Cowtown’s lead feline ambassador remembered for his presence

Bandit lived up to his name and stole the hearts of people.

In his glory days, he was a 16-pound feline ball of fluff who wandered the streets of Old Cowtown Museum, patrolling boardwalks, blatantly sleeping on the job and harassing wild foxes when they ventured too close to his food.

Bandit, lead officer of Cowtown’s Rodent Patrol and goodwill ambassador, died July 27 after lingering complications with cancer.

He was 12. Or 13.

He was born sometime in 2003, perhaps 2004. His early years are vague, said Shirley Hutchison, his caretaker at Cowtown for the past eight years.

She just remembers he appeared one day at Old Cowtown in 2005 when she was feeding the rest of the cats, and he took over.

“I took him in and got him fixed,” Hutchison said. “He ended up taking over everything. Nothing scared him. He was in gunfights. He would mosey along the sidewalks and get along with everybody.”

Bandit was best known for his addiction to cameras. He is in countless videos, advertisements and promotions of Cowtown.

“I always called him our media cat,” said Jacky Goerzen, Cowtown’s director. “Anytime we did anything, he was always there having his picture taken. He loved to be petted. It won’t be the same without Bandit.”

Hutchison began taking care of Cowtown’s dozen or so feral cats in 1987. Cowtown has about a dozen of the cats to help keep mice populations in check. The cats are given annual shots, are neutered or spayed, and together eat 4 pounds of food daily. Hutchison pays for the food herself; a local veterinarian voluntarily neuters or spays, vaccinates and provides monthly flea prevention medicine for the cats.

This story was originally published August 9, 2016 at 6:31 AM with the headline "Cowtown’s lead feline ambassador remembered for his presence."