Our Turkish Angora, Gilbert, has just had his first birthday!
I found him last September, purely by chance, trapped in the basement garage of our apartment block.
I'd popped down to the garage to get something from the car when I heard a faint meow in the distance. I thought I was hearing things and was about to leave when I heard it again. I went down another level and heard it again, only nearer.
I went to get my wife and together we started to search. After 10 minutes we heard it again, but had no idea where it was coming from. I thought the cat was trapped in a conduit, but my wife had other ideas, and after an hour she finally located the source.
The crying was coming from a car parked at the far end of the garage. I shone my torch underneath and saw a little kitten's face looking back at me. He was trapped in the engine compartment, behind an air vent, and the gap was too small for him to get out. The car belonged to a neighbour who was "en vacances" and uncontactable. So, we had to get him out somehow.
Eventually I managed to remove the air vent and retrieve him from the engine compartment. He hopped out and I realised how small he was and that he must have been trapped for some time; he was in very poor condition and his coat was filthy and matted with oil. Initially he ran off and hid under another car, crying all the while, but after a short while he came to me and began rubbing against my leg and purring loudly.
While this was going on my wife went to buy some cat food and litter from our local shop. We got the kitten up to our apartment and the first thing he did was use his litter tray. The poor thing must have been dying for the toilet. We then gave him some water and fed him. He clearly hadn't eaten for some time and polished it off in one go. Finally, we wrapped a hot water bottle in an old towel and settled him down for the night.
In the morning he was pottering about in our kitchen when I got up for work. I took this picture of him at the time..
Anyway, he soon cleaned himself up and regained some of his lost weight.
My wife checked in our 'quartier' whether anyone had lost a kitten, and at the local vets etc, but to no avail.
So we took him in (it wasn't too hard a decision!), and he's just turned one year old. This is what he looks like now...
He's now very much part of our family, and has brought us a lot of fun and happiness over the last 10 months or so. He's so funny and such good company to be with!
It's still a total mystery where he came from and how he came to be trapped in a car engine. But we're just glad we found him when we did. I dread to think what might have happened to him had I not popped down to the garage one evening last September.
Anyway, happy birthday Gilbert! We both love you very much!
I found him last September, purely by chance, trapped in the basement garage of our apartment block.
I'd popped down to the garage to get something from the car when I heard a faint meow in the distance. I thought I was hearing things and was about to leave when I heard it again. I went down another level and heard it again, only nearer.
I went to get my wife and together we started to search. After 10 minutes we heard it again, but had no idea where it was coming from. I thought the cat was trapped in a conduit, but my wife had other ideas, and after an hour she finally located the source.
The crying was coming from a car parked at the far end of the garage. I shone my torch underneath and saw a little kitten's face looking back at me. He was trapped in the engine compartment, behind an air vent, and the gap was too small for him to get out. The car belonged to a neighbour who was "en vacances" and uncontactable. So, we had to get him out somehow.
Eventually I managed to remove the air vent and retrieve him from the engine compartment. He hopped out and I realised how small he was and that he must have been trapped for some time; he was in very poor condition and his coat was filthy and matted with oil. Initially he ran off and hid under another car, crying all the while, but after a short while he came to me and began rubbing against my leg and purring loudly.
While this was going on my wife went to buy some cat food and litter from our local shop. We got the kitten up to our apartment and the first thing he did was use his litter tray. The poor thing must have been dying for the toilet. We then gave him some water and fed him. He clearly hadn't eaten for some time and polished it off in one go. Finally, we wrapped a hot water bottle in an old towel and settled him down for the night.
In the morning he was pottering about in our kitchen when I got up for work. I took this picture of him at the time..
Anyway, he soon cleaned himself up and regained some of his lost weight.
My wife checked in our 'quartier' whether anyone had lost a kitten, and at the local vets etc, but to no avail.
So we took him in (it wasn't too hard a decision!), and he's just turned one year old. This is what he looks like now...
He's now very much part of our family, and has brought us a lot of fun and happiness over the last 10 months or so. He's so funny and such good company to be with!
It's still a total mystery where he came from and how he came to be trapped in a car engine. But we're just glad we found him when we did. I dread to think what might have happened to him had I not popped down to the garage one evening last September.
Anyway, happy birthday Gilbert! We both love you very much!
