BANGOR (AP) – An emaciated, toothless cat that was found in a Humvee tire by soldiers in Iraq has found a new home in Maine after being adopted and nursed to health by the National Guard troops.

The feral cat, named H.P., was spotted outside the notorious Abu Ghraib Prison near Baghdad last July by Spc. Jesse Cote and other soldiers from the 152nd Field Artillery Battalion.

“We didn’t think it would live when we found it,” Cote said.

Cote and the other soldiers were touched by the condition of the cat, which was so small it could fit in a helmet. H.P. lived in the Maine unit’s barracks, and became a first alarm for troops because it would run and hide at the first sign of mortar fire.

“We bottle-fed it milk and later tuna and other food, and he stuck with us,” Cote, 22, said after returning to his home in Caribou. “He became a morale booster. He slept with the guys, curled up under the blankets. He did a lot for us and we could not leave him there.”

Cote and his fellow soldiers paid for shots for H.P. and surgery it needed after getting into a fight with another cat. They also raised $700 to fly H.P. – believed to be initials for “here, puss” – to America in January, driving it 12 hours to Kuwait for the flight to New York. Cote said $500 of the total was raised through the Internet by a group called Military Mascots.

Cote’s family drove the well-traveled cat from their northern Maine home to Bangor in February so H.P. could be reunited with Jesse and other members of the 152nd. Cote, who is home on transitional leave after 15 months of active duty, was celebrating a belated Christmas with his family during the last weekend in February.

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Information from: Bangor Daily News, http://www.bangornews.com

AP-ES-02-28-05 1106EST