memorablemeanders.blogspot.com

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Disaster in Hedges Kittyland!

Dear Bozo and mum's blog readers. This is Ambrose and although mum is here, she's too stressed to post so I'm helping out again. 

Last night disaster struck in the Hedges Kitty household here in Mwadui. We were all enjoying life on the patio (as normal) last night and mum said how much I looked like Dad Ginger. She called me Mini Me. 

We three kitties chilling on the patio on Friday night

My dad Ginger and I are like two peas in a pod relaxing again last night

Dad Ginger and I enjoyed the warm concrete but Shadow was restless

Then suddenly we heard mum say: "Shadow's gone over the fence!" And she ran out of the gate after him. She says she wanted to chase him back over the fence. But Shadow (full of high spirits) had other ideas and dashed around the corner to the front of the house.  

Eek

That's just where the big dogs are! And that's just when the big dogs saw Shadow and chased him up a large tree . The tree trunk was too thick for him to hold onto and he fell to the ground. The one dog, Toffee grabbed him!

By now mum was calling loudly for our askari Michael,  who is also our gardener and our kitty-good friend. Michael came and  grabbed Toffee by the scruff of her neck and she dropped Shadow to the ground. Instead of Shadow running towards safety in our shamba at the back of the house, he ran up a very thin high tree next to the security fence. Once he got to the top, the tree bent over the street outside our big garden.

 Shadow ran up a very high tree and got stuck up there
 
Two Guest House askaris, Mataluma and Armani,  also came running to help our mum and Michael. Mataluma put the dogs in the chicken house (the chickens were still pecking on the lawn as it was still early) Armani brought a saw and while Michael stood on a ladder, he sawed away at the tree. 

Ooeeh.  

By now Dad Ginger and I were back inside and I could see Shadow swinging wildly and clinging on for dear life, at the top of the tree. 
Poor Shadow stuck at the top of a very high tree 

Just before Michael sawed the tree right through,  Armani held onto the middle  of it with a "Y" - shaped stick. Mum said later this helped to soften the fall from such a height. She and Armani were in the street with jackets held open (taken from Michael and Mataluma) and tried to grab Shadow as he hit the ground. Shadow had such a shock when he fell,  that he immediately ran up the big garden fence from the outside. Then Michael opened the big gate, and Mataluma opened the front door to our house and Shadow sped inside. 

Phew!

 Shadow safely indoors after his ordeal with the garden dogs and being stuck up a very high tree

Panting loudly, mum ran indoors  and grabbed some money from her wallet to reward the three men who had helped her rescue Shadow. She said she hoped that to receive a Tsh10,000 / US$6 note each on a Saturday night, showed her appreciation for their invaluable assistance. The three men were so pleased that Shadow was safe, they kept pumping mum's hand, thanking and congratulating her

When he first came in, Shadow was very hot and panting as well. Mum soothed him and checked the spot where Toffee had got hold of him. His fur was wet from her teeth, but otherwise no broken skin. And although Shadow drank a little water, he has been hiding all evening. Mum searched the house for him and eventually when she saw where I was pointing, she realized he was lying under the sofa. 
 Yoohoo mum, here's Shadow! 

I know this was a very distressing post, because Shadow could have been badly hurt, or still stuck up in that tree, but I wanted to tell you about it and that all's well that ends well.

For more posts on pets around the world, please click here
 


9 comments:

  1. OMW Shadow! You certainly gave yourself and your mom a fright. Thank goodness there were many men to help rescue you. I'm glad your safe. Please don't go astray again.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh my goodness, Ambrose, what a very scary story! Poor Shadow. But he might have learned not to go over that fence.
    Or he might not have learned. He has always been very brave. I remember when he was a street kitten many, many miles away, and your mom and dad adopted him. He had to be brave to survive on the streets, not knowing he would get a wonderful, loving home, and airplane rides, too.
    You certainly do look like your Dad Ginger, except for a little bit around the chin and ears. It is wonderful to see photos of the two of you together. Perhaps your Dad Ginger can have a man-to-man talk with Shadow, to tell him what a lucky cat he is.
    Love from
    Auntie Kay, and Lindy

    ReplyDelete
  3. HI well that was a story and a half but I suppose if he hadn't used up his 9 lives, it was going to work out grand anyway!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank goodness Shadow got back home safe and that there was nearby help. Sure hope he didn't use up one of his lives going through this, or Mum either.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oops, that should be "you're" safe. I must be tired :-))

    ReplyDelete
  6. OMG I can easily imagine in what state you were ! First the dog and then the tree ! You were lucky to have helping hands ! It reminded me when Arthur baby climbed up high into our wheeping willow tree at midnight ! By the time Riccardo had looked for a ladder and I standing there with a torch, all neighbors came out because of the noise we made ! When Riccardo had finally reached the branch of the tree, Arthur hopped down and was suddenly at my feet while Riccardo was sitting in the tree !
    Shadow will certainly be in shock for a little while, just leave him alone until he feels secure again.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm visiting from Gattina's holiday post as I had to find out about shadow. What an adventure...so pleased he is now safe under the bed. Always the safe place of choice for stressed cats.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Phew.... thank God Shadow is back safe and sound...


    Bozo

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oi, much too much action! But so nice that everyone came to the rescue.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for visiting my blog and taking the time to leave a comment. I appreciate your feedback. Jo