So after an almost entirely sleepless night, I'm finally snoozing at 8:30 AM when the phone rings. It's a neighborlady who knows we have cats, calling to tell me that there's been a big siamese stuck on the roof of the house next door for three days now.
I wanted to say, THREE DAYS? And you're only just NOW doing something? But they're older folks, so I restrained myself.
I was up and dressed and out the door with a carrier in five minutes. The neighbor and her husband and I circumnavigated the house and finally spotted the cat lying on the edge of the roof at the back, in the shade of some trees. She watched us, but seemed lethargic and uninclined to respond to anything... which scared me silly, of course.
She wasn't really a siamese, by the way -- she did have soft fawny-taupey points, though, with medium hair, and a few tabby stripes on her face and tail. A beautiful cat, and seemingly well groomed, so I felt sure someone was wondering where she was.
The neighbors assured me that the cat did not belong to the people in this house. I asked if they had told those people about the cat, but they had not.
I studied the yard, the fence, the eaves... and concluded that there was no way I could get to the cat. So, being a traditionalist, I called the fire department!
I said, "I know it's a cliche and you probably don't have time to do this sort of thing anymore, but... there's this cat on the roof..." The fireman just started laughing and asked for the address.
I
FIREMEN!
So we end up with a huge red firetruck, a big white van, five firemen, and one animal control officer converging on this house. There's a bit of conversation on how best to go about this, and then one of the firemen turns to me and asks, "Any pets in the yard?" I tell him I don't know, and his eyes go wide. "You mean it's not your house?"
It should have been obvious to me, but I hadn't thought of it -- of course they can't go tromping around on the roof of this house without the owner's permission! And despite what the neighbors said, what if it really is their cat, and just likes it on the roof?
So the neighbors check their Christmas card list for the name of the man who owns the house, and they remember that he works at a certain school by a public pool... so I call the school district to see if they can tell me the name of the school... and I call the school to ask for the gentleman in question... and they pull him out of class and I explain the situation, and he says "Sure, go ahead."
I turn around to tell the firemen to go ahead, but they're already up there, loping along the roofline in pursuit of the fleeing cat!
Men of action, by golly -- rules can only hold 'em back so long!
So of course, the cat jumps off the roof, as cats always do when you try to catch them. None of us saw where she went, though, so we checked all around the house and then went into the back yard to make sure she wasn't trapped inside the fence. Huddled in a little house, trembling in fear, was a very old dog, apparently blind, a mix of Golden and something smaller. Poor little guy... I guess all the commotion had frightened him.
The cat was not inside the yard, and we knew she had departed the roof... so all we could do was hope she knew where home was and went there. I thanked the firemen and we all waved as they drove away. Then I said to the neighbors and the animal control officer, "I can't believe they came out to get a cat off a roof!"
The Animal Control lady said, "Well, they must have had some free time."
I nodded. "They're so great. They've been out here twice to save my father's life, too."
And they all glanced at me at the same time, and I said, "No, no, no -- my father wasn't on the roof!"
Anyway, that's how my day started, and then the Kansas Kitty came along, and my goodness, I'm ready for bed... g'night!
I wanted to say, THREE DAYS? And you're only just NOW doing something? But they're older folks, so I restrained myself.
I was up and dressed and out the door with a carrier in five minutes. The neighbor and her husband and I circumnavigated the house and finally spotted the cat lying on the edge of the roof at the back, in the shade of some trees. She watched us, but seemed lethargic and uninclined to respond to anything... which scared me silly, of course.
She wasn't really a siamese, by the way -- she did have soft fawny-taupey points, though, with medium hair, and a few tabby stripes on her face and tail. A beautiful cat, and seemingly well groomed, so I felt sure someone was wondering where she was.
The neighbors assured me that the cat did not belong to the people in this house. I asked if they had told those people about the cat, but they had not.
I studied the yard, the fence, the eaves... and concluded that there was no way I could get to the cat. So, being a traditionalist, I called the fire department!
I
So we end up with a huge red firetruck, a big white van, five firemen, and one animal control officer converging on this house. There's a bit of conversation on how best to go about this, and then one of the firemen turns to me and asks, "Any pets in the yard?" I tell him I don't know, and his eyes go wide. "You mean it's not your house?"
It should have been obvious to me, but I hadn't thought of it -- of course they can't go tromping around on the roof of this house without the owner's permission! And despite what the neighbors said, what if it really is their cat, and just likes it on the roof?
So the neighbors check their Christmas card list for the name of the man who owns the house, and they remember that he works at a certain school by a public pool... so I call the school district to see if they can tell me the name of the school... and I call the school to ask for the gentleman in question... and they pull him out of class and I explain the situation, and he says "Sure, go ahead."
I turn around to tell the firemen to go ahead, but they're already up there, loping along the roofline in pursuit of the fleeing cat!
So of course, the cat jumps off the roof, as cats always do when you try to catch them. None of us saw where she went, though, so we checked all around the house and then went into the back yard to make sure she wasn't trapped inside the fence. Huddled in a little house, trembling in fear, was a very old dog, apparently blind, a mix of Golden and something smaller. Poor little guy... I guess all the commotion had frightened him.
The cat was not inside the yard, and we knew she had departed the roof... so all we could do was hope she knew where home was and went there. I thanked the firemen and we all waved as they drove away. Then I said to the neighbors and the animal control officer, "I can't believe they came out to get a cat off a roof!"
The Animal Control lady said, "Well, they must have had some free time."
I nodded. "They're so great. They've been out here twice to save my father's life, too."
And they all glanced at me at the same time, and I said, "No, no, no -- my father wasn't on the roof!"
Anyway, that's how my day started, and then the Kansas Kitty came along, and my goodness, I'm ready for bed... g'night!
