This soldier must love kittens

6 minutes ago
Photo of soldier, furry friend makes a viral splash on the web
By MEREDITH TIBBETTS
Stars and Stripes
Published: February 2, 2013

Pfc. Kevin Davidson takes a cat nap with a stray that was "adopted" by some troops at a U.S. base in Kuwait.
COURTESY OF KEVIN DAVIDSON

It’s just an image of two friends sleeping together: a warm cat seeking comfort with U.S. soldier Pfc. Kevin Davidson in Kuwait. But it went viral on the Web with the help of reddit.com and Purina pet food.

Perhaps the cat could smell food cooking inside the base or maybe it was looking for a place out of the sun. On Christmas Eve the feline curled up outside a U.S. base in Kuwait to lie down for a nap.

Like other cats and dogs at overseas posts, troops noticed him and took him inside the base. Despite the fact that “adopting as pets or mascots, caring for, or feeding any type of domestic or wild animal” is a punishable offense under the UCMJ, taking in a furry local is commonly overlooked.

As one lieutenant colonel told Stars and Stripes in 2010, there’s a lot more to worry about in the life-and-death world of a war zone than who’s sneaking puppies and kittens.