and her caring monitoring of my condition. She is, and always has been, the Guardian Angel of our family.

Lt. Col. David
Puyallup, WA