The Year of the Cat

 Our port of call in Mooloolaba, Australia was cancelled due to weather conditions.  As a result, this is our third consecutive sea day before we dock in Townsville, Australia tomorrow.  We are currently above The Great Barrier Reef.  My most recent blog was a bit heavy so this blog will be on the lighter side.  Again, you might not want to spend your time here because it is not about the cruise.  Nonetheless, you may appreciate reading perhaps the most remarkable cat rescue story ever written or told.  Tomorrow is the 15th birthday for our cat, Chef.  Thank you Liz, Matt, Tawan and Annette for taking care of her while we are gone.

    The Beginning of Chef

 

It was early Thursday morning, April 1^st, 2010- April Fool’s Day- and I was alone on my morning walk through the woods.  I had traveled the same trail where another cat, Wilco, found us six months ago.  I was on my return home along that trail when I saw movement on a hill across the ravine not far from the gazebo.  I stopped and fixed my gaze toward where the movement had occurred and I could see an animal with a can stuck on its head.  I would later discover it was a Chef Boy-ar-dee ravioli can- about the size of a soup can.  It looked as though the critter was a cat, raccoon or opossum.  The animal was clearly in distress and as I watched I could see that it barely had any strength as it tried to pry the can from its head.  I couldn’t let an animal die having a can stuck on its head as a result of human carelessness.

 

I crossed the creek and struggled to ascend the steep hill where I could get a better look at the can headed critter.  I could immediately discern it was not a ‘possum but still was unsure whether it was a raccoon or a cat since it had assumed the fetal position in anticipation of my approach.  I attempted to calm the critter with a soft voice of reassurance and she seemed to understand as I nudged closer.  I had to try to remove the can but I was fearful of how a raccoon might react.  I reached down and pulled hard on the can but it stayed stuck on her head as we both jumped away from each other upon my release.  I could then see it was a cat so I was less fearful of a violent reaction to my efforts.  As I pulled on the can, I saw what I thought was a small black turd stuck to the hair on her belly.  The cat was now fearful because of my failed efforts and tried to escape.  However, she had little strength and very limited movement as she started to slide down the steep hill.  The cat slowly crawled back up the hill toward me as if she recognized this stranger as her only hope for survival.  I thought about picking up the cat and taking her down to the creek so that I could douse her with water and make the area around her head slippery.  However, I was uncertain if I could get down the slippery slope with a fearful feline in my arms and if she would let me pick her up.  Instead, I removed my shirt and put it against the cat so I could hold her in place without getting scratched while I attempted another can removal.  I held her tight while I twisted the can back and forth 5-6 times.  I was determined to be successful this time.  As I was twisting the can from the cat’s head, I saw the black thing was getting bigger and to my utter amazement, realized a kitten was being born at that very moment.  The can suddenly released from her head, the cat ran away and the kitten quickly tumbled down the hill and into the creek.

 

Once I descended the hill and reached the creek, I removed the newborn kitten from the water.  The mother cat was nowhere in sight and I didn’t know what to do.  I thought to myself that I couldn’t just leave the kitten there but I had to go to work and I had absolutely no idea how to care for a newborn kitten.  I placed the kitten on the ground beside the creek and reluctantly left her there- hoping her mother would return to fetch him.  I cried on the way home knowing that she may very well die from hypothermia or in the mouth of a predator.

 

 

When I arrived at our office, I told the story to our staff and was promptly accused of trying to prank them with an April Fool’s joke.  I was questioned with the color of the can and cat and other details before they finally believed me.  I privately confided my concern for the kitten with Ruth Ann.  She assured me the mother would return for her kitten, that we had saved Wilco last fall and that we just couldn’t save every distressed animal we might discover.  As the day progressed, Ruth Ann confided in me that she couldn’t quit thinking about that poor little kitten.  

 

Upon our return home at the end of our work day, Ruth Ann asked me if we could go to where I had left the kitten to make sure she wasn’t still abandoned there.  I agreed to take her but told her that after nine hours, the kitten had surely been rescued by her mother, eaten by a predator or died of hypothermia.  We hurriedly changed into our walking clothes and rushed to the woods.  I knew exactly where I had removed the kitten from the creek and as we approached that spot, we heard the faint high pitched mew of a new born kitten.  Miraculously, the kitten was still alive.  She had tumbled back into the creek and was barely holding her head above water while crying for help.  We scooped her from the water and practically ran back to the house.  We warmed her, fed her kitten formula with a syringe and kept a vigil over her with regular feedings every two hours for the next three days.  Chef is now two weeks of age and opened her eyes for the first time today.  Everyone who hears about our kitten rescue is enthralled with the story and agrees it is a miracle.  We weren’t planning to get another cat but God had Her own plan for us and Chef.  A plan, whose beginning I never could have imagined.

 

                                                                      One week old

Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat sang in Lucky;

Do you hear me? I'm talking to you
Across the water across the deep blue ocean
Under the open sky, oh my, baby, I'm trying
Boy, I hear you in my dreams
I feel your whisper across the sea
I keep you with me in my heart
You make it easier when life gets hard

I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend
Lucky to have been where I have been
Lucky to be coming home again
Lucky we're in love in every way
Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed
Lucky to be coming home someday