One lucky orange tabby expended a few of his nine lives this week when he was trapped inside an SUVs engine compartment while the SUV traveled across town.
The driver, Wilfred Rodriguez, heard a strage rattling sound when he was driving in the Bronx. When he stopped, he got out to investigate, only to see a floofy tail and paw poking out from beneath the hood.
His first reaction was, “Oh my God! I killed a cat.” He was relieved when the paw moved.
The NYPD’s Emergency Services Unit responded and freed the oil-covered cat by removing the SUV’s battery and a few other vehicle parts.
Richard Gentles of New York City Animal Care & Control reported that the stray cat appeared to be in good physical shape However, the cat was suffering from fleas and severe fur-matting.
David Ziegler of the Center for Animal Care and Control told the New York Daily News, “He seems pretty calm, like he’s not in any pain,” Mr Ziegler said. “But he’s mean. He has been growling.”
Animal Care and Control said it would hold onto the cat for three days, although hope seemed dim that an owner would come forward to claim him.
A grey and white tabby who looks just like Jeter Harris was rescued this weekend after being stranded for five days 40 feet above the Clackamas River on the Carver Bridge in Oregon. The Oregon Humane Society’s Technical Animal Rescue Team was responsible for the daring rescue.
Rescuer Ulli Neitch rappelled over the bridge railing onto a bridge abutment. She spent 20 minutes gaining the cat’s confidence, then grabbed him and bagged him. The two then rappelled safely to the river bank below.
According to Kathy Covey, one of the six rescue team members dispatched to the bridge, the tabby was friendly and healthy, but dirty and very hungry. He wasn’t wearing a collar, so was taken to the Oregon Humane Society for medical evaluation and a microchip scan. If the owner is not found, he could be put up for adoption in a few days.
The animal rescue team is supported entirely through private donations to the nonprofit Oregon Humane Society and receives no tax dollars.
A Texas women who was transporting 20 cats loose in her Plymouth Neon was pulled over by police as she entered South Dakota because of the driving hazard posed by her feline passengers. But that’s not the story. While she was stopped on the shoulder of I29, four of her cats escaped, and policemen had to jump into cat herder mode to round them up. Here’s the video:
Fortunately, the escapees were rounded up successfully and she was not cited.
Marlborough firefighter Tricia Richards, center, carries Catbert as an EMT, left, carries Picasso to a Marlborough Animal Control van after the cats were resuscitated following a house fire.
In Marlborough, Massachusetts this week, firefighters used oxygen to revive two cats–Picasso and Catbert–who were overcome by smoke in a fire that damaged a single-family home. The homeowners were not home at the time and no injuries were reported. A third cat was not injured, and a fourth, found hiding in the basement, could not be captured.
Picasso and Catbert were taken to Hudson Animal Hospital for treatment. Good luck on a speedy recovery, guys!
It must be calico cat stowaway week. First there was the story of Autumn, the cat who hid inside a mattress set and almost ended up in a landfill, and now the story of a calico in Spokane who was found by a couple who purchased a thrift store couch and found a free feline bonus inside. The cat had been trapped in the couch for 12 days. Here’s the story:
Upon finding the cat, Vickie Mendenhall contacted the thrift store from whom she bought the couch, but they had no record of who had donated the couch. Next, she took the cat to SpokAnimal CARE, the animal shelter where she works, so the cat could recover, and contacted media outlets hoping to find the owner.
Her efforts paid off. Bob Killion of Spokane claimed the cat yesterday after a friend alerted him to the cat-in-a-couch TV story. Killion had donated a couch on Feb. 19, and his 9-year-old cat, Callie, disappeared at about the same time. Callie is back home and is expected to make a full recovery.
UPDATE: Catster Callie Jean found a followup video of Callie the Couch Cat being reunited with her family. Click here, then scroll through the stories under the video to see the couch cat story.
(L to R) Wayne and Ann Crews with Autumn’s savior, Wilbert Davis. Ann is holding Autumn, “the mattress cat.”
Two-year-old Autumn the Cat nearly didn’t make it to Autumn this year, after being trapped for nearly a week inside a box spring and mattress.
The saga began when a Viriginia couple, Ann and Wayne Crews, had a new mattress and box spring delivered by Haynes Mattress Company. As the old set was being loaded on the truck, one of their cats, Zoie, leaped out from inside the box spring (which was taped to the mattress). About an hour after the truck left, the Crews realized that Autumn was nowhere to be found, and Zoie and their third cat, Miss Patty, were acting very strangely.
The other cats were going crazy,” said Ann. “They could tell something was wrong.”
The Crews contacted Haynes, who performed a search, but didn’t turn up a cat. Days went by. It seemed that Autumn had been abducted by aliens: there was no sign of her. A happy outcome seemed unlikely… that is, until Wilbert Davis entered the picture.
Davis works transporting old mattresses from a Williamsburg warehouse to a landfill in Suffolk. As he handles the Crews’ box spring, he felt something shift.
“When I moved that particular box spring, my spirit told me something wasn’t right,” he said.
He took the time to investigate, and found Autumn trapped inside the box spring, lying prone, with her front and back legs outstretched.
“I saw a purple collar. That’s when I knew it was a pet,” said Davis. “I was so shocked. I called the other person with me on the truck.” Then he phoned his warehouse manager and said, “You won’t believe this. There’s a cat inside this mattress set. It must belong to a customer.”
The mattress company went to work trying to track down the cat’s owners, while Davis ministered to Autumn. He asked co-workers for leftover lunch, bought food from a nearby store, and watered the thirsty cat.
Davis said that his compassion was based on his Christian beliefs. “I do things from the heart. It was all through God. I can’t take credit. God used me to do this.”
Ann Crews was very thankful for the kindness that Davis showed toward Autumn. The cat arrived back home via delivery truck on Saturday and after a trip to vet, received a clean bill of health. According to the Crews, Zoie and Miss Patty are “ecstatic” to have Autumn back.
Thank you, Wilbert Davis, for going the extra mile to save Autumn!
A Michigan kitten who was injured in a mauling and stuffed in a mailbox during freezing weather has made a miraculous recovery and is nearly ready for adoption.
The kitten appears to have been injured during a viscious attack by either a dog or a person, then stuffed inside a curbside mail dropbox, where it was trapped for several days. He was suffering from severe puncture wounds, frostbite and grave internal injuries including a collapsed lung. Neighbors heard the kitten’s desperate cries for help for days, but were unable to get the police or fire departments to help… the police said there was nothing they could do, and the fire department said the cat might be a little frantic so there was nothing they could do, either. (No word on why it was days before a postman opened up the box.)
Eventually, a postman freed the cat and it was delivered to Michigan Humane Society veterinarian Dr. Amy Koppenhoefer, who performed surgery. The kitten’s ear tips and paw pads were lost to the frostbite and his heart stopped once during surgery, but he’s recovering well. He’s been named “Glynn,” after the street on which he was found.
“Weeks later, he acts like nothing ever happened and is as sweet as can be,” said Dr. Koppenhoefer, who also provided foster care to Glynn as he recovered. “I call him my miracle cat.”
Glynn will be ready for adoption very soon.
Glynn is one of about 100,000 animals helped annually at Michigan Humane Society’s adoption, abuse investigation and low-cost spay/neuter, vaccination and micro-chipping programs. Glynn was the face behind a television fund-raiser on Feb. 12 that brought in more than $300,000 to MHS.
“Glynn is a single face, but representative of the tens of thousands of animals who depend on MHS each year,” said agency spokesman Mike Robbins. “It is why MHS must be relentless in the pursuit of our mission and why each person who picks up the phone, donates online or writes a check has literally become a life saver.”
To make a donation, visit www.michiganhumane.org or call 866-MHUMANE (866-648-6263).
A big grey Texas tabby got an E-ticket ride to safety after a dramatic rescue from the freeway expansion joint into which he had fallen. The cat had probably been walking along the highway and either sought a safe hidey place or fell down into the expansion joint, three stories up in the air at Beltway 8 and IH-10 near Channelview.
Blake McGee was walking his dog on Tuesday night when he heard the cat’s plaintive, pitiful yowls. McGee contacted the Houston SPCA, and after assessing the situation, equipment was brought in on Wednesday morning. Chief Investigator Charles Jantzen (who is not afraid of heights) hopped in the cherry picker to attempt a rescue.
Jantzen spent some time allowing the cat to get comfortable around him, then coaxed the skittish, frightened cat with an offering of food. The cat walked the length of the roadway to a point where Jantzen was able to grab him and drop him into a carrier. Jantzen reported that the cat was obviously dehydrated and covered in an oily substance, indicating he’d probably been trapped for several days.
It’s not yet known if the cat is a stray or has a home. There will be time for the rightful owner to claim it, after which the cat will undergo medical and behavioral evaluations to determine if he’s adoptable. Mr McGee is hopeful that he’ll be able to adopt the cat, who he plans to name “Lucky.”
Thank you, Blake McGee, and thank you, Charles Janzen!
Blake McGee (in the hooded sweatshirt) takes a photo of the tabby he hopes to adopt
and name “Lucky.” McGee alerted the SPCA to the cat’s predicament.
With the Australian wildfires raging, we can’t help but think of the family pets killed or displaced when disaster strikes. Are you prepared? Cats have an uncanny ability to hole up in a snug safe spot and survive the initial catastrophic event, but would you be able to locate them afterward? In several recent stories on the Cat’s Meow, cats have gone missing after house fires.
Last year in New Zealand, Catster Darwin (aka “Mr D” pictured at right) was lost for six months. He wasn’t initially lost in a fire or other disaster, but because his family became experts in lost-cat-tracking, I asked Mr D and his mom to share some tips on what you can do to bring your lost cat home safely. If you think the answer is telephone pole flyers and newspaper ads, you’ve got a lot to learn.
Mr D’s mom went so far as to rent a cat suit and stand by the side of the road with a ginormous flyer. Wacky, eh? Well, it worked. It’s a remarkable story, and you can read it in the Catnip Chronicles (highly recommended reading!)
So I think you’ll agree that Mr D knows what it takes to find a lost cat. Catster members gave his mom lots of suggestions along the way, and Mr D’s mom agreed to share what they learned:
The best way to get your message out there is to talk to as many people as you can. That means DOOR KNOCKING, going to the VETS in person ( I also took biscuits around each time I visited them and they in turn kept the flyer on the wall and also told me if anyone commented on the flyers. If they mentioned any location they may have seen him). You have to visit the SPCA in person as they don’t really describe the cats that well and they are very busy themselves.
Ideas that the group has mentioned:
Use cat traps (especially helpful if your cat is an indoor scaredy cat).
Making up a smoothie of smelly cat food and leave a trail leading back home.
Use motion-activated cameras.
Create food stations.
Leave food and water outside, with smelly clothes ( with your smell on it).
Look in unexpected areas, i.e. on the roof, in the ceiling or in drains. If you can’t see into these areas use a camera at arm’s length or on a stick with time delay so you can take a photo and view it on the computer.
Post FLYERS everywhere.
Cook smelly cat food on a BBQ ( the heat makes the food smell stronger).
Walk the streets calling them — especially at dusk, dawn or 4 am in the morning when most cats are more active.
If you see a cat food bowl outside, leave a flyer near it.
Check vacant houses and garages (they could be locked in).
Any cat hoarders around? Check ‘em out.
Check stray cat feeders and feral colonies. Talk to the people who maintain those colonies.
Cats don’t normally travel more than one mile from your home, so get a map and draw a one-mile radius around your house. Concentrate on searching in that area.
A large sign on your front fence, or even dress up in a cat suit or something else to attract attention and stand next to your sign or hold it during peak hour traffic. (This is what Mr D’s mom did.)
Have any neighbours had removal trucks around or service people around? Your pet may have gone for a ride. Check areas (stop signs, stop lights) where your cat may have jumped out of the truck.
If using cat traps, use a baby monitor to moniter the traps.
You could also try using signage on your car, or a poster affixed to the back windows.
There are many more links for a few other countries in the Catster group Alfie and Mr D’s Purrs and Woofs for the missing. And we welcome any fur that would like to add to the list or be keen to join our group. We welcome all cats and dogs.
The MCA (missing cat assistance) group is a group for missing cats on Yahoo where there are a few people actively looking for their kitties. It’s a great place to bounce ideas off each other.
Thanks, Mr D!
We’d like to add some emergency preparedness tips:
Even if your cats are indoor cats, tag and microchip them. This is not a belt-and-suspenders exercise. Sometimes well-meaning people will keep found cats in their homes, and will wait to see if a lost cat ad appears in the newspaper (which could take several days). They won’t think (or bother) to take your cat to a vet or shelter to be scanned. Tags ensure a quick reunion, and microchipping is a backup when the collar is lost. Indoor cats do escape, and if you’re not home when disaster strikes, the cat could survive the disaster but be lost to you afterward. Wouldn’t you like Fluffy returned to you as soon as possible?
Take several GOOD well-lit photos of your cat at several angles. Upload high-res versions to an online photo-sharing site. If your home computer is destroyed (or you’re barred from returning to your home for several days), you’ll still have a backup photo to give to shelters and put on flyers.
If your cat is on medication, scan the labels (black out personal info) and upload them to a photo sharing site. Keep a copy of the info in your wallet or at work. If your community experiences a disaster, your vet’s office may not be open (or records could be destroyed) and your home might not be accessible. This ensures you have ready access to prescription info for your pet.
Put a decal on a front window alerting firefighters to the presence of animals in your home.
Got a multiple cat household? Make sure you have one cat carrier for each of your cats. We keep extra fold-up cardboard carriers in case of emergency.
Keep an emergency stash of food and meds (if feasible), and refresh as necessary. A minimum 3-day supply is recommended. And don’t forget water or purification drops. We live in earthquake country, so we keep kits in our cars with a stash of thyroid meds and canned cat food (which comes in handing when you encounter strays). Here are some emergency preparedness products for pets.
Get a Pet First Aid Kit and a book on Pet First Aid and keep in an easily accessible place. And crack open the book before disaster strikes.
Got an emergency plan? What would you do in case of fire, flood, earthquake, tornado, hurricane, etc? For example, our home has two floors. If we were trapped by fire in our bedroom, we’ve talked through how to escape via the balcony, and how to get back into the rooms where the cats are likely to be (not recommended by firefighters, but who among us is likely to leave their cats in a burning home?)
Our Catster friend Bogdan (right), pointed us to this update to our December post, in which we shared the story of Lucky, a black kitten who was trapped in a planter near Petsmart in San Luis Obispo. After an extraordinary 4-day demolition effort which involved the help of the center’s management company, Madonna Enterprises, Petsmart employee Paul Williams extricated the kitten. Lucky went to Central Coast Pet Emergency in Arroyo Grande for medical care and recuperation. There she was renamed “Berlin” in honor of her “wall” experience.
Recuperation was a challenge. While treating her for dehydration and wounds related to her extraction, the vet found an older, more serious wound. “She was probably hit by a car a number of weeks earlier,” explained Dr. Eric Anderson, Animal Services manager for the county. The wound had exposed the bone in a back leg. “The joint itself wasn’t mobile,” says Anderson. “There wasn’t any contraction of muscles and tendons. On top of that, she was incontinent.”
Tyler Collins, 7, tends to Berlin (aka Lucky) while the kitten recuperated from an amputated hind leg. Photo by Bill Morem, Tribune News
Berlin was placed in foster care with vet tech Gabby Collins. Despite having her bandages changed several times daily, Collins couldn’t keep the leg wound dry from urine. After consulting with another vet, they decided to amputate the leg.
“Cats can actually do very well with an amputated back leg,” says Anderson.
Berlin did very well through the surgery and continued to respond well, although her incontinence left chemical burns on the remaining hind leg.
But then she had a setback. She couldn’t pass her stools and she became impacted, an indication of nerve damage to the spinal area.
“Dribbling is one thing,” Anderson said, “but not being able to pass stools is another.”
“It wasn’t something that one surgery could correct,” Collins said. “It was going to be a problem that she would have to deal with for the rest of her life.”
So the difficult decision was made to euthanize Berlin.
“She came to us very frightened. Everyone thought she was feral, but she turned out to be a really sweet cat,” Collins said. “We gave her the best of care, but in the long run, she would have suffered.”
“It’s a sad ending to a great story,” Anderson said. “It’s still a story of good intentions and commitment by people and organizations.”
Those good intentions were underwritten by numerous people working for four days to get Berlin out of the wall, damage to the entrapping wall/planter, surgery, intensive care in the pet hospital and later, ministrations by Collins. Anderson estimated that the cost of rescuing and caring for Berlin was between $10,000 and $15,000.
“Our community, as a whole, is pet loving,” Anderson said. “But (Berlin) got to where she did because at some point somebody wasn’t on the ball in taking care of her. Despite a lot of great effort by a number of people, there will be suffering by unwanted pets. If we all acted responsibly, we wouldn’t be talking about these issues.”
It must be calico cat stowaway week. First there was the story of Autumn, the cat who 
</td
Last year in New Zealand, Catster Darwin (aka 
" 