This is Simba Al Tikriti, Simba for short.  He was the first cat I brought home to the UK in 2005.  At the time I was living in Tikrit so getting him back to the UK was much more difficult than it was getting a cat out of Baghdad.  In the first instance there was no direct flight from Tikrit to Amman so Simba had to endure a 12 hour road trip down to Um Qasr and then a trip over the border to Kuwait.  Once he arrived in Kuwait he was taken the International Veterinary Centre where he was boarded for a few weeks whilst the paperwork was completed to send him home.  His 6 months in quarantine passed without any problems and when he came home he settled quickly.  Unfortunately, he enjoyed his freedom a little too much and about 6 weeks after coming out of quarantine he was run over by a car and broke his pelvis in 2 places.  As if this wasn't bad enough about 3 weeks after this accident his leg got caught in a door and he broke his femur!!!  It took some time but he did recover from both incidents although it cost a fortune to cat proof the garden so he couldn't get out into the street again!  2 Years on he is a happy little fella and likes nothing more than terrorising Tinkerbell (my other cat) and filling his face all day with prawns!

           The day I found Simba                                         Kill that Lion!!

                  Peek A Boo                                                     Relaxing

                                              Hands Up Or I'll Shoot!

                        In Quarantine                               With broken pelvis and femur

Now - The cat that got the cream !!