Soldier Gives New Meaning to No Man Left Behind by Rescuing Feline BFF From Afghanistan

At One Green Planet, we know how easy is to become attached to animals, even if we barely know them. After all, some stray animals are incredibly sweet and will show an enormous amount of affection to anyone who gives them attention. You would think that this type of thing would be different in say, a war-ridden country, but apparently it’s not. In 2008, a soldier by the name of Christine Weber Bouldin was serving in Afghanistan when she came across a very special feline. This kitten did not catch Christine’s eye just with her cuteness, though. It was immediately obvious to the soldier that something was wrong with this tiny creature because she seemed to have difficulty walking and kept flipping over every couple of steps. It turned out that the kitten had Cerebellar Hypoplasia (CH), a non-progressive disease that affects motor skills.

This did not deter Christine from falling head over heels for the little one, though. She instantly decided that she was not leaving Afghanistan without arranging for the kitty to come with her, or at the very least make arrangements for an adoption.

First, Christine paid a driver $300 to transport the kitty, now named Felix, from the base over to a nearby pet shelter who agreed to look after the kitty until Christine could fly to the states.

As told in an interview with Bored Panda, Christine was very nervous about the kitty. She did not know if she would be allowed to bring her home and considering they were in a dangerous area there was always a risk of bombs going off.

Thankfully, there wasn’t much to worry about, after all. A few months later when Christine made her way back to the states, she paid $2,000 and was able to get Felix flown over.

Thousands of dollars may seem like a lot of money to “give up” just to be reconnected with a specific stray, especially considering all of the shelters there are in the U.S. filled with cats. However, anyone who has made a connection with a certain animal knows how special the bond can be.

Christine knew that her story with Felix was not done yet. And now, it never has to be!

Felix now lives with Christine, her husband, and their male cat Gus, in Lakewood, Colorado.

By the looks of it, Felix is very happy in her new home!

It may be tempting to think that because Felix happened to be a stray that Christine saved her. However, considering that Christine calls Felix “an angel “an angel sent to me from God,” we’d say that the adoption was definitely a two-way one!

All image source: Christine Bouldin