Lake Emergency Medical Services employee Bubba Pitzer, left, Lake County firefighter Luke Brear feed a kitten named Passon. (The Animal League)
CLERMONT, FLORIDA — A Lake County Emergency Medical Services paramedic who heard meowing from beneath a firefighter’s truck has become extremely attached to the whiskered hitchhiker he and others at Clermont Fire Station 3 rescued from a spare tire.
So attached that Bubba Pitzer and his wife, Amanda, adopted the wayward cat, who has been named Passon by her rescuers. The name comes from the term “pass on” firefighters use referring to updates made from shift to shift.
Passon miraculously survived a 20-mile trip from Orlando late last month while trapped underneath Clermont firefighter Robert Lovvorn’s truck.
Pitzer immediately bonded with the frisky feline, according to Jessica Whitehouse who is of The Animal League in Groveland. Whitehouse said she calls Pitzer a “purramedic.”
Pitzer, now 46, said he took Passon to the veterinarian today and she’s up to 3 pounds from the mere 1.6 pounds she weighed in a when she was discovered.
“We’re getting along good. She’s full of energy,” he stated. “She’s eating good and living life to the fullest.”
The Pitzers’ other cat, a 15-year-old mature kitty named Salty, is still adjusting to the newest member of the family.
“She’s not real happy with her,” said Pitzer, who has been working with Lake EMS and its forerunner, Lake-Sumter EMS, for a total of 15 years.. Though the cats hiss a lot at each other, the tension hasn’t risen to fighting, he said.
