Meet Bart, a friendly house cat that was buried alive when his owner presumed he was dead after being hit by a car.
Bart’s owner was stunned when he showed up back home looking for food five days later.
The black and white cat was nicknamed the “Zombie Cat” by the media after news broke that the cat clawed out of his roadside grave and back to his owner for food.
When Bart arrived home he was in bad shape and received months of veterinary care from the Humane Society of Tampa Bay. His lower jaw was broken and needed to be wired back together. His palate was split, he needed dental work, and it took three hours to pull all the maggots out of his left eye, which was eventually removed. Bart also required being fed through a tube and numerous blood transfusions.
As the shelter nursed Bart back to life a custody battle raged between the cat’s owner and the nonprofit until it was settled out of court. In the end Bart was adopted by the shelter employee who had been fostering him since he was admitted.
Bart’s new owner, Valerie, said even when he was banged up, Bart was a “sweetheart.”
“Even in the worst of times when he had just arrived, he would head-butt people just to try and get some pets,” she said. Adding, “he’s always been a big, old love. He wants to be around people and to play and be loved, and that’s it.”
Bart now has a new nickname – “The miracle Cat” – and has made a full recovery.
“Now he has perfected his play,” she said. “He loves all toys — although he is a prankster at heart and loves to hide and jump out to scare the next cat that walks by or to sit on a coffee table and bop them on the head as they pass. He really is a character.”
