Tuesday, July 7, 2015

The Time I Saved an Ungrateful Cat

I had three taxis for a while, one of which I drove and the other two driven by others.

One day I had gone to visit one of them, Rick. I don't remember why. He probably owed me money.

But Rick wasn't there.

As I walked back to my car parked in front of his two-story apartment building I saw one cat chasing another, then both began fighting in front of a storm/sewer opening.

The black one fell in and the other ran off.

"Hm," I thought. "That cat's going to die stuck down there like that."

I looked in the trunk of my Caprice, who contained enough stuff to make me McGyver, if not Uber-McGyver. I figured I could improvise something to save this cat, and I don't even like cats. But I wasn't going to let him slowly die at the bottom of this hole.

I found a tangle of wire and a crowbar.

I pulled the manhole up with the crowbar and found myself looking down at a wet cat in about four inches of water, with beer cans and Styrofoam around him. The beer cans I could understand, but Styrofoam?

The walls of the round tunnel were made of old, thick red brick. It was the same brick as Rick's apartment building. The tunnel appeared to have been built about 1910.

The cat was staring up at me. I wonder what he felt tumbling all that way to land in water.

If I called the fire department I'm sure they would have used a ladder. Naw. I could do this myself, and it couldn't be that hard.

The cat was about ten feet down.

I teased out a strand of wire and dropped the tangle down into the hole. Did the cat have enough sense to realize what I was doing?

And darn if the cat didn't sink his claws into the tangle and allow me to pull him up! I figured maybe I was radiating thought-waves and operating the cat by remote control.

You'd be amazed how much a wet cat weighs when you're leaning over a ten-foot hole.

I can imagine what someone walking or driving by thought. A guy fishing for cats? And if a cop drove by? I'm sure he'd stop and ask what I was doing.

But this street was a short one - half a block - with a cul-de-sac. I didn't see a person or a car.

As the cat cleared the hole, damn if he didn't try jump to the ground and fall back in the hole! Right back to the beer cans and Styrofoam. So much for the remote control.

Well, I thought, it worked once, so let's try it again!

I lowered the tangle of wire down the hole and bobbed it up and down until I felt a weight on the end.

I began hauling the wire up, hand over hand.

It was a little different this time. A lot different, actually.

As I pulled the cat up I noticed his eyes were bugging out and his front legs were sticking straight out in front of him.

The wire was looped around his neck. I guess I was strangling him. Could he breathe?

I pulled him up as fast as I could, took the loop from around his neck - and off he went. "You're welcome, you bastard," I called after him.

Saved his life and not even a thank you.

I don't particularly like cats. They're destructive and will run away every time. A dog, on the other hand, will fight a bear to defend you. And that's all you need to know about dogs.

I've owned dogs, but never a cat. And I never will.

He probably found an innocent bird to torture and murder.

6 comments:

The Obvious said...

The wire was looped around his neck. I guess I was strangling him.

You were strangling him, and you could have broken his neck as well.

I pulled him up as fast as I could, took the loop from around his neck - and off he went. "You're welcome, you bastard," I called after him.

There's no reason to begrudge an innocent creature some help, I often help other people and animals I meet, and expect nothing in return.

I don't particularly like cats.

You never will if you think that. Cats are great fun, look at some of the youtube videos of Maru and Shironeko (basket cat).

I've owned dogs, but never a cat. And I never will. He probably found an innocent bird to torture and murder.

Cats are not sadistic, that is generally done to ensure the prey is dead, when a single cut can cause a deadly infection it makes sense for a cat to be sure.

A.B. Prosper said...

UB, "wild" and barn cats kill quickly and do not play with food. Domestic house cats can be bored and need killing practice which leads to claims of sadism.

Now cats live with us and can care for us greatly even occasionally risk their lives for us but where they differ from dogs is they are not family. They are house mates.

Dogs are part of the extended human family and we've assimilated into each others cultures in ways that a solitary predator like a cat will not. We understand each , read each others body language other whereas cats, whether adopted semi-ferals or house moggies often go "Huh?" when confronted with human behavior.

Frankly I think a house is incomplete without one or two cats (max of two or one per adult) and they earn their keep comforting people , being fun and controlling vermin .

Also as stated earlier, you were choking the poor cat. It reacted accordingly.

little dynamo said...

Love them kitties. Lots of fun, diverse individual personalities. Most dogs, too, except brat poodle types and the I'm A Badass Power Dogs.

Went forty feet up the backyard tree of my college girlfriend back in the Pleistocene. Fire dept. wouldn't and I tired of the yowling pretty quick, so up I got. Only mistake was wearing a tee shirt because once I'd grabbed him, he dug into my chest for the ride back to terra.

Mindstorm said...

Have you seen a cat fighting a Norwegian rat? Of the two, I prefer cats. I also like that they are generally very low maintenance, both in time and emotional investment. A single dog owned by me would feel neglected, that's why I have two German shepherds now. It's a pity that the older of them would wholeheartedly try to disembowel any cat he encounters.

Unknown said...

I saw a cat kill a rat. Bit its neck and strangled it. I do prefer cats to rats.

TroperA said...

Cats are okay but you have to remember they're very mercenary in their outlook. They like you primarily because you provide for them (and occasionally give them affection, but only on their terms when they want it.) They're not different from many women in that respect.

There are a few good, loyal cats. Like this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-Opm9b2WDk

The boy probably wasn't the primary food-giver, so that cat had to be doing it out of some sort of attachment to the kid (and territorial defense.) It was a girl cat, so maybe it had some kind of mother bear protective instinct going on as well...