I've got so much good bloggin' to do but I have to interrupt it all to share with you the most recent ordeal in the Geller household. If you're not up for a story, you may want to skip this post, but if you are, settle back and put your feet up. :-)
If you read this blog, you know how I feel about our little kitty Atticus. He is a very important, loved member of our family. I utterly ADORE his cutey furryness!
Wednesday night, when I got home from school, everyone was gone and Atticus wasn't in the house. Not unusual but it's already dark and cold and so I start going to the front door and back door, calling for him to come in. It usually works. But no Atti. Later, when we're turning in for the evening, Atti still has not come home. This is unusual. He goes out all the time but almost always comes in to sleep. He has only stayed out all night twice. I go to bed worried.
When I woke up Thursday morning, I ran down the stairs first thing to see if he was at the door. He wasn't. I am officially worried now and have that emotional lump in my throat. Where's my boy?! On my way to work, I drove real slow through the neighborhood, looking for him, calling his name. Wednesday night was trash night so maybe he got stuck in someone's garage? It's happened before. No sign of him but I am panic every time I see one of those friggin' cat-sized lumpy sand bags people have left in their gutters from the snow. I checked in with Miranda a couple of times during the day but he still wasn't home. Worry worry worry.
When I got home from work Thursday, I immediately headed out to search for him. Glen went to hang out with his airplane buddies so he wasn't home yet. He called around 10:00 to let me know he was on his way home and to ask if Atti's home. I could tell in his voice that he 100% expected me to say yes. This had been the longest he had ever been gone. Glen got home around 10:30-10:45 and immediately headed out with a flashlight to look for kitty cat. About 11:30ish, he came in, breathless, and yells "I found him!" I raced downstairs and when I got there, he didn't have Atti!. Glen then proceeds to tell me he was in our neighbor's yard. In a tree. In a fir tree. In a very tall fir tree. Atticus is about 50 feet up it. I cry because I am so happy. We had a cat, Budley, who went missing for two weeks and that did not have a good outcome. I am SO thankful to Glen (my Hero!) for searching for Atticus in the dark and cold. It is such a relief to know he wa still alive. I was crying. We went to see Atticus, and I just kept on crying. He was so high and seemed so scared! "Meow meow meow!!!" There is no way we could possibly get him down ourselves. We called the fire department and they said they most definitely wouldn't come out at night and to call back in the morning and if they weren't busy, they would come and try. Okay, it's now midnight and I was supposed to go to try to sleep? Yeah, right!
Needless to say, it was a fitful, troubled night. I dreamt of Atticus so when I woke up this morning, I was extremely anxious. We went to see Atticus and he was still hugging a branch. I'm relieved but the reality of the situation has sunk in. Since he didn't come home that first night, we are assuming that Atti was already up the tree Wednesday night. If that was the case, he has now spent two nights in a tree, clinging to a few branches the size of baseball bats with freezing temperatures 50 ft in the air, with no food and no water. Very scary.
We call the fire department and they pretty much tell us to put some food out and when he's hungry enough, he'll come down. Period. So Glen starts calling vets offices, shelters, clinics, etc. Somewhere along the way we are told of a place called "Critter Getter." Glen calls them and they don't do that kind of thing but they give us three names of arborists (tree trimmers) who also retrieve cats and other animals out of very tall trees.
A bit more drama ensued because the first guy we called, Gary, could do it for $150 but he lived WAY on the other side of town. By the time we left messages all over the place to try to find someone closer, Gary got a tree trimming job with Troy, one of the precious few other names on our list! Sob sob sob!
We go over to see Atticus again, and fantasize that we can coax him down with food and water. I'm feeling pretty hopeless. I just don't see Atti climbing down. Falling maybe, but not climbing. He is 50 ft up and there are no branches the first 40 ft. It's all trunk. Gravity would not be kind to our boy, no matter how brave.
It's 9:45 am and I begin to stare at my cellphone, willing it to ring with some kind of good news. The morning has been filled with disappointment after disappointment. Finally, my powers work and my cellphone rings. It's Troy from The Tree Guys. He had just dropped Gary off on a job and could be over in about an hour. I almost pass out with happiness. Troy said that he doesn't get cats out of trees for a living but does it when he can as a way to give something to the community. As far as I'm concerned, he is the new St. Francis of Assissi, the Patron Saint of Animals.
Troy got to us in about 45 minutes (BLESS his heart!) and within 20 minutes, Atticus was down. He's in my arms ever so briefly and then runs behind some some bushes to take care of business, if you know what I mean! Poor little guy!!! I GLADLY pay Troy a very well deserved $150.
Once safely back home, Atticus ate, cleaned himself, ate a little more, cleaned himself a little more, slept in my arms a little, and then wandered off to Miranda's room to sleep. And I'm sure it's for the night. So happy to have this little guy home!
Oh and by the way, Atticus is SO grounded, no pun intended! :-)
Thank you for sharing the Mis-Adventures of Atticus. I will never again take lightly a "cat up a tree" story on the news. Of course, since I live in a small town, the fire department and animal lovers of all kinds are usally on the scene to rescue an errant feline. But from the description of that tree, don't think it was an adventurous climb that went wrong; he must have been totally chased up that bare tree trunk by a critter of some kind. So enjoy a peaceful evening now.
Posted by: GMa Jean | January 26, 2007 at 06:22 PM
What an adventure! For all of you!
I've never been able to understand why cats climb trees, if there's the possibility that they'll get scared and be stuck up there. I would have thought that their instincts would always lead them in the right direction. Puzzling.
Glad he's safe and sound :) I'll bet he's going to sleep well tonight !
Posted by: Lilli | January 26, 2007 at 07:00 PM
Oh My Gawd!!! I'm so sorry you all went through such an ordeal, Shell Shell. The two of you look so cozy and content in the photo. Whew.
Posted by: renee | January 26, 2007 at 07:05 PM
OMG, poor Atticus! I am so glad and relief that he is safe finally in your arms. I was feeling the anguish that you had when you saw poor Atticus up in that tree, I am glad that it turned out well for him.
Posted by: Malou | January 26, 2007 at 10:09 PM
Poor little thing... Glad he made it home. I would have been a wreck after I first noticed my little princess missing. But isn't that what the fire department is suppose to do, get kittys out of trees? Maybe that was a childhood fairy tale
Posted by: claudine | January 26, 2007 at 10:23 PM
I'm happy too for you and atticus. Now I bet everybody got a good nights sleep. You have lots of heros in this kitty story.
Posted by: Sharon@Norah'S | January 27, 2007 at 06:06 AM
That was so nice that Gary came and rescued Atticus! Hats off to him and the folks like him that go out of our way to make something special happen! ( I would have easily coughed up off the yard and a half for him, too!). My cat would have clawed him once he tried to rescue her...:-(
Posted by: Gina | January 27, 2007 at 06:20 AM
Yay for happy endings!! As a fellow fur lover I know exactly how you felt. Also, thanks for all the help with everything!! Web monkey is going to keep me busy.....Later!
Posted by: Karin (creative chaos) | January 27, 2007 at 09:33 AM
Wow, what an ordeal! So glad you found Atticus and he was rescued!! That's no fun to have your fur buddy disappear like that---our buddy Amos took off & we never saw him again :(. He was such a sweetie I like to believe he was taken in by someone (I've seen cats in the neighborhood that remind me of him...possible offspring?). We put up fliers, & looked so hard for him. Atticus looks so happy in your lap :). YAY!
Posted by: Jana | January 27, 2007 at 03:57 PM
oh, i missed this post until just now. poor little kitty! glad he is safe at home now!
Posted by: andrea | January 29, 2007 at 05:56 PM