Nowadays, she lives a pretty sweet life. You need to hear her incredible story.
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Meet Christine Bouldin.
Christine lives in Lakewood, Colorado, where she works at Whole Foods while attending the University of Colorado Denver.
But eight years ago, Christine was on her final mission as a United States soldier.
Her final deployment was to Afghanistan, where she was stationed at Bagram Airfield. Christine gave eight years of service to the US Army.
Known to be an avid animal lover, someone on the base told her about a cat and kitten they'd spotted.
The two felines were seen wandering the base, and they clearly needed help, so Christine went searching for them.
She soon found the mother and one-month-old baby, who clearly had something wrong with her.
Christine had never seen a cat like that before. "I felt so sorry for her. She couldn’t stand up and would flip over," she said. She thought the kitten appeared to have Parkinson's disease.
A Google search informed Christine that the kitten had cerebellar hypoplasia. which affects her movements. But other than that, she was just like any normal cat.
A Google search informed Christine that the kitten had cerebellar hypoplasia. which affects her movements. But other than that, she was just like any normal cat.
Christine began feeding the cats daily.
She named the mother Sandy and the kitten Felix. She'd take tuna and milk from the dining hall to feed them. Then, one day, it was only to feed one.
Sandy abandoned Felix. Now all she had was Christine.
"After her mom took off, I worried someone would catch Felix or hurt her," Christine said. So she and a friend constructed a house that Felix could live in until Christine found a way to get her back home to the US. Her mother shipped her treats and toys to give Felix. "She was so sweet and I could tell she appreciated me taking care of her when her mom left... She makes me cry sometimes still because she looks at me like I’m her mom."
Officials with the Army's canine unit weren't able to help but did put her in touch with someone who could.
Pamela Constable, a member of the Washington Post foreign staff working in Kabul, had founded the Afghan Stray Animal League to rescue animals in Afghanistan. Christine got in touch with her and she agreed to keep Felix until they were both back on home soil.
In the spring, Christine paid $2,000 to have Felix shipped home, and then drove five hours from North Carolina to Virginia to pick her up from Pam. "I didn’t even care what I had to pay," said Christine, "I would have probably paid more."
In the spring, Christine paid $2,000 to have Felix shipped home, and then drove five hours from North Carolina to Virginia to pick her up from Pam. "I didn’t even care what I had to pay," said Christine, "I would have probably paid more."
These days, Felix and Christine live with Gus and William.
Gus and Felix are "two peas in a pod" and it looks like Christine and her husband are too. Their social media pages are filled with pictures of the couple smiling and outdoors, and of course, pictures of their beloved cats. "She is still a very much an important member of the family."
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