A young bobcat's mother is killed by a bounty hunter in southern Arizona, but her kitten is spared. Unable to maintain the small animal, the hunter gives the kitten to a young schoolteacher, Dawn Fritz, who is determined to raise him in a small apartment in Yuma, Arizona. The story twists and turns as one obstacle after another presents itself as Dawn struggles with the knowledge that Parthur is a wild animal and heeds to be returned to the wild.