Gatton, Queendland

After our night at Lake Clarendon we took a short drive West past Gatton where we stopped in to meet a very special cat.

Have you ever been saved? I mean truly saved.

This was the case for Lil Jess (2.5 years), a rescue cat from South Australia who nearly saw the light at the end of the tunnel – so to speak.

Lil Jess – having moved to Queensland in 2018 with fur-mum Robyn and her husband Graeme – had settled down to life in a new town along with fur-brother ‘Prints Gilbert’.

Now fur-parents aren’t meant to have favourites, but fur kids certainly do – and it was so that Lil Jess had chosen Robyn as her human.

Life was going pretty good, until one dreadful night.

Lil Jess didn’t come home.

Operation Find Jess

Robyn was up early and found that Lil Jess was missing. She soon launched a search and rescue operation with herself, Graeme, and friends all on the job.

Together they scoured the neighbourhood calling her name, but to no avail.

It was nearing 7pm when the light started to fade.

It wasn’t until Robyn retraced a path by a dam near the railroad – a path that Graeme had checked earlier – that Lil Jess popped her head out of the bushes.

But the nightmare wasn’t quite over yet.

Rescued once more

As Robyn knelt down to pick her up she saw that she wasn’t in a good way. Covered in blood and ants, her tail had been stripped and her right leg was limp.

We will never know exactly what happened to Lil Jess that night, but it is suspected that she had a disagreement with a passing train.

What we do know is that Lil Jess, after a horrific trauma, waited all night for the one person in the world she trusted the most – Robyn – to rescue her once more.

Robyn and Graeme were quick to rush Lil Jess to the University of Queensland Vet Hospital where the expert staff took her into their care.

Fast forward a week, the little cat who had been found bloodied and ant-ridden, was miraculously given the all clear. Though, soon to be given a new nickname of tripod.

Robyn, remembers the day she was discharged. Lil Jess, after all that she had been through, was purring as they brought her home.

Lil Jess’ story

Now, Lil Jess hasn’t let her ordeal stop her from living her life. This gorgeous black and white girl carries on with it all, just now with a stump for a tail and sans rear-right leg – her posterior bobbing up and down as she walks.

So, as I sat in their living room drinking a cup of tea, Robyn brought in a hesitant Lil Jess over her shoulder.

She was slow to warm to me – but after I had sat hearing her stories we reached a point where Lil Jess would sniff my outstretched hand and let me pat her.

What a brave little cat.

The little cat who stands as a testament to her own strength, and also the woman that saved her.. twice!

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I hope you enjoyed hearing about Lil Jess’ remarkable story. It certainly was a pleasure meeting her along with Robyn, and fur-brother Prints Gilbert. Below is a pic of Robyn giving Willow a cuddle before we left.

This story is part of our Springtime Road Trip where you get to decide where we go.