Does he have 9 lives?

This is my cat, Jack. Jack is a handy name because it's so versatile. Islanders are familiar with Jack Bauer, but there are other famous Jacks in pop culture and history-- Jack the Ripper (appropriate kitten name), Jack Sprat (not so appropriate, my kitty loves eating fat), Jack Sparrow, Captain Jack, etc and so forth.

Jack came into my life as a baby kitten. I found him on the street, being shielded from the sun by a banana leaf lovingly placed there by a toddler. After questioning the toddler and other kids who soon arrived about his origins I determined that he'd been dumped intentionally in a graveyard. I also determined that he was not going to survive unless he had a mama. His eyes weren't even fully open and he wasn't very good at walking. How would he survive in the big, bad world?

"sleeping in"

So I took him home and adopted him. He drank powdered milk from an eye dropper, then a syringe, then eventually he learned to lap up milk and eat eggs. An adorable baby, he was easy to take care of, since he couldn't escape from his plastic tub. I'd let him tumble around the house while I was home, then put him in his tub for the night or whenever I went out.

Eventually he learned to escape the tub. He would play in the house and sleep in the bathroom. But my idea was that he'd become an independent adult cat, so I wanted him to get used to being and sleeping outside.

But he's a little cat. So after a few nights spent outside, he got beat up by big, bad neighbor cats.

When it first burst open...

Recovering

He came into the house looking totally worn out, but I figured that he'd sleep it off and be fine. Well, he slept. And slept. And slept. And I was getting worried, because he wasn't really interested in food or anything other than sleeping. Finally, I started force-feeding him with the syringe again. And started him on oral antibiotics (thanks vet friend back home for the recommendation). He was totally lethargic though with a tender rear end.

And then I came home one day and he had a big hole in his rear end, extending up to his belly. The infection had ruptured and he was oozing puss. You could see a ton of exposed leg muscle, as well as internal organs. I thought he was a goner.

But this cat seriously has nine lives! He started feeling better, regained his appetite, and plays around the house, all the time with a gaping wound. The belly portion has all healed now, and the back part of his leg is what's left to heal.

Jack the cat is around to stay.