JACK'S
STORY
JACK'S
STORY
In August of 2006, I made last minute plans for a quick getaway to Bermuda. I never imagined that my life as I knew it was about to change with a chance encounter at my hotel pool.
I first met Jack on my way to my room. I stopped to listen to a soft cry coming from the bushes surrounding the pool. A skinny black cat with bright yellow eyes suddenly appeared at my feet. Startled at first, I bent down to pet him and of course he followed me to my room. Haunted by his face, I enquired at the front desk about the cat. I was told that he was just one of the many stray cats in Bermuda.
Later that evening, Jack joined me at the pool as I watched the sun set. He sat on my lap content and purring softly.
Jack followed me back to my room that night looking for food. I only had a small bag of Goldfish which I offered to him and he quickly gobbled up! He remained sleeping outside my door until morning. During the day, he'd hide in a hibiscus bush in front of my room and waited for me to return.
The next night I brought him back some leftover steak from a restaurant, and the following day I purchased some canned cat food that I found in one of the local stores. Jack never left my side while I was around the hotel grounds and each morning he'd cry till I came to the door.
As the days went on and Jack and I bonded, I contemplated how I could bring him home, never thinking it was possible. There was a horrible storm on the last night of my vacation and I wondered if Jack was safe. He appeared late the next morning looking forlorn and very wet. I knew at that moment I could never leave him behind and was going to do everything in my power to take him home with me.
I called the US Department of Agriculture and my airline to inquire about taking home a stray Bermudian cat. Surprisingly, there are no restrictions on leaving with a cat because Bermuda is a rabies free country. All that was necessary was for me to meet the airline requirements for a carrying case and the cat was mine.
I only had two and a half hours before my flight to purchase a carrying case. Jack was caught off guard and put in the case and found himself riding in a cab to the airport. The airport was small and everyone seemed to know that I was arriving with a very special new passenger. I was met by the US DA agent who was extremely helpful and kind. (We have remained friends and she is willing to assist in any questions that may arise on this site.) I was the last passenger to board the plane, and the Captain and flight attendants gathered around me to take a peak at Jack and hear his story.
He remained extremely quiet throughout his journey to America, and as soon as I landed I brought him straight to my vet. He spent the weekend there and remarkably came back with a clean bill of health! He is estimated to be about a year and a half old. He is possibly part Siamese and part Havana Brown. Jack is a constant talker and is very inquisitive. Remarkably he has adjusted from being a feral cat in Bermuda to becoming an indoor cat in New York.
Jack was named after the roguish "Captain Jack Sparrow," Johnny Depp's character from Pirates of the Caribbean. He certainly has lived up to his name!
