James Bowen found a ginger cat sitting in the hallway of a building.
He assumed it belonged to a neighbor, but the animal was still there two days later. It had no collar, was thin, had scratches on its face, and an infected wound on its leg. No one claimed it. According to his book, James took the cat to a temporary Blue Cross veterinary clinic and paid for antibiotics with his last 20 pounds, money he had been saving for food.
He wanted to let him go once the treatment was over, but the cat followed him everywhere, even getting on the bus with him. He named him Bob. With Bob on his shoulder, James busked in Covent Garden and sold The Big Issue magazine. In 2007, he joined a methadone program to quit heroin. “I think it all came down to this little guy”, he said.
His memoir, A Street Cat Named Bob, spent 52 consecutive weeks on England’s bestseller list, was sold in 26 countries, and was adapted for the big screen. Who rescued whom?
