Yvonne Almeida

Rusty Yvonne Almeida

There were so many reasons to believe Rusty was no ordinary cat. He hated cat toys. But he would play all day with trains that ran on a track and made sounds. He made vocal sounds more like human language than catcalls. And on April 3, 2014, he made a vocal cry so loud that he saved a life. His owner, his "MA-MMA" was about to leave him forever. And with God's hand, Rusty knew just what to do to save her.

After that, Rusty's owner started to realize that he wasn't just a gift from God but was the most spectacular of gifts. She had always believed in angels-guardian angels to be more specific-and now realized hers was a little orange cat with the sweetest face ever.

There was no other explanation for this cat's amazing perceptiveness. Others had made comments about Rusty and how astute he was, how he seemed to have a mind that didn't operate like he was "just a cat."

Things started to fall into place to support the idea that he had a mission in this life, and most impressively, Rusty knew how to accomplish that mission. His start in life could not have been more unhappy or heartbreaking, yet he prevailed through life as if he was the luckiest little guy ever born!

This is the story of how one cat brought God and faith back to a darkened soul, saved a life minutes from leaving this world, and even through his own health dilemmas, created friendships and stories to last a lifetime.

"You've lost a therapy pet, a service cat, in my opinion. He helped you navigate MS and helped you through the illness and deaths of your parents... God sent him to you as a furry angel here on earth to support you." - Dr. Carolyn Anderson